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Weird overriding operation of a resource dictionary in WPF, C# [duplicate]

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Overriding application wide style
(2 answers)
Closed 3 years ago.
I'm in pretty new to C# WPF and recently meet a very weird problem.
I'm managing style sheet xaml files as following pictures and code.
File Structure
[ App.xaml ]
<Application.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles/StyleText.xaml"/>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Styles/StyleButton.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>
[ StyleText.xaml ]
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Style>
[ StyleButton.xaml]
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="Button">
<TextBlock x:Name="TblockTest" Background="Gray" Foreground="Blue">
<TextBlock.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Green"/>
</Style>
</TextBlock.Resources>
<ContentPresenter x:Name="CpCustomButton" ContentSource="Content"/>
</TextBlock>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="False">
<Setter TargetName="CpCustomButton" Property="TextBlock.Foreground" Value="Black"/>
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
These are test codes to reproduce the problem.
What I want to do is ignore the style of StyleText.xaml inside StyleButton.xaml without addressing key to the textblock style in StyleText.xaml
As you know, textblock style without key will serve the global style, and so I don't have to insert annoying 'style={~~}' code per textblock.
But now, I can't avoid that it infects the style of textblock inside of control template for other control like button.
As you can see in the StyleButton.xaml, I tried several things that I can think and googled so much times, but nothing solves this problem clearly.
The content of a button always shows in Red which is the color addressed by StyleText.xaml.
What should I do to solve the problem?
I also attach my test solution noted above.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/no0j60px2qnl51y/WeirdProblem.zip
Thanks to read.

I downloaded the solution and here's a fix: move the TextBlock Foreground style from the TextBlock.Resources to ContentPresenter.Resources like this
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="Button">
<TextBlock
x:Name="TblockTest"
Background="Gray"
Foreground="Blue">
<ContentPresenter x:Name="CpCustomButton" ContentSource="Content">
<ContentPresenter.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Green" />
</Style>
</ContentPresenter.Resources>
</ContentPresenter>
</TextBlock>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="False">
<Setter TargetName="CpCustomButton" Property="TextBlock.Foreground" Value="Black" />
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
I'm not sure why it didn't use the style from the TextBlock.Resources when that is a parent to the ContentPresenter.
Hope that helps. Michal

Style template for addin in WPF

I am designing a revit addin.I'm using WPF and I want to design style templates which can then be inherited by all WPF pages.I have read that I need to put the styles in app.xaml but there is no app.xaml as this is an addin.
As of now,I'm creating style templates but one template can only be used by the elements of that particular page.
I want to create a style template which every page can inherit without app.xaml.How do I do that?

If all you need is to share styles and maybe some resources you can do it without an App.xaml. In your project, create a xaml file to contain the shared styles and call it something like "MyCommonResources.xaml". It should simply contain a resource dictionary that holds the shared styles/resources. For example:
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MyAppNS">
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Window.Background" Color="#FF202020"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="MyTitleBar.Background" Color="#FF5A5A5A"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="MyTitleBar.Foreground" Color="WhiteSmoke"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="MyTitleBar.Disabled.Background" Color="Black"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="MyTitleBar.Disabled.Foreground" Color="Gray"/>
<Style x:Key="CommandButtonStyle" TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="MinHeight" Value="40"/>
</Style>
<Style x:Key="MyTitleBarStyle" TargetType="Label">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource MyTitleBar.Background}"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource MyTitleBar.Foreground}"/>
<Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="MinHeight" Value="34"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource MyTitleBar.Disabled.Background}"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource MyTitleBar.Disabled.Foreground}"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
now in your xaml for the Window/Page/UserControl add a resource section and merge this dictionary in with the local...
<Window x:Class="MyAppNS.MyWPFWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MyAppNS"
mc:Ignorable="d">
<Window.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="MyCommonResources.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<Style x:Key="MyLocalStyle" TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Left"/>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Row="0" Content="This is the Title"
Style="{StaticResource MyTitleBarStyle}"/>
<Button x:Name="btnOK" Grid.Row="1" Content="OK"
Style="{StaticResource CommandButtonStyle}"
Click="btnOK_Click"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
Excuse me for any typos in the above, cut & pasted it from a Winforms app I have but quickly edited it down so it wouldn't be so large and changed some names to make better sense.

