How do you clone a path resource in Silverlight? - silverlight

Question

I have a resource defined in my Xaml file as follows:
<Path x:Key="myPath"
Data="M14.773241,18.080208 C12.373256,18.080208 10.239936,19.30687 10.239936,27.573483
L10.239936,36.106766 C10.239936,45.440037 12.586588,46.506699 14.986573,46.506699
C18.613216,46.506699 19.359879,42.400059 19.359879,35.3601 L19.359879,27.733482
C19.359879,20.05353 17.386559,18.080208 14.773241,18.080208 z M14.879907,11.786915
C17.973221,11.786915 22.293194,13.013573 24.906511,17.920212 C26.773167,21.386856
27.519829,27.093487 27.519829,32.213455 C27.519829,34.506775 27.306496,41.706726
24.906511,46.453365 C23.626518,49.013351 20.906536,52.799992 15.199905,52.799992
C2.1333201,52.799992 2.1333201,37.600086 2.1333201,32.160122 C2.1333201,28.05348
2.1333201,22.666847 4.4266391,18.453541 C5.8666301,15.840225 8.639946,11.786915
14.879907,11.786915 z"
/>
I want to able to add multiple "instances" of this path (and several others) to a StackPanel. Of course, I can't simply add "myPath" to the panel since it's already a child of another container.
However, I can't seem to be able to clone the path either. I've tried:
Path clone = new Path()
{
Data = source.Data
};
But no luck...exception about value being out of expected range.
Finally, I tried digging into source.Data (a PathGeometry), but it contains no PathFigures...I have no idea why, since the Path does render if I copy it from the resource section to a panel directly.
What gives?
Thanks,
Sergio

Answer 1

Put the path data in a string resource:
<Page.Resources>
<system:String x:Key="PathData">
M14.773241,18.080208 C12.373256,18.080208 10.239936,19.30687 10.239936,27.573483
L10.239936,36.106766 C10.239936,45.440037 12.586588,46.506699 14.986573,46.506699
C18.613216,46.506699 19.359879,42.400059 19.359879,35.3601 L19.359879,27.733482
C19.359879,20.05353 17.386559,18.080208 14.773241,18.080208 z M14.879907,11.786915
C17.973221,11.786915 22.293194,13.013573 24.906511,17.920212 C26.773167,21.386856
27.519829,27.093487 27.519829,32.213455 C27.519829,34.506775 27.306496,41.706726
24.906511,46.453365 C23.626518,49.013351 20.906536,52.799992 15.199905,52.799992
C2.1333201,52.799992 2.1333201,37.600086 2.1333201,32.160122 C2.1333201,28.05348
2.1333201,22.666847 4.4266391,18.453541 C5.8666301,15.840225 8.639946,11.786915
14.879907,11.786915 z
</system:String>
</Page.Resources>
And to use it:
<Path x:Name="Path1" Data="{StaticResource PathData}" Fill="Blue" ... />
<Path x:Name="Path2" Data="{StaticResource PathData}" Fill="Red" ... />
You'll need this in your XAML declaration:
xmlns:system="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
If you want to create paths programmatically using a common path string, Silverlight is missing a bit of key functionality that WPF has -- so you have to kludge it:
string pathXaml =
#"<Path xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation""
xmlns:x=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml""
Data=""path_data_goes_here"" />";
Path path = (Path)System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(pathXaml);