#836 – Setting a ContentControl’s Content to a CLR Object

You’ll typically set the Content property of a content control to an instance of an UIElement, which will typically include one or more controls.  (E.g. On a Button).

You can also set a Content property to a plain CLR object, i.e. an object that derives from System.Object.  When you do this, a content control will render the object by calling its ToString method.

In the example below, a Tooltip’s content is set to an instance of a Dog class.  When the tooltip is displayed, the dog’s ToString method is called.

<Window.Resources>
    <local:Dog x:Key="myDog" Name="Kirby" Age="15" FavToy="Tennis ball"/>
</Window.Resources>

<StackPanel DataContext="{StaticResource myDog}">
    <Label Content="{Binding Name}" Margin="10"
           ToolTip="{Binding}"/>
</StackPanel>

Assume that the ToString method dumps out the contents of the object:

        public override string ToString()
        {
            StringBuilder sbValue = new StringBuilder(string.Format("Dog {0}:\n", Name));
            sbValue.AppendFormat("  Age: {0}\n", Age);
            sbValue.AppendFormat("  Favorite Toy: {0}\n", FavToy);

            return sbValue.ToString();
        }