Do you have a WPF project or just a WPF view in a Forms application?
Maybe this contribution will help you ->
App.XAML where are you?

2 Different ComboBox Styles with 2 Different ComboBoxItem Styles

I have 2 ComboBox-Styles in my WPF-Application. They're look both like this:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:MyComboBox1}">
<Style.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
...
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Style.Resources>
<Setter Property="SnapsToDevicePixels" Value="true" />
...
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type local:MyComboBox1}">
...
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Style.Triggers />
</Style>
Now I want to style the ComboBoxItems for each ComboBox in a different way. How can i do this?

You can use the ItemContainerStyle property
<Style TargetType="Combobox" x:Key="myStyleOne">
<Setter Property="ItemContainerStyle">
<Setter.Value>
<Style TargetType="ComboBoxItem">
<!-- put your style here -->
</Style>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
And then you can use your style like the following.
<ComboBox Style="{StaticResource myStyleOne}" />

How to make a Style generic so I can use it in my entire application?

I've search around here on SO and what not able to find a clear answer explaining how to setup a 'style resource'. In my case my dialog controls several buttons and lists, and other various controls which I want to set a generic theme/style for. Similar to how you would do using a CSS file in HTML.
For the sake of simplicity in this example I have a style i want to use across the board on all my buttons. However I would prefer not to contain all these style resources in the xaml of my UI layout. I would like to move the styles to a general xaml resource file which would contain just the styles, that way i could also easily reference them into other wpf dialogs throughout the tool.
How do I set this up to make use of a general resource file containing styles for the various controls in my tool? Then be able to reference and use that style in my xaml UI's.
Thank you
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="200" Width="200">
<Window.Resources>
<Style TargetType="Button" x:Key="CoolButton" >
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="1,2,1,2"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="LightBlue"/>
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left"/>
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="12" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Calibri" />
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
BorderBrush="Lavender" BorderThickness="5" CornerRadius="6,0,6,0" x:Name="bd">
<ContentPresenter HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"
SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" RecognizesAccessKey="True" />
</Border>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="True">
<Setter TargetName="bd" Property="Background" Value="LightGray"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White" />
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Hand" />
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Window.Resources>
<StackPanel>
<Button Style="{StaticResource CoolButton}" Content="Button" Margin="2" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75"/>
<Button Style="{StaticResource CoolButton}" Content="Button" Margin="2" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75"/>
<CheckBox Margin="2" Content="Great"></CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
On a side note why does this not work to use variables for colors in the resource style xaml?
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<!--COLORS-->
<Color x:Key="AccentColor">#CC4021</Color>
<Style TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource AccentColor}"/>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>

There are a few steps to follow from making a instance-specific style a generic style.
Remove the Key. This will make the style to be used for every button:
<Style TargetType="Button">
Move it to a resource file, for example Default.xaml:
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
>
<Style TargetType="Button">
...
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
Include a reference to the resource from a central point, for example the App.xaml, which will load the resources. The App.xaml will cause the styles to be used application-wide in just one go:
<Application x:Class="..."
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="Default.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>
</Application>

Setting Look and Feel

I have the following LAFs ("Look And Feel" ,From Java's Swing) in two different projects :
Type 1 :
Type 2 :
I would like to know how I can switch between these and other LAFs.
Thanks in advance.

The easiest, most maintainable method that I'm aware of for quickly swapping in different visual styles is to use Styles in an external ResourceDictionary. For the example below you would create a new solution folder called 'Skins', then add a new class called 'MainSkin.xaml'.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="Skins/MainSkin.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<TextBlock Style="{StaticResource TextBlockV1}" Text="This is some text." />
</Grid>
Skins\MainSkin.xaml
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<Style x:Key="TextBlockV1" TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Center" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Comic Sans MS" />
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="14" />
</Style>
<Style x:Key="TextBlockV2" TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Right" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Courier New" />
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="30" />
</Style>
<Style x:Key="TextBlockV3" TargetType="TextBlock">
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left" />
<Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Times New Roman" />
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="8" />
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>

Change look and feel in WPF application?
This directs you to WPF Toolkit which shows you how to set themes in the xml for a page.