XAML Extend style of a control - superclass template is taken instead - wpf

We have a custom XCombobox with its own style, and a subclass YCombobox with its own style as well (most pseudo).
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:XComboBox}">
<Setter Property="Template"/> <!-- some XCombo template, height e.g. 30 -->
<Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:YComboBox}">
<Setter Property="Template"/> <!-- some YCombo template, height e.g. 30 -->
<Style>
Now, I'm having a panel with multiple comboboxes, XCombo's and YCombo's from which I want to alter the height. Instead of setting the height for each control individually, I thought to use the construction:
<Grid.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type x:XComboBox}">
<Setter Property="Height" Value="25"/> <!-- custom height for all XCombo on this page-->
<Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type x:YComboBox}">
<Setter Property="Height" Value="25"/> <!-- custom heigth -->
<Style>
<x:XCombo />
<x:XCombo />
<x:XCombo />
<x:YCombo />
<x:YCombo />
<x:YCombo />
</Grid.Resources>
The custom OnApplyTemplate pointed out that a PART was missing; from which I noticed that adding a local override to YCombo, its template had changed to the XCombo template.
I had also tried to add the basedOn, but without success:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type x:YComboBox}" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type x:YComboBox}}">
<Setter Property="Height" Value="25"/> <!-- custom heigth-->
<Style>
If anybody has a clue I'd appreciate it.
N.b. I prefer to avoid to setting a style to each combo.

Related

How to make an exception for Application.Resources style in a specific Grid.Resources

I am doing small WPF app for my own using Visual Studio, C#, .NET Standard and WPF in this specific project.
I have defined style for all TextBlocks and TextBoxes in Applications.Resources like below.
<Application.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TextBox">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="10"/>
</Style>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="10"/>
</Style>
</Application.Resources>
Then in main window I have a grid which contains some buttons.
<Grid>
<Grid.Resources>
<Style TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="50" />
</Style>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="50"/>
</Style>
</Grid.Resources>
<Button Grid.Column="0" Content="DASHBOARD" Command="local:CustomCommands.ShowDashboard"/>
</Grid>
I would like to set for the textblocks/textboxes in this specific buttons a wider font.
I tried for many different syntax but could not manage it. I tried also do define x:Key for this style in Grid.Resources and use it in this specific Button control. This wasn't work either.
Can anyone let me know which way should I let know my application that text in this buttons would have bigger font size?
The TextBlock created for string contents by the ContentPresenter inside the Button template doesn't apply the locally-defined resources, i.e. those in your Grid.
The easiest way to solve your problem would be to explicitly define a TextBlock as the Button's content.
<Grid>
<Grid.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="50"/>
</Style>
</Grid.Resources>
<Button Grid.Column="0" Command="local:CustomCommands.ShowDashboard">
<TextBlock Text="DASHBOARD" />
</Button>
</Grid>

DataPicker Button influenced by a global styling on all Buttons

I'm maintaining a big old C#/WPF application in which a style has been set globally for all buttons It can sound ugly, but I can't change this without refactoring the whole app.
Here is an extract of this style:
<Style TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="Height" Value="32"/>
<Setter Property="MinWidth" Value="96"/>
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="10"/>
</Style>
The problem is that when I want to use a DatePicker, this global style influenced the appearance of the DataPicker:
Is there a simple way to restore the default Margin, Height and MinWidth only for the Button inside the DatePicker?
You can override the Style for the Buttons locally. The following XAML sets the Style for all Buttons inside the DatePicker back to the default Style.
<DatePicker>
<DatePicker.Resources>
<!-- Default Style -->
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}"/>
</DatePicker.Resources>
</DatePicker>
Edit
As requested in the comments, a Style to fix this issue globally
<Style TargetType="{x:Type DatePicker}">
<Style.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}"/>
</Style.Resources>
</Style>
Note: This Style should be placed in the same hierarchy-context as the Button Style.

Overriding single property setter from ResourceDictionary

I have a style defined in a file called MyStyles.xaml:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="10" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Arial" />
<EventSetter Event="CellUpdating" Handler="grid_CellUpdating"/>
</Style>
In one of my views, I have a XamDataGrid defined:
<igDP:XamDataGrid>
<igDP:XamDataGrid.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="/MyProject.TheViews;component/Views/MyStyles.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}}">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="70"/>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
</igDP:XamDataGrid.Resources>
Basically, I want to keep everything that is defined in the style for XamDatagrid in MyStyles.xaml except for the font size, which I want to be set to 70.
I can't seem to get it to work. With the above, the font is set to 70 but I lose the other settings that are defined in MyStyles (such as the event handling and font family).
What am I doing wrong here?
(Extracting an answer from comments above.)
For overriding the style, I would suggest the following:
Define 2 styles in MyStyles.xaml: a named one which contains the style, and the unnamed one (this will be the default style) simply based on the named one
<Style x:Key="XamDataGridDefaultStyle" TargetType="{x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="10" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Arial" />
<EventSetter Event="CellUpdating" Handler="grid_CellUpdating"/>
</Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}"
BasedOn="{StaticResource XamDataGridDefaultStyle}"/>
This will define the needed default style for all the views.
For the resources of the view where the customization is needed, define the following override:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type igDP:XamDataGrid}"
BasedOn="{StaticResource XamDataGridDefaultStyle}">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="70"/>
</Style>
You'll perhaps need to reference MyStyles.xaml as merged dictionary in the resources of the customized view for StaticResource to work.

WPF - Use control inheritance for standard-styled controls?

