CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wpfxmlxamlnaming-conventions
emesx
emesx

Reputation: 12755

XAML namespace naming conventions

I have a C# WPF project, namespaced test. How should I name sub-namespaces in XAML?

<Window x:Class="test.MainWindow"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"      
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:test"
    xmlns:local.c="clr-namespace:test.Converters"   
    xmlns:local.v="clr-namespace:test.Validators"       
    Title="MainWindow" Height="360" Width="640"> ....

Here I have a convention of separating the sub-packages with a period.. Is it okay?

Kind regards,

e.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 2168

Answers (2)

Paul Stovell
Paul Stovell

Reputation: 32715

A better practice, if possible, would be to separate the C# namespaces that you use from the WPF namespaces. This will also reduce the number of imports that you have. This can be done thanks to the XmlnsDefinition class. 

<Window x:Class="test.MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"      
  xmlns:test="http://whatever.com/test">

In the AssemblyInfo.cs of your libraries, you'll just need to add:

[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://whatever.com/test", "test")]
[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://whatever.com/test", "test.Converters")]
[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://whatever.com/test", "test.Validators")]
[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://whatever.com/test", "test.CustomControls")]

Note that this will only work if the classes are in a different assembly to the one you are referencing them from. Within the same assembly, you'll still need to use the C# namespaces.

You can even eliminate the imports altogether by adding your namespaces to the WPF XML namespace:

[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation", "test")]
[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation", "test.Converters")]
[assembly: XmlnsDefinition("http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation", "test.Validators")]

That allows people to write:

<Window x:Class="test.MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"      
  >
  <!-- Note: no namespace prefix needed! -->
  <YourCustomControl />

Upvotes: 10

Metro Smurf
Metro Smurf

Reputation: 38335

The typical WPF application really doesn't have a namespace convention for the XAML, other than the default xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml", the Blend design time namespace and xmlns:local which will typically refer to the current namespace.

In the scenario you described above, I've seen/used a few variants, i.e.,

<Window x:Class="test.MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"      
  xmlns:local="clr-namespace:test"
  xmlns:c="clr-namespace:test.Converters"   
  xmlns:v="clr-namespace:test.Validators">

or

<Window x:Class="test.MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"      
  xmlns:local="clr-namespace:test"
  xmlns:conv="clr-namespace:test.Converters"   
  xmlns:val="clr-namespace:test.Validators">

In the end, it's really up to whatever you and your team agree upon.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions