Trigger Storyboard on TextBlock Visibility.Visible - wpf

Question

I'm brand spanking new to WPF and XAML, so I'm sorry if this is a silly question:
I am trying to start a StoryBoard on a TextBlock that changes the text. I want to start this animation when the TextBlock becomes visible. It looks like the only events you can trigger inside of a TextBlock.Triggers bracket is an EventTrigger. If this is so, as far as I can see an EventTrigger needs a routed event, but IsVisibilityChanged isn't one. Since I can't use that, any ideas as to what I should do instead?
I have attached a sample of my code that isn't working (doesn't compile), just to illustrate what it is that I am trying to do:
<TextBlock Foreground="LightGray" Text="Payfast Running" Name="AnimatedTextBlock">
<TextBlock.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="Visibility" Value="Visible">
<Trigger.EnterActions>
<BeginStoryboard>
<Storyboard>
<StringAnimationUsingKeyFrames
Storyboard.TargetProperty="(TextBlock.Text)"
Duration="0:0:1.5"
Storyboard.TargetName="AnimatedTextBlock"
RepeatBehavior="Forever">
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running" KeyTime="0:0:0"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running." KeyTime="0:0:0:5"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running.." KeyTime="0:0:1"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running..." KeyTime="0:0:1:5"/>
</StringAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</BeginStoryboard>
</Trigger.EnterActions>
</Trigger>
</TextBlock.Triggers>
</TextBlock>
Lastly, I need to do this in markup, not CodeBehind, if possible.

Answer 1

You might need to wrap that all up into a style.
<TextBlock Foreground="LightGray" Text="Payfast Running" Name="AnimatedTextBlock">
<TextBlock.Style>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Visibility, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" Value="Visible">
<DataTrigger.EnterActions>
<BeginStoryboard>
<Storyboard>
<StringAnimationUsingKeyFrames
Storyboard.TargetProperty="(TextBlock.Text)"
Duration="0:0:1.5"
Storyboard.TargetName="AnimatedTextBlock"
RepeatBehavior="Forever">
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running" KeyTime="0:0:0"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running." KeyTime="0:0:0:5"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running.." KeyTime="0:0:1"/>
<DiscreteStringKeyFrame Value="Payfast Running..." KeyTime="0:0:1:5"/>
</StringAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</BeginStoryboard>
</DataTrigger.EnterActions>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</TextBlock.Style>
</TextBlock>

Answer 2

"I want to start this animation when the TextBlock becomes visible."
You could bind your TextBlock's Visibility to a boolean property (note that you have to add a resource for boolean-to-visibility conversion):
<Window.Resources>
<BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key="BooleanToVisibilityConverter"/>
</Window.Resources>
...
<TextBlock Visibility="{Binding Path=ReadyToPlay, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisConverter}}"/>
And then, in your ReadyToPlay property's setter method, you could add an if statement that checks for whether or not to start your Storyboard:
if (value) {
// start Storyboard:
// find Storyboard instance and call Begin() method on it
}
By doing this, when ReadyToPlay becomes true, the TextBlock will become visible and the Storyboard will begin simultaneously.