Can I specify the type of a DataGrid's items in Xaml?

Question

In Xaml when creating a data template I can specify the type of the item the DataTemplate will be applied to like so:

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
  <!-- do some stuff with the Vehicle class's properties -->
</DataTemplate>

I would like to be able to do the same thing when creating a DataGrid, but it's not an option with the DataType attribute:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Cars}" DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
     <!-- Create columns that bind to the Vehicle class's properties -->
</DataGrid>

A fairly crap workaround is to do it on each column individually:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Cars}" DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
  <DataGrid.Columns>
    <DataGridTemplateColumn>
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.Header />
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
          <!-- bind to a Vehicle class property -->
        </DataTemplate>
      </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn>
    <DataGridTemplateColumn>
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.Header />
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
          <!-- bind to a Vehicle class property -->
        </DataTemplate>
      </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn>
    <DataGridTemplateColumn>
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.Header />
      <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Vehicle}">
          <!-- bind to a Vehicle class property -->
        </DataTemplate>
      </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn>
  </DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>

Is there a better way to do this I'm unaware of? If I don't do it, various bits of ReSharper don't cope very well.

Answer 1

Try this:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Cars}"
          d:DesignSource="{d:DesignInstance Type={x:Type Vehicle}, CreateList=True}">
     <!-- Create columns that bind to the Vehicle class's properties -->
</DataGrid>

Answer 2

You can specify the data context for design.

This works:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Cars}" d:DataContext="{d:DesignInstance Type=Vehicle}">
    <!-- Create columns that bind to the Vehicle class's properties -->
    <!-- The pop-up window will not suggest using the Vehicle class's properties :) -->
</DataGrid>