ResourceDictionary Source File VS local Style

[Gert]

Hi,

why is this working:

<telerik:RadRibbonWindow
    xmlns:telerik="http://schemas.telerik.com/2008/xaml/presentation"
    x:Class="N4W.App.GuiLayer.Modules.OperatingCostsModule.Views.ProceedTest"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:N4W.App.GuiLayer.Modules.OperatingCostsModule.Views"
    mc:Ignorable="d" Height="200" Width="400"
    d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800">

    <telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <!--<ResourceDictionary>
                    <Style TargetType="local:ProceedTest" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />
                </ResourceDictionary>-->

                <ResourceDictionary Source="RibbonWindowStyle.xaml" />
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <TextBlock Text="Hallo" />
    </Grid>
</telerik:RadRibbonWindow>

where the content of RibbonWindowStyle.xaml is:

<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:N4W.App.GuiLayer.Modules.OperatingCostsModule.Views"
                    >

    <Style TargetType="local:ProceedTest" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />

</ResourceDictionary>

pic RadWindow2.jpg

 

and this is not working:

<telerik:RadRibbonWindow
    xmlns:telerik="http://schemas.telerik.com/2008/xaml/presentation"
    x:Class="N4W.App.GuiLayer.Modules.OperatingCostsModule.Views.ProceedTest"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:N4W.App.GuiLayer.Modules.OperatingCostsModule.Views"
    mc:Ignorable="d" Height="200" Width="400"
    d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800">

    <telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <ResourceDictionary>
                    <Style TargetType="local:ProceedTest" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />
                </ResourceDictionary>

                <!--<ResourceDictionary Source="RibbonWindowStyle.xaml" />-->
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <TextBlock Text="Hallo" />
    </Grid>
</telerik:RadRibbonWindow>

pic RadWindow1.jpg

 

For me both versions should end up in the same result, or what is the difference?!

 

BR Gert

 

 

 

 

 

[Sia]

Hello Gert,

Instead of merging the RibbonWindow style inside its resources:

<ResourceDictionary>
    <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <Style TargetType="local:MainWindow" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />
        </ResourceDictionary> 
    </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>

 

merge it directly as follows:

<telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>
    <Style TargetType="local:MainWindow" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />
</telerik:RadRibbonWindow.Resources>

Please find a sample project attached.

Regards,
Sia
Progress Telerik

[Gert]

Hi Sia,

that was not my question!

I know (in the meantime) that there are many way to base on a style, but my initial question (out of curiosity) was why my two approaches did not the same thing...

 

 

BR Gert

[Sia]

Hello Gert,

My change was not related to the way you base your style but to the hierarchy of resource dictionaries in your application.

I believe that the reported issue is related to the way the framework works for optimizing the lookup through resource dictionaries.

A logged issue can be found on the Microsoft developer community portal and also in GitHub.

Please find a modified version of the same sample project attached to my answer, where the same issue is reproduced with a TextBlock (the style is not applied to the first one). Adding a dummy style works fine.

The approach with a dummy style can be used for the RibbonWindow Style as well:

<ResourceDictionary>
    <Style TargetType="{x:Type Ellipse}"/>
    <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <Style TargetType="local:MainWindow" BasedOn="{StaticResource RadRibbonWindowStyle}" />
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>

However I would not recommend using a deep hierarchy of resource dictionaries in your application.

Microsoft defines setting a ResourceDictionary's content inline as not a common scenario and recommends defining such styles in the main ResourceDictionary and not in the merged dictionaries as was my first proposal.

More information about the latest can be found in the Microsoft article about Merged Resource Dictionaries and the Note quoted below:

It is legal to define resources within a ResourceDictionary that is specified as a merged dictionary, either as an alternative to specifying Source, or in addition to whatever resources are included from the specified source. However, this is not a common scenario; the main scenario for merged dictionaries is to merge resources from external file locations. If you want to specify resources within the markup for a page, you should typically define these in the main ResourceDictionary and not in the merged dictionaries.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Sia
Progress Telerik

[Gert]

Hi Sia,

thanks for the good explanation. Now it is more clear for me.

BR Gert