WPF Generate TextBlock Inlines

Question

I have a GridView and in one of the GridViewColumns i want to generate a text like this:

textBlock.Text = string.Format("{0} is doing {1} .......", a, b);

but a and b (Properties of an item in the View) should not just be represented as plain text, but as a Hyperlink for example.
(Also: The format text should depend on the type of the item)

How can i generate the TextBlocks text in that way? (for localization)

The Question is more: Should i write something on my own or is there an easy way provided by the framework?

Answer 1

An old question, but I find accepted answer an absolute overkill. You don't need to parse the formatted text at all! Just wrap it up in Span element and you are done.

public class Attached
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty FormattedTextProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
        "FormattedText", 
        typeof(string), 
        typeof(Attached), 
        new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(string.Empty, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsMeasure, FormattedTextPropertyChanged));

    public static void SetFormattedText(DependencyObject textBlock, string value)
    {
        textBlock.SetValue(FormattedTextProperty, value);
    }

    public static string GetFormattedText(DependencyObject textBlock)
    {
        return (string)textBlock.GetValue(FormattedTextProperty);
    }

    private static void FormattedTextPropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var textBlock = d as TextBlock;
        if (textBlock == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var formattedText = (string)e.NewValue ?? string.Empty;
        formattedText = string.Format("<Span xml:space=\"preserve\" xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation\">{0}</Span>", formattedText);

        textBlock.Inlines.Clear();
        using (var xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader(formattedText)))
        {
            var result = (Span)XamlReader.Load(xmlReader);
            textBlock.Inlines.Add(result);
        }
    }
}

Now you can use the FormattedText attached property either in your code:

string inlineExpression = "<Run Style=\"Theme.GrayText\">Once I saw a little bird, go hop, hop, hop.</Run>";
Attached.SetFormattedText(myTextBlock1, inlineExpression);

More importantly, straight from the XAML:

<TextBlock ns:Attached.FormattedText="{Binding Content}" />

Where ns is the namespace you defined the Attached class in.