Changing properties of controls in ItemTemplate in VisualStateManager (WinRT XAML)

Question

I have ListView that I am using for both my SnapView and Portrait view. However I'd like to change some items of my item template in both those views. The VisualStateManager seems like the ideal place to do this, but I can't figure it out.

Here is my ListView XAML:

<ListView x:Name="SampleListView" ItemsSource="{Binding Samples}" Visibility="Collapsed">
    <ListView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <local:SampleBlock SampleText="{Binding ElementName=pageRoot, Path=DataContext.SampleText, Mode=TwoWay}"
                Height="70" Width="Auto" Margin="5" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>

I want to change the Height and Margin of my SampleBlock control using the page's VisualStateManager. Here is my visual state manager that shows and hides my ListView:

<VisualState x:Name="FullScreenPortrait">
    <Storyboard>
        <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="SampleListView" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
            <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="Visible"/>
        </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
        <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="SampleGridView" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
            <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="Collapsed"/>
        </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
    </Storyboard>
</VisualState>

<VisualState x:Name="Snapped">
    <Storyboard>
        <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="SampleListView" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
            <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="Visible"/>
        </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
        <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="SampleGridView" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
            <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="Collapsed"/>
        </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
    </Storyboard>
</VisualState>

Is there a way to access the item template from the page's VisualStateManager, or should I be attacking this from a different angle?

Answer 1

You cannot change the properties of the DataTemplate but you can change the actual ItemTemplate of the ListView to a specific template to be used for snapped view

<VisualState x:Name="Snapped">
    <Storyboard>
        <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="itemListView" Storyboard.TargetProperty="ItemTemplate">
            <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="{StaticResource SnappedListViewItemTemplate}"/>
        </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>                        
    </Storyboard>
</VisualState>