Using C# instead of XAML in Silverlight

Question

Is XAML really necessary? If someone really wanted to, could everything displayed on a Silverlight page be declared at runtime in the C# code? VISIFire has example code where they set up one of their classes, chart, in the C# code and then simply add it to the user interface with a simple C# call:

LayoutRoot.Children.Add(chart);

How would I do a similar creation with a class I already have defined in the XAML file but because of other reasons I need to declare it at runtime? If I could use it as it is in XAML I think it would work because there are no errors with its display. It is declared like this:

        <views:PrescriberPage01 x:Name="DashboardPrescriberPage01" 
    Visibility="Collapsed" SelectedProduct="{Binding SelectedProduct,
 Mode=TwoWay}"Grid.Row ="0"/>

How would I declare that in C# code?

XAML is preferable to describe user interface, in declarative way — Sergey K
– Sergey K, Commented Jul 1, 2011 at 13:28
XAML not only for developers, but also for designers. What do you think, how designer will change style of control from code? Why he/she must learn C# or VB.Net? If you need to see your control and you are working only with C# code, then you can see control only by running application. And one more thing. Try to use binding from code and from XAML. You must see how many code you will need to write for it. — Samvel Siradeghyan
– Samvel Siradeghyan, Commented Jul 1, 2011 at 14:16

Avada Kedavra · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 14:49:04Z

3

Is XAML really necessary?

I suppose no, you can probably do everything that you can do in XAML in code. But XAML is really, really a much, much more convenient way to go. And I think few would dissagree with this.

How would I declare that in C# code?

You can create bindings in code. Example from MSDN. In your situation it would be something like:

PrescriberPage01 page = new PrescriberPage01();
page.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;

Binding myBinding = new Binding("SelectedProduct");
myBinding.Mode = BindingMode.TwoWay;
myBinding.Source = this; // or whatever object carrying the property
                         // "SelectedProduct" that you bind against.

page.SetBinding(PrescriberPage01.SelectedProduct, myBinding);
LayoutRoot.Children.Add(page);

edited Jul 1, 2011 at 14:49

answered Jul 1, 2011 at 13:34

Avada Kedavra

8,6995 gold badges35 silver badges48 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Sergey K · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 13:29:08Z

1

XAML is preferable to describe user interface, in declarative way and I recommend use XAML without code behind and also I would recommend look at MVVM pattern

answered Jul 1, 2011 at 13:29

Sergey K

4,1162 gold badges25 silver badges36 bronze badges

Comments

Lukasz Madon · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 13:43:21Z

1

I would rather say "Is C# really necessary for GUIs when I can use XAML" ? XAML is really good and was explicitly design for GUI.

You have two options here. Load your XAML dynamicly.

Or create it in code. (other posted the solution while i was typing AGAIN! ;) )

answered Jul 1, 2011 at 13:43

Lukasz Madon

15.1k16 gold badges70 silver badges110 bronze badges

1 Comment

Avada Kedavra Over a year ago

+1 for '"Is C# really necessary for GUIs when I can use XAML" ?'

EvilProgJunior · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 15:57:19Z

0

Simple controls are easy but... you might also want some styling done to those objects + you might want an animation or two... this is already(mostly) provided in xaml ... and it is uber easy... If u hate xaml so much you might want to think about "Blend";p

answered Jul 1, 2011 at 15:57

EvilProgJunior

72 bronze badges

Comments

David · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 17:07:13Z

0

One specific example of something you can't create without Xaml is a DataTemplate.

You can write code which will create a DataTemplate from a XAML string, but you can't add children to a newed up DataTemplate directly in c#.

answered Jul 1, 2011 at 17:07

David

1,52911 silver badges11 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using C# instead of XAML in Silverlight

5 Answers 5

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related