Creating a look-less custom control in WPF

Karin Huber

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4 Jun 2006CPOL3 min read

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In WPF, custom controls should be look-less. That means, that business logic and UI are strongly separated. When you create a control, you can provide a default template for the control, but anyone who uses the control can override it without touching the business logic.

wpfcustomcontrol_src.zip
- Clock Custom Control
  - Applications
    - WindowsApplication
      - bin
        
        Release
        
        CustomControlLibrary.dll
        
        WindowsApplication.exe
      - MyApp.xaml
      - MyApp.xaml.cs
      - obj
        
        Debug
        
        MyApp.g.cs
        
        TempPE
        
        Window1.baml
        
        Window1.g.cs
        
        WindowsApplication_MarkupCompile.lref
        
        Release
        
        MyApp.g.cs
        
        TempPE
        
        Window1.baml
        
        Window1.g.cs
        
        WindowsApplication_MarkupCompile.lref
      - Properties
        
        AssemblyInfo.cs
        
        Resources.cs
        
        Resources.resx
        
        Settings.cs
        
        Settings.settings
      - Window1.xaml
      - Window1.xaml.cs
      - WindowsApplication.csproj
      - WindowsApplication.csproj.vspscc
  - ClassLibrary
    - CustomControlLibrary
      - bin
        
        Release
        
        CustomControlLibrary.dll
      - Clock.cs
      - CustomControlLibrary.csproj
      - CustomControlLibrary.csproj.vspscc
      - obj
        
        Debug
        
        CustomControlLibrary_MarkupCompile.lref
        
        TempPE
        
        themes
        
        generic.baml
        
        Release
        
        CustomControlLibrary_MarkupCompile.lref
        
        TempPE
        
        themes
        
        generic.baml
      - Properties
        
        AssemblyInfo.cs
        
        Resources.cs
        
        Resources.resx
        
        Settings.cs
        
        Settings.settings
      - themes
        
        generic.xaml
  - readme.txt
  - Solutions
    - WindowsApplication.sln
    - WindowsApplication.vssscc


Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 9.00
# Visual Studio 2005
Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "WindowsApplication", "..\Applications\WindowsApplication\WindowsApplication.csproj", "{BA3AF910-516B-427C-9BAF-71C7C76F4889}"
EndProject
Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "CustomControlLibrary", "..\ClassLibrary\CustomControlLibrary\CustomControlLibrary.csproj", "{46791E2A-5B16-48A1-9517-35BF1E9939F1}"
EndProject
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "Solution Items", "Solution Items", "{D46B11B5-9ABD-41E5-A9DE-87B82A789E26}"
	ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
		..\readme.txt = ..\readme.txt
