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ResourceDictionary not found in design time

I have some shared resources that I have bundled within a resource dictionary. The following code works as expected (The resources are loaded at design time and intellisense works perfect.):
Alternative 1:
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MyCompany.Helpers.UI;component/Resources/SharedResources.xaml"></ResourceDictionary>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
At this point I changed the code to:
Alternative 2:
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="{x:Static appCode:DesignResource.GlobalResource}"></ResourceDictionary>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
public static class DesignResource
{
public static Uri GlobalResource
{
get { return new Uri("pack://application:,,,/MyCompany.Helpers.UI;component/Resources/SharedResources.xaml"); }
}
}
Now Intellisense only gives me: "An error occured while finding the resource dictionary". Am I missing something? Why does Alternative 2 not work?

Xamarin.Forms MergedDictionaries

I have created few XAML styles and added them all into App.xaml.cs as MergedDictionaries
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Application xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
x:Class="Axon.Mobile.App">
<Application.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/Colors.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/GlobalStylesDictionary.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/KeyStylesDictionary.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/ReceptionStylesDictionary.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/PutAwayStylesDictionary.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ResourceDictionaries/ViewModelLocatorDictionary.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>
</Application>
This soolution is working when I use style defined in any dictionary as StatisResouce i.e:
<Label TextColor="{StaticResource Test1}"/>
However I would like to create dynamic resources and in that case I need to replace the styles in C#. The problem is that
Application.Current.Resources
contains these 6 another dictionaries as MergedDictionary property. All of given dictionaries are empty.
Why can't I get the defined styles in C#?

That's strange but I've noticed that we can only access resources located in MergedDictionaries using the TryGetValue method for the moment:
if (Application.Current.Resources.TryGetValue("StyleResourceKey", out var objectStyle))
{
var style = (Style)objectStyle;
//Edit your style
}

Nesting ResourceDictionaries with MergedDictionaries in UWP

I'm trying to split up a ResourceDictionary containing styles for multiple controls in our current UWP application. The file has grown to about 3000 lines and has become a living hell to manage, so I decided to split it up into smaller, more specific ResourceDictionaries and include them using MergedDictionaries.
App.xaml
<common:BootStrapper x:Class="Asteria.Ion.App"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:common="using:Template10.Common"
xmlns:styles="using:Asteria.Ion.Styles"
RequestedTheme="Dark">
<common:BootStrapper.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles\Custom.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles\CustomControls.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</common:BootStrapper.Resources>
</common:BootStrapper>
CustomControls.xaml contains references to other ResourceDictionaries.
<ResourceDictionary
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:controls="using:Template10.Controls"
xmlns:behaviors="using:Template10.Behaviors"
xmlns:interactivity="using:Microsoft.Xaml.Interactivity"
xmlns:local="using:Asteria.Ion.Styles">
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Shared.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="Templates.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="ComponentBlock.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="FlowAgent.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="Planning.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="ProjectDialog.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="Inspector.xaml" /-->
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
This will always produce the following exception:
Failed to assign to property 'Windows.UI.Xaml.ResourceDictionary.Source' because the type 'Windows.Foundation.String' cannot be assigned to the type 'Windows.Foundation.Uri'. [Line: 12 Position: 37]
I've tried changing the source URI numerous times, but it keeps giving this error. Only commenting out all the ResourceDictionary elements in CustomControls.xaml helps. But then I get exceptions concerning missing styles of course.
Some URI formats I've tried:
/Styles/Shared.xaml
Styles/Shared.xaml
Styles\Shared.xaml
.\Shared.xaml
ms-appx:///Styles/Shared.xaml
None of them work.
Any advice would be appreciated.

In the end it had nothing to do with the URI structure, but with a combination of ThemeDictionaries and MergedDictionaries.
What was working before:
In App.Resources:
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles/Themes.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles/CustomControls.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
Where Themes.xaml contained ThemeDictionaries and CustomControls.xaml contained <Styles> ( a lot of them ).
After splitting CustomControls.xaml, it no longer contained any styles, but only MergedDictionaries.
Looking something like this:
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ControlStyles/ProjectDialog.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary Source="ControlStyles/Inspector.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
Inspector.xaml contained a Style using {ThemeResource} and it appears that's where it went wrong. The solution/work-around in the end was to include a MergedDictionaries with a references to Themes.xaml in Inspector.xaml.
Now if anyone can explain the exact reasoning behind this solution, I'd be much obliged.

From the error message,XAML Compiler failed to translate the Source Property of nested ResourceDictionaries. The easiest and fastest workaround is to add the nested ResourceDictionaries in App.Xaml.cs:
protected override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs e)
{
...
var applicationMergedDics = Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries;
applicationMergedDics[0].MergedDictionaries.Add(new ResourceDictionary() { Source = new Uri("ms-appx:///Styles/Shared.xaml") });
applicationMergedDics[0].MergedDictionaries.Add(new ResourceDictionary() { Source = new Uri("ms-appx:///Styles/Templates.xaml") });
...
rootFrame.Navigate(typeof(MainPage), e.Arguments);
}
Notes: Don't forget to remove the MergedDictionaries in CustomControls.xaml. And the error will be gone.

WPF Cannot locate resource

I have a resource file and two views. This views use a resource file
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="/Dictionary1.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
And it will work while i dont put one view to the another. In this case i get this error
Cannot locate resource 'dictionary1.xaml'
How to fix it?

Use Pack Uri's
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/Assembly_Name;component/Dictionary1.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>

If Dictionary1.xaml in your project's rootpath, remove '/' before Dictionary1
<ResourceDictionary Source="Dictionary1.xaml"/>
Or you can use packuri like :
/yourAssemblyName;component/Dictionary1.xaml

How to apply styles to all windows in WPF app?

I have the following App.xaml file:
<Application x:Class="MiniDeviceConfig.App"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
StartupUri="MiniDeviceConfig.xaml">
<Application.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Button.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="CheckBox.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ComboBox.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Common.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="GroupBox.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Label.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="LinkButton.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ListBox.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="ListView.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="RadioButton.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Tooltip.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Window.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>
In my application, my main window is MiniDeviceConfig.xaml (as seen above). In my Button.xaml file, I clearly set the button height to some obscene number. And, this size is reflected in my main window's buttons. However, some action on the main window triggers a modal window that has more buttons on it. I was expecting the same tall buttons but no such luck. How do I get the style to propagate into all windows in the application?

You can try very helpful class ThemeManager from http://wpfthemes.codeplex.com. In our project we had similiar problems and solve it by using it.

Figured it out. There were other resources included that were conflicting.