CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#wpfxamlresourcedictionary
Roy T.
Roy T.

Reputation: 9638

Add plain XAML element from separate file into resource dictionary

I have a xaml file with the following contents

Icon.xaml

<Rectangle xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
           xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
           x:Name="Icon"
           Width="16" Height="16">
<!-- Fancy DrawingBrush here to make a sweet icon -->
</Rectangle>

As you can see the there is no resource dictionary or custom class in the file.

Now I would like to include Icon.xaml in a resource dictionary and then use it everywhere in my code:

<Button Content="{StaticResource Icon}"/>

However, I do not understand how I can tell a resource dictionary to just include the contents of a plain XAML file.

Note that I'm not trying to load the XAML file at runtime, Icon.xaml is compiled into the application.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1619

Answers (2)

Roy T.
Roy T.

Reputation: 9638

It took some adjustments but this was the code I finally settled on:

I removed the bounding rectangle from the DrawingBrush since that is the only thing I realy wanted:

Icon.xaml

<DrawingBrush xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation">
    <DrawingBrush.Drawing>
        <DrawingGroup>
            <DrawingGroup.Children>
                <GeometryDrawing Brush="#00FFFFFF" Geometry="F1M16,16L0,16 0,0 16,0z" />
                <GeometryDrawing Brush="{StaticResource IconForegroundBrush}" Geometry="F1M8.999,1C7.814,1,6.666,1.422,5.768,2.188L3.992,3.692 3.992,1 1.994,3 1.994,5 1.994,6 1.994,7 5.99,7 7.988,5 5.54,5 7.061,3.713C7.6,3.253 8.289,3 8.999,3 10.651,3 11.996,4.346 11.996,6 11.996,6.877 11.613,7.708 10.936,8.29L5.34,13.252 6.664,14.748 12.248,9.797C13.358,8.846 13.994,7.461 13.994,6 13.994,3.243 11.753,1 8.999,1" />
            </DrawingGroup.Children>
        </DrawingGroup>
    </DrawingBrush.Drawing>
</DrawingBrush>

I've also set the build action for Icon.xaml to Resource instead of Page.

I've created a helper class IconLocator to load the icon for me:

public static DrawingBrush Icon => Load("Icon.xaml");

private static DrawingBrush Load(string fileName)
{
    var uri = new Uri(Prefix + fileName);
    var info = Application.GetResourceStream(uri);            
    var brush = XamlReader.Load(info.Stream) as DrawingBrush;

    return brush;
}

I can now use this DrawingBrush everywhere:

<Border Background="{x:Static res:IconLocator.Icon}"/>

Upvotes: 2

ivica.moke
ivica.moke

Reputation: 1064

Have you tried to put it in app.xaml as MergedDictionaries

<Application x:Class="WPF.App"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
    <Application.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
          <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
             <ResourceDictionary Source="FolderWhereIsYourIconXaml/Icon.xaml" />
          </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </Application.Resources>
</Application>

That way you can just call it like {StaticResource Icon}

But you will have to make it a ResouceDictionary.

Upvotes: 0

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