How do I add an inherited control to a datatemplate in WPF? - c#

I need to an extra dependancy property to a control, so I'm overriding it. I.E.:
namespace Custom_TextBlock_Sample
{
public class CustomLabel: Label
{
}
}
But I seem to be unable to add it to a DataTemplate. The following code will fail to build:
... xmlns:Custom_TextBlock_Sample="clr-namespace:Custom_TextBlock_Sample" ...
<DataTemplate x:Key="Test">
<Grid>
<Custom_TextBlock_Sample:CustomLabel></Custom_TextBlock_Sample:CustomLabel>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
However inserting my overriden control anywhere else, (say not in the datatemplate) .. and compilation works no problem.
The following works: (My control is not nested in a date template).
<Grid>
<Custom_TextBlock_Sample:CustomLabel></Custom_TextBlock_Sample:CustomLabel>
</Grid>
Also using a regular label in the Datatemplate also works:
<DataTemplate x:Key="Test">
<Grid>
<Label/>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
Any ideas on what the issue might be ? Can I simply not add overridden controls to datatemplates in such a manor ? Is this a bug in Visual Studio 2007?
Note that since my intended changed to the control will be small, I simply want to override "Label" instead of wrapping it in a UserControl.
Thanks

Ok, figured it out. This seems to be a namespace bug with Visual Studio. The problem fixed itself, when I started a new project from scratch, this time with no spaces in the project name and no "_" in namespaces names.

Related

Create an instance of a C# class from inside XAML

I have a working application that has been written in C#, and I now want to extend that application to allow the user to switch between viewing the application, and viewing a built in web browser (inside the same application window).
I also have a separate working web browser, that has also been written in C#.
I have just added the functionality to the original application to include 'tabbed' displays, where the original application will be displayed on the first tab, and a built in web browser on the second tab.
The 'tabbed' displays for the application have been created using XAML markup in Visual Studio. I now want to add an instance of the Web browser that has also been written in C# to the second tab that I have created in the XAML markup.
It would be something like:
<TabControl>
<TabItem Header="Browser">
<StackPanel>
<!-- Call/ instantiate the browser here -->
</StackPanel>
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
But I have no idea how I call/ create an instance of the browser from within the XAML markup...
The browser has been created using C#:
namespace Agent
{
public partial class Browser : Form
{
public Browser()
{
...
}
}
}
Can anyone explain to me how a create an instance of Browser inside the ` of the XAML markup?
Edit
Ok, so I have edited my XAML markup as recommended in the answer that's been suggested- I now have:
<Window ...
xmlns:Agent="clr-namespace:Agent"
...>
<Grid>
...
<TabControl>
<TabItem Header="R">
<StackPanel>
...
</StackPanel>
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Browser">
<Agent:Browser x:Name="Browser" />
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
</Grid>
</Window>
I have also updated my Browser.cs class, so that it is now extending UserControl, rather than Form:
public partial class Browser : UserControl{
However, I am getting a compile error on the line:
<Agent:Browser x:Name="Browser" />
which says:
The name "Browser" does not exist in the namespace "clr-namespace:Agent".
But clearly Browser does exist in Agent, as shown by the code I've included here... In fact, when typing the line <Agent:Browser x:Name="Browser />, when I typed the :, Browser was one of the options that came up in the autocomplete menu...
What am I doing wrong here? Why doesn't the compiler think that Browser exists inside Agent?
The key to instantiating any object in XAML is to make sure the namespace is declared. You can provide any XML prefix and assign it to your CLR namespace (ref) and it will act like a using statement. For example:
<TabControl xmlns:agent="clr-namespace:Agent">
<TabItem Header="Browser">
<StackPanel>
<agent:Browser/>
</StackPanel>
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
NOTE: your object has to extend UIElement (or one of its children) for it to work in a XAML tree. If your control is a WinForms control you either need to find the equivalent XAML control or wrap it in a WindowsFormsHost (ref).
WPF vs. WinForms
The purpose of this section is to help recognize which platform code is by namespace, as well as some of the trade-offs. I've used both and can say from experience that they each have good points and... not so good points.
WinForms classes live in the System.Windows.Forms namespace, and are available by referencing the System.Windows.Forms.dll assembly.
WPF classes live in the System.Windows and System.Windows.Controls namespaces, and are available by referencing a set of DLLs
WinForms rendering is immediate. That means you are working against bitmaps and you are responsible for clearing and redrawing stuff yourself (usually you can just call Invalidate()). If you do heavy image bit manipulation, WinForms is easier to work with.
WPF rendering is declarative. That means more work is offloaded to your GPU and you just tell it how to draw stuff. You can also use GPU render shaders for special effects. WPF has a nicer look out of the box, but it has a reputation for making easy things difficult but impossible things possible.
WinForms is easier to learn, but has a dated look out of the box.
WPF is built around data binding, enabling the UI to update in response to property values automatically. It's also able to be completely restyled, although that is quite an undertaking.
If you are just getting started, I'd go ahead and bite the bullet to start the heavier learning curve for WPF. It will provide a basic understanding that transfers to other platforms like Windows Store apps, etc.
Firstly you need to place that tag inside of your UserControl opening tag like so:
<UserControl x:Class="View.testControl"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:Agent="clr-namespace:Agent">
Then you can use it like this:
<TabControl>
<TabItem Header="R">
<StackPanel>
...
</StackPanel>
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Browser">
<Agent:Browser x:Name="Browser" />
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
EDIT
From what you told me in the comments you will need to create a Custom Control in your WPF project. To do that you need to:
Right Click your Project;
Select Add New Item;
From Installed (which is in the left column) select WPF;
From the list in the middle column select Custom Control;
Now you can create that control in your XAML with xmlns attribute.
Here is a great example from msdn on how to create custom controls

DataContext in WPF

I am trying the following in my WPF application:
Structure of XAML elements.
DataTemplate[Data Type 'A']
Grid
Broder
TextBlock
I want to bind the text block's text property to a "string" which is derived from my "Users" class which is referenced in the resource dictionary of the XAML.
So in the above structure since the DataTemplate gets the feed from data type 'A'.
I want to assign the datacontext(Users) to the grid and bind the string to the textblock.
Is there a way i can achieve this ,since all my trials which include assigning the datacontext to the Grid or Border or TextBlock doesn't work.
Can any one suggest me or correct me if my approach is wrong here ?
This markup should suffice:
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:A}">
<Grid DataContext="{Binding Path=Users}">
<Border>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PropertyOnUsers}"/>
</Border>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
Make sure you have the namespace declared at the top of your Xaml. For whatever reason, WPF doesn't always automatically infer the template from the type if you don't use {x:Type ...}.
From there it should be straight forward.
If Users is a collection, you will have to drill into the collection to get a specific instance of User.
By the way, if you are using Visual Studio, you can use the Output window to debug binding issues.

Add behaviour to TextBlock silverlight 3

I want to add a behaviour to a TextBlock in silverlight 3.
I have a behaviour class in a c# file in a different project than my xaml file within my solution.
public class FooBehavior : Behavior<TextBlock>
{
...
}
How do I attach this behaviour to my TextBlock? Would be nice to do without involving c# code.
Include the following lines in the definition of your UserControl:
xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
xmlns:myBehaviors="clr-namespace:MyNamespace.Behaviors;assembly=MyAssembly"
Then on the TextBlock have this code:
<TextBlock .....>
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<myBehaviors:FooBehaviour/>
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
</TextBlock>
ChrisF has the correct answer for how to write the Xaml to add the behavior. However, if you have Blend it is even simpler.
Open your project in Blend
On the tools toolbar click the >> button
Click on Behaviors
Find your Behavior and Drag it over your TextBlock and drop it
Blend will add all the proper namespaces for you.

the value of type "..." cannot be added to a collection or dictionary of type 'uielementcollection'

I am getting the following error when I am adding a custom control via XAML. What can be the possible reason?
A value of type '...' cannot be added to a collection or dictionary of type 'UIElementCollection'
<Grid x:Name="QuantityDetail" DataContext="{StaticResource ViewModel}">
<GroupBox>
.....
<Label Style="{StaticResource ResourceKey=LabelValue}">Min</Label>
<!-- The following control -->
<NumericUpDown></NumericUpDown>
.....
</GroupBox>
</Grid>
Problem was that i was not referencing to one dll(which is referenced by numericupdown control) in my solution.
Actually NumericUpDown control is not my control, its present in different dll. And this control was refereing System.Windows.Controls.Input.Toolkit.dll. Now I am refereing it in my solution. And things are working
I had this intellise problem as well in our project (building was still possible), but not with an extern control. So maybe someone needs this answer...
The "problem" here was, that the UserControlXYZ.xaml was declared as but the UserControlXYZ.xaml.cs did not inherit from UserControl. So I had to add the UserControlXYZ :UserControl in xaml.cs (even though Resharper says base type is already specified and can be removed).
The compiler claims that your control is not an UIElement (i doubt that it is lying), what does your control inherit from?

WPF Custom Control - ItemsControl template not being applied

I'm building a custom WPF control that derives from TabControl. In the ControlTemplate, I'm using a ItemsControl to display a list that is being bound from the template (an observable collection of type FileMenuItem). During program execution, I'm getting the following error in the output window:
ItemTemplate and ItemTemplateSelector
are ignored for items already of the
ItemsControl's container type;
Type='FileMenuItem'
The type FileMenuItem is derived from MenuItem. If I change the base class to DependencyObject, the code actually runs and the template is applied (so that's an option). I googled the error and couldn't find anything about it, has anyone run into this while developing custom controls? Even though I have a workaround, I'd like to understand what's happening, and I think using the MenuItem as a base class is a cleaner implementation.
I can post more code if it would help. Thanks!
The purpose of a DataTemplate (like ItemTemplate) is to provide a visualization for a data object. Specifically, it defines a set of elements to add to the visual tree in place of the data given to an ContentPresenter or ItemsPresenter. In your case your source list is a collection of objects that are already able to be added directly to the visual tree for display in the UI.
You can see this in the following simplified example where only "Three" shows up in Red because the first two items are defined in a form that can be displayed directly by ComboBox.
<ComboBox>
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}" Foreground="Red"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<ComboBoxItem>One</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Two</ComboBoxItem>
<sys:String>Three</sys:String>
</ComboBox>

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