Transfer Content value of a UserControl to a Control inside it - silverlight

Question

I need to extend the bing maps control to be more user MVVM friendly (in specific the ZoomLevel and the BoundingRect properties are not Dependency Properties). I am wrapping the control in a custom usercontrol (I also need to add elements to make other map choices e.g. google maps). I need to transfer the Content Value of the UserControl to the BingMapsControl :
<UserControl x:Class="RevOptWebControls.MVVMMapControl"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d"
xmlns:m="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Maps.MapControl;assembly=Microsoft.Maps.MapControl"
xmlns:mCore="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Maps.MapControl.Core;assembly=Microsoft.Maps.MapControl"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400"
x:Name="Root">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">
<m:Map CredentialsProvider="Al_H1LepP6chseYMu31RK76El6k4SUkx2KVrxeqobE3rTXooFPieuEJ6qiuA211I"
CopyrightVisibility="Collapsed"
LogoVisibility="Collapsed"
ScaleVisibility="Visible"
NavigationVisibility="Visible"
x:Name="MyMap">
</m:Map>
<ComboBox x:Name="c_MapTypes" HorizontalAlignment="Right" VerticalAlignment="Top" SelectedIndex="0" Height="30" SelectionChanged="MapTypes_SelectionChanged">
<ComboBoxItem>Google Roads</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Google Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Bing Maps Roads</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Bing Maps Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Open Street Maps</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Yahoo Street</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Yahoo Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Blank Map</ComboBoxItem>
</ComboBox>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Update : Figured out how to do it. Shared the control source code as well : http://basaratali.blogspot.com/2010/12/mvvm-version-of-bing-maps-with-google.html

Answer 1

Why not try a Custom Control with custom template. Use
`{TemplateBinding Content}`
to bind Content with Map control.
Example:
<Style TargetType="local:MVVMMapControl">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="local:MVVMMapControl">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot"
Background="White">
<m:Map CredentialsProvider="Al_H1LepP6chseYMu31RK76El6k4SUkx2KVrxeqobE3rTXooFPieuEJ6qiuA211I"
CopyrightVisibility="Collapsed"
LogoVisibility="Collapsed"
ScaleVisibility="Visible"
NavigationVisibility="Visible"
x:Name="MyMap"
Content="{TemplateBinding ContentControl.Content}"></m:Map>
<ComboBox x:Name="c_MapTypes"
HorizontalAlignment="Right"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
SelectedIndex="0"
Height="30"
SelectionChanged="MapTypes_SelectionChanged">
<ComboBoxItem>Google Roads</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Google Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Bing Maps Roads</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Bing Maps Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Open Street Maps</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Yahoo Street</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Yahoo Aerial</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Blank Map</ComboBoxItem>
</ComboBox>
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Class:
public class MVVMMapControl : ContentControl // Notice this inherits from ContentControl for its Content Property
{
public MVVMMapControl()
{
this.DefaultStyleKey = typeof(MVVMMapControl);
}
}