Load control style from separate file in wpf

Question

I have the following style added to my Windows.Resources

<Window.Resources>
...
<!--A Style that extends the previous TextBlock Style-->
<!--This is a "named style" with an x:Key of TitleText-->
<Style BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type TextBlock}}"
   TargetType="TextBlock"
   x:Key="TitleText">
<Setter Property="FontSize" Value="26"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground">
 <Setter.Value>
  <LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0.5,0" EndPoint="0.5,1">
    <LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
      <GradientStop Offset="0.0" Color="#90DDDD" />
      <GradientStop Offset="1.0" Color="#5BFFFF" />
    </LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
  </LinearGradientBrush>
  </Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style> 
...
</Window.Resources>

I have a lot of those styles in my xaml code and I would like to save each component style to an extra file (not an external file).. for example all the styles related to TextBlocks should be in a file called TextBlockStyles.xaml

How would I do this in wpf?

How do I link the style in my project ?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

You use merged resource dictionaries

In you app.xaml you would use

<Application.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary 
                Source="/Your.Assembly.Name;component/TextBlockStyles.xaml"/>
            ... other dictionaries here
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>

or directly into a UserControl would be

<UserControl.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary 
                Source="/Your.Assembly.Name;component/TextBlockStyles.xaml"/>
            ... other dictionaries here
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>

You can shorten Source="..." to just Source="TextBlockStyles.xaml" if the file is in the same assembly and in the root of the project, or alternatively Source="Styles\TextBlockStyles.xaml" if you put the resource dictionary into the folder Styles.

Answer 2

Use case: you have a user control called MyView.xaml with a button. You want to style the button with an external XAML file.

---

In MyView.xaml:

<User Control ...namespaces...>
    <UserControl.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            ...converters...

            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <ResourceDictionary Source="MyButton.xaml"/>
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </UserControl.Resources>

     ...the rest of the control...
</UserControl>

In MyButton.xaml:

<ResourceDictionary
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:local="using:MSDNSample">

    <Style x:Key="FooButton" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Pink" />
    </Style>
</ResourceDictionary>

Back to MyView.xaml ("the rest of the control"):

<Button Style="{StaticResource FooButton}">
    Hello World
</Button>

Answer 3

In Solution Explorer Right Click on your Project Select Add After that click on Resource Dictionary... Choose name and add to your project. Open App.xaml Add This Code in Application Tag

<Application.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="YourStyle.xaml" />
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>

In YourStyle.xaml :

<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                xmlns:local="clr-namespace:APPNAME">
    <Style x:Key="ButtonStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Pink" />
    </Style>
</ResourceDictionary>