I just have to write about design data because it makes my life so much easier. More than I could imaging before I started to use it.
There are two ways for creating design data; Either you let Expression Blend do it for you or you just write your own in visual studio. Basically it is a xml file representing your model.
Creating
The fast way:
- Right click a view (or any xaml-file) in your project and choose "Open in Expresion Blend"
- Click here:
- Choose "Create sample data from class" and then pick your class. Piece of cake.
The slow and hardcore way:
- Add a folder to your solution. Let's call it SampleData (or whatever you want).
- Add a class called something like ItemSampleData.xaml.
- Set the property BuildAction to DesignData on ItemSampleData.xaml
Example: ItemSampleData.xaml
<YourNamespace:Item xmlns:YourNamespace="clr-namespace:YourNamespace"
LineOne="Aenean nam mauris"
LineTwo="Nullam curabitur"
TheNumber="89">
<YourNamespace:Item.OtherItem>
<YourNamespace:OtherItem OtherLineOne="Vestibulum cras sed"
OtherLineTwo="Integer aptent praesent class dis"
OtherLineThree="Adipiscing maecenas aliquam" />
</YourNamespace:Item.OtherItem>
<YourNamespace:Item.OtherItems>
<YourNamespace:OtherItem OtherLineOne="Curae parturient est duis hac"
OtherLineTwo="Nunc amet"
OtherLineThree="Auctor accumsan" />
<YourNamespace:OtherItem OtherLineOne="Ante bibendum congue leo vestibulum"
OtherLineTwo="Dictumst arcu cursus nec"
OtherLineThree="Phasellus donec etiam mus" />
</YourNamespace:Item.OtherItems>
</YourNamespace:Item>
Example: The fancy classes
public class Item
{
public string LineOne { get; set; }
public string LineTwo { get; set; }
public int TheNumber { get; set; }
public OtherItem OtherItem { get; set; }
public List<OtherItem> OtherItems { get; set; }
}
public class OtherItem
{
public string OtherLineOne { get; set; }
public string OtherLineTwo { get; set; }
public string OtherLineThree { get; set; }
}
Binding
Bind the design data to your control:
<UserControl x:Class="YourNameSpace.YourItemControl"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
d:DataContext="{d:DesignData /SampleData/ItemSampleData.xaml}"
DataContext="{Binding}">
..or in a smaller context..
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding OtherItems}"
d:DataContext="{d:DesignData /SampleData/ItemSampleData.xaml}" />