how to style Grid ColumnDefinitions in WPF

Question

I want to know how can I style a Grid so that I don't need to specify the

<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
   <ColumnDefinition Width="auto" SharedSizeGroup="SG1"/>
   <ColumnDefinition Width="auto" SharedSizeGroup="SG2"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

every time?

Thank you very much!

ps: I did try to search on Google first. But I couldn't find any answer. Anyone who find the answer from google could you please tell me what keyword do you use to search? Sometimes I find it hard to determine what keyword use to search.

ps2: I am too lazy, every I just open chrome and type something and search. If nothing found, I conclude nothing found and come here. Is there anyone will search on Google, then find nothing, then open bing.com and search? And find nothing and go to yahoo and search and search?.....

Answer 1

It was always a pet peeve of mine to have to write out the RowDefinitions and ColumnDefinitions, so one day I got tired of it and wrote some attached properties that can be used for this kind of thing.

Now instead of writing my Grid definition like this:

<Grid>
    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="*" />
    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
        <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
        <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
        <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
</Grid>

I can use

<Grid local:GridHelpers.RowCount="6"
      local:GridHelpers.StarRows="5"
      local:GridHelpers.ColumnCount="4"
      local:GridHelpers.StarColumns="1,3">

</Grid>

It only allows for Auto and * sizes, but most of the time that's all I'm using.

It also supports bindings for dynamically sized Grids

<Grid local:GridHelpers.RowCount="{Binding RowCount}"
      local:GridHelpers.ColumnCount="{Binding ColumnCount}" />

---

Here's a copy of the code in case that site ever goes down :

public class GridHelpers
{
    #region RowCount Property

    /// <summary>
    /// Adds the specified number of Rows to RowDefinitions. 
    /// Default Height is Auto
    /// </summary>
    public static readonly DependencyProperty RowCountProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "RowCount", typeof(int), typeof(GridHelpers),
            new PropertyMetadata(-1, RowCountChanged));

    // Get
    public static int GetRowCount(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (int)obj.GetValue(RowCountProperty);
    }

    // Set
    public static void SetRowCount(DependencyObject obj, int value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(RowCountProperty, value);
    }

    // Change Event - Adds the Rows
    public static void RowCountChanged(
        DependencyObject obj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!(obj is Grid) || (int)e.NewValue < 0)
            return;

        Grid grid = (Grid)obj;
        grid.RowDefinitions.Clear();

        for (int i = 0; i < (int)e.NewValue; i++)
            grid.RowDefinitions.Add(
                new RowDefinition() { Height = GridLength.Auto });

        SetStarRows(grid);
    }

    #endregion

    #region ColumnCount Property

    /// <summary>
    /// Adds the specified number of Columns to ColumnDefinitions. 
    /// Default Width is Auto
    /// </summary>
    public static readonly DependencyProperty ColumnCountProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "ColumnCount", typeof(int), typeof(GridHelpers),
            new PropertyMetadata(-1, ColumnCountChanged));

    // Get
    public static int GetColumnCount(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (int)obj.GetValue(ColumnCountProperty);
    }

    // Set
    public static void SetColumnCount(DependencyObject obj, int value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(ColumnCountProperty, value);
    }

    // Change Event - Add the Columns
    public static void ColumnCountChanged(
        DependencyObject obj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!(obj is Grid) || (int)e.NewValue < 0)
            return;

        Grid grid = (Grid)obj;
        grid.ColumnDefinitions.Clear();

        for (int i = 0; i < (int)e.NewValue; i++)
            grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(
                new ColumnDefinition() { Width = GridLength.Auto });

        SetStarColumns(grid);
    }

    #endregion

    #region StarRows Property

    /// <summary>
    /// Makes the specified Row's Height equal to Star. 
    /// Can set on multiple Rows
    /// </summary>
    public static readonly DependencyProperty StarRowsProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "StarRows", typeof(string), typeof(GridHelpers),
            new PropertyMetadata(string.Empty, StarRowsChanged));

    // Get
    public static string GetStarRows(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (string)obj.GetValue(StarRowsProperty);
    }

    // Set
    public static void SetStarRows(DependencyObject obj, string value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(StarRowsProperty, value);
    }

    // Change Event - Makes specified Row's Height equal to Star
    public static void StarRowsChanged(
        DependencyObject obj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!(obj is Grid) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(e.NewValue.ToString()))
            return;

        SetStarRows((Grid)obj);
    }

    #endregion

    #region StarColumns Property

    /// <summary>
    /// Makes the specified Column's Width equal to Star. 
    /// Can set on multiple Columns
    /// </summary>
    public static readonly DependencyProperty StarColumnsProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "StarColumns", typeof(string), typeof(GridHelpers),
            new PropertyMetadata(string.Empty, StarColumnsChanged));

    // Get
    public static string GetStarColumns(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (string)obj.GetValue(StarColumnsProperty);
    }

    // Set
    public static void SetStarColumns(DependencyObject obj, string value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(StarColumnsProperty, value);
    }

    // Change Event - Makes specified Column's Width equal to Star
    public static void StarColumnsChanged(
        DependencyObject obj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!(obj is Grid) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(e.NewValue.ToString()))
            return;

        SetStarColumns((Grid)obj);
    }

    #endregion

    private static void SetStarColumns(Grid grid)
    {
        string[] starColumns = 
            GetStarColumns(grid).Split(',');

        for (int i = 0; i < grid.ColumnDefinitions.Count; i++)
        {
            if (starColumns.Contains(i.ToString()))
                grid.ColumnDefinitions[i].Width = 
                    new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star);
        }
    }

    private static void SetStarRows(Grid grid)
    {
        string[] starRows = 
            GetStarRows(grid).Split(',');

        for (int i = 0; i < grid.RowDefinitions.Count; i++)
        {
            if (starRows.Contains(i.ToString()))
                grid.RowDefinitions[i].Height = 
                    new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star);
        }
    }
}