#1,184 – Where Data Templates Are Used, part II

A data template is typically set as the value of the ContentTemplate property of a ContentControl or the ItemTemplate property of an ItemsControl.

The ContentTemplate and ItemTemplate properties are typically used as follows:

• The ContentTemplate is used as the ContentTemplate of a ContentPresenter, which is itself contained in the control’s control template
• The ItemTemplate is used as the ContentTemplate for each item presented by an ItemsPresenter (e.g. used as ContentTemplate for a ListBoxItem).

Below is a fragment of the default control template for a Label. You can see that it contains a ContentPresenter that has its ContentTemplate set to the ContentTemplate of the parent control.

                    <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
                        <Border BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}" SnapsToDevicePixels="True">
                            <ContentPresenter ContentTemplate="{TemplateBinding ContentTemplate}" Content="{TemplateBinding Content}" ContentStringFormat="{TemplateBinding ContentStringFormat}" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" RecognizesAccessKey="True" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"/>
                        </Border>
                        <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                            <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False">
                                <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.GrayTextBrushKey}}"/>
                            </Trigger>
                        </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    </ControlTemplate>