#83 – Collection Syntax for Read-Only Vs. Read-Write Properties

October 3, 2010 Leave a comment

When using the XAML collection syntax for a collection-based property that is read/write, the inclusion of an object element representing the collection object is optional.

E.g. Because FrameworkElement.Resources is read/write, we can list a series of resources using either of the following forms.

 <!-- Create new ResourceDictionary, assign to Resources property -->
 <Window.Resources>
     <ResourceDictionary>
         <SolidColorBrush x:Key="redBrush" Color="Red"/>
         <SolidColorBrush x:Key="indigoBrush" Color="Indigo"/>
     </ResourceDictionary>
 </Window.Resources>

 <!-- Omit ResourceDictionary, use collection syntax, new resources added to existing collection -->
 <Window.Resources>
     <SolidColorBrush x:Key="redBrush" Color="Red"/>
     <SolidColorBrush x:Key="indigoBrush" Color="Indigo"/>
 </Window.Resources>

However, for read-only collection properties, because you can’t create a new instance of the collection and assign it to the property, you must use the collection syntax, omitting the object element for the collection.

 <StackPanel.Children>
     <!-- Children property is read-only, so we can't include UIElementCollection element here -->
     <Button Content="Button" Height="25" Width="50" />
<ComboBox Height="23" Width="120" />
 </StackPanel.Children>
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#80 – Content Properties and Collection Syntax Express UIElement Containment

September 30, 2010 Leave a comment

Using both a content property and the collection syntax is quite common in XAML and often expresses containment of a collection of UIElement objects in a parent container.

For example, the StackPanel is a parent control, containing a number of child controls:

 <StackPanel>
     <Label Content="A label" Height="28" />
     <Button Content="Click Me" Height="23" />
 </StackPanel>

In this example, containment is expressed by listing the child controls contained in the StackPanel as child elements in XAML.

This containment shorthand is possible for two reasons:

  • StackPanel‘s content property is Children, an UIElementCollection
  • We can specify the members of the UIElementCollection using collection syntax, by listing its members

All containers that inherit from System.Windows.Controls.Panel have Children as their content property–including Grid, StackPanel, Canvas, WrapPanel, etc.

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#77 – XAML Collection Syntax

September 27, 2010 6 Comments

When setting  a property value in XAML for a property that represents some sort of collection, you can directly specify the children of the collection as a series of elements.

For example, to create some entries in a ListBox, you can do the following:

 <ListBox Height="100" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="64,66,0,0" Name="listBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120">
     <ListBox.Items>
         <ListBoxItem Content="Oak"/>
         <ListBoxItem Content="Red Pine"/>
         <ListBoxItem Content="Larch"/>
     </ListBox.Items>
 </ListBox>

The ListBox.Items property is of type ItemCollection, so you might expect to see the tag <ItemCollection> under the property element <ListBox.Items>.  But because the Items property is a collection, you can just list the child elements of the collection directly.

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