I have a WPF application with many windows and user controls, and I'd like to implement standard styles for certain controls that appear throughout the application. As an example, say I need two standard TextBlocks throughout the application: one for large headings, one for small headings. And the only difference between them is the font size, say 36 and 24 respectively. All other properties (color, fontfamily, etc.) could be set by a TextBlock template or global TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}" styles.
Of course I could create two global named styles that just set the font size and apply those staticresource styles liberally throughout the XAML to my TextBlocks, or at the highest possible level above the TextBlocks that would not interfere with other TextBlocks. But as an alternative, which would remove the requirement for setting the Style tag in many places, is inheriting from TextBlock is a good way to go?
TextBlock controls:
class TextBlockLargeHeading : TextBlock
{
public TextBlockLargeHeading()
{ }
}
class TextBlockSmallHeading : TextBlock
{
public TextBlockSmallHeading()
{ }
}
Global resource:
<Application.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red" />
</Style>
<Style TargetType="MyApp:TextBlockLargeHeading" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type TextBlock}}" >
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="36" />
</Style>
<Style TargetType="MyApp:TextBlockSmallHeading" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type TextBlock}}" >
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="24" />
</Style>
</Application.Resources>
Then, to use them anywhere, simply reference the custom textblocks:
<StackPanel>
<MyApp:TextBlockLargeHeading Text="Large" />
<MyApp:TextBlockSmallHeading Text="Small" />
</StackPanel>
Which would create two Red TextBlocks with the appropriate font sizes.
Is this a reasonable approach? Are there any gotcha's if I've got 100's of instances of these, maintainability-wise or otherwise? Is there a better (safer or less code/XAML) approach? Perhaps using User Controls instead?
Thanks!
There's no reason to do all that. Create your styles and use them directly.
....
<Style x:Key="DefaultTextBlockStyle" TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red" />
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="24" />
</Style>
<Style x:Key="LargeTextBlockStyle" TargetType="TextBlock" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTextBlockStyle}">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="36" />
</Style>
<!-- Style applies to all TextBoxes -->
<Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTextBlockStyle}" />
...
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="Large" Style="{StaticResource LargeTextBlockStyle}"/>
<TextBlock Text="Small"/>
</StackPanel>

Can you define multiple TargetTypes for one XAML style?

In HTML/CSS you can define a style which can be applied to many types of elements, e.g.:
.highlight {
color:red;
}
can be applied to both P and DIV, e.g.:
<p class="highlight">this will be highlighted</p>
<div class="highlight">this will also be highlighted</div>
but in XAML you seem to have to define the TargetType for styles, otherwise you get an error:
<Style x:Key="formRowLabel" TargetType="TextBlock">
is there a way to allow a XAML style to be applied to multiple elements or even to leave it open as in CSS?
The setters in WPF styles are checked during compile time; CSS styles are applied dynamically.
You have to specify a type so that WPF can resolve the properties in the setters to the dependency properties of that type.
You can set the target type to base classes that contain the properties you want and then apply that style to derived classes. For example, you could create a style for Control objects and then apply it to multiple types of controls (Button, TextBox, CheckBox, etc)
<Style x:Key="Highlight" TargetType="{x:Type Control}">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Style>
...
<Button Style="{StaticResource Highlight}" Content="Test"/>
<TextBox Style="{StaticResource Highlight}" Text="Test"/>
<CheckBox Style="{StaticResource Highlight}" Content="Test"/>
<!-- Header text style -->
<Style x:Key="headerTextStyle">
<Setter Property="Label.VerticalAlignment" Value="Center"></Setter>
<Setter Property="Label.FontFamily" Value="Trebuchet MS"></Setter>
<Setter Property="Label.FontWeight" Value="Bold"></Setter>
<Setter Property="Label.FontSize" Value="18"></Setter>
<Setter Property="Label.Foreground" Value="#0066cc"></Setter>
</Style>
<!-- Label style -->
<Style x:Key="labelStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
<Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Top" />
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left" />
<Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold" />
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,0,0,5" />
</Style>
I think both of these methods of declaring a style might answer your question.
In the first one, there is no TargetType specified, but the property names are prefixed with 'Label'. In the second one, the style is created for Label objects.
Another method to do it is:
<UserControl.Resources>
<Style x:Key="commonStyle" TargetType="Control">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="24"/>
</Style>
<Style BasedOn="{StaticResource commonStyle}" TargetType="ListBox"/>
<Style BasedOn="{StaticResource commonStyle}" TargetType="ComboBox"/>
</UserControl.Resources>
I wanted to apply a style to a Textblock and a TextBox but the selected answer didn't work for me because Textblock doesn't inherit from Control, in my case I wanted to affect the Visibility property, so I used FrameworkElement
<Style x:Key="ShowIfRequiredStyle" TargetType="{x:Type FrameworkElement}">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding ShowIfRequiredStyle, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" Value="true">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Visible"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<TextBlock Style="{StaticResource ResourceKey=ShowIfRequiredStyle}"/>
<TextBox Style="{StaticResource ResourceKey=ShowIfRequiredStyle}"/>
This works for the Visibility property because both items inherit from Frameworkelement and the property is defined there. Of course this will not work for properties defined only in Control, you can search the hierarchy tree and try to find a base class, anyway I thought this could help someone since this is a top search result and the selected answer is a little incomplete.
There is an alternative answer to the question. You CAN leave the TargetType parameter off the style altogether which will allow it to apply to various different controls, but only if you prefix the property name with "Control."
<Style x:Key="Highlight">
<Setter Property="Control.Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Style>
Obviously, this only works for properties of the base control class. If you tried to set ItemsSource say, it would fail because there is no Control.ItemsSource
I got this working
<Style x:Key="HeaderStyleThin" TargetType="{x:Type Border}">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Black" />
<Style.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
<Setter Property="Background=" Value="Red" />
</Style>
</Style.Resources>
</Style>

Resources