MVVM Style ContentTemplateSelector

[Maxim]

Hi!

I'm playing with TabControlHeadTemplate example from this forum.
But instead of oversimplified:

            <DataTemplate x:Key="ContentTemplateAlpha">
                <Rectangle Fill="Aqua" Width="200" Height="200" /> 
            </DataTemplate>
 
            <DataTemplate x:Key="ContentTemplateBetta">
                <Rectangle Fill="Red" Width="200" Height="200" />
            </DataTemplate>

I re-factored it to more realistic:

            <DataTemplate x:Key="ContentTemplateAlpha">
                <local:UserControlAqua/>
            </DataTemplate>
 
            <DataTemplate x:Key="ContentTemplateBetta">
                <local:UserControlRed/>
            </DataTemplate>

Now, every time I switch tabs, TabControl recreates my usercontrols (hits constructor's breakpoint).
Is that how it supposed to work? Is there any way to re-use in-memory views?

My concern is that for complex usercontrols it can take a long time to re-bind UI to a ViewModel.

Thank you,
Maxim

[Hristo]

Hello Maxim,

There is a property called IsContentPreserved that determines the way TabControl works. If IsContentPreserved=false (default) ther will be single ContentPresenter used by the TabControl to visualize its children. This means the content is recreated every time the selection is changed.
When this option is set to True the TabControl dynamically creates separate ContentPresenter for every selected item. Thus reselecting the item will not force content recreation but will increase the memory usage.

Regards,
Hristo
the Telerik team

[Maxim]

Hi Hristo,

Thank you very much for your answer. That's exactly what I was hoping to find!

Maxim