What is XAML in WPF? Explained with Simple Examples

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In this article, we’ll dive into one of the core building blocks of WPF — XAML. We’ll explore how it works and why it plays such an important role in building modern desktop applications. What is XAML? XAML stands for eXtensible Application Markup Language. It’s a markup language used to design the user interface in WPF applications. XAML allows developers and designers to work separately, making the code cleaner and easier to manage. Think of it as HTML for WPF apps. XAML Syntax XAML uses XML-style syntax. Every UI element is an XML tag. Attributes define properties like height, width, and content. You can also nest elements inside others to create more complex layouts. For example, placing a TextBlock inside a Grid layout. <Grid>     <TextBlock Text="Hello, WPF World!"                 Width="200"                 Height="50"              ...

Dynamically Creating a TabControl using Prism Region in WPF: A Step-by-Step Guide

In this post, we'll demonstrate how to use Prism Regions to create a dynamic TabControl in WPF, where each tab is loaded with a separate view.

Step 1: Create a new Prism WPF project

To get started, create a new Prism WPF project using the Prism Template Pack.
Open Visual Studio and select "Create a new project". 
In the "New Project" dialog, select "Prism WPF App" under the "Prism" category.

Step 2: Add a TabControl to your main view

In the main view of your application, add a TabControl to the XAML markup. Set its ItemsSource property to a collection of objects that represent each tab item. In this example, we'll use an ObservableCollection<TabItem> property defined in the view model.

<TabControl ItemsSource="{Binding TabItems}">
  <TabControl.ItemTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
      <TextBlock Text="{Binding Header}" />
    </DataTemplate>
  </TabControl.ItemTemplate>
  <TabControl.ContentTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
      <ContentControl prism:RegionManager.RegionName="{Binding RegionName}" />
    </DataTemplate>
  </TabControl.ContentTemplate>
</TabControl>


Notice that we're using a ContentControl to load the content of each tab. This is because we want to use Prism Regions to dynamically load and unload views in each tab.

We're also using a DataTemplate for the tab headers, which binds to the Header property of the TabItem object.



Step 3: Define the TabItem objects in your view model

In your view model, define a collection of TabItem objects that correspond to each tab. Each TabItem should have a unique RegionName property that corresponds to the name of the Prism Region that will be loaded in the tab.


public class MainViewModel
{
  public ObservableCollection<TabItem> TabItems { get; set; }
  
  public MainViewModel()
  {
    TabItems = new ObservableCollection<TabItem>();
    TabItems.Add(new TabItem { Header = "Tab 1", RegionName = "Tab1Region" });
    TabItems.Add(new TabItem { Header = "Tab 2", RegionName = "Tab2Region" });
  }
}

public class TabItem
{
  public string Header { get; set; }
  public string RegionName { get; set; }
}


We'll bind the TabControl's ItemsSource property to this collection in the XAML markup.



Step 4: Register the regions in your Prism Bootstrapper

In your Prism Bootstrapper, register the regions that will be loaded in the tabs. We'll use a ContentControlRegionAdapter class to adapt the ContentControl to a Prism Region.

protected override void ConfigureRegionAdapterMappings(RegionAdapterMappings mappings)
{
  base.ConfigureRegionAdapterMappings(mappings);
  mappings.RegisterMapping(typeof(ContentControl), Container.Resolve<ContentControlRegionAdapter>());
}

The ConfigureRegionAdapterMappings method is called when the Prism application is initialized. Here, we're registering a new mapping for the ContentControl type, using an instance of our custom ContentControlRegionAdapter.

Step 5: Create a custom RegionAdapter for the ContentControl

Finally, we need to create our custom ContentControlRegionAdapter class. 

public class ContentControlRegionAdapter : RegionAdapterBase<ContentControl>
{
  public ContentControlRegionAdapter(IRegionBehaviorFactory regionBehaviorFactory) : base(regionBehaviorFactory)
  {
  }

  protected override void Adapt(IRegion region, ContentControl regionTarget)
  {
    region.Views.CollectionChanged += (s, e) =>
    {
      if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
      {
        foreach (object view in e.NewItems)
        {
          regionTarget.Content = view;
        }
      }
    };
  }

  protected override IRegion CreateRegion()
  {
    return new SingleActiveRegion();
  }
}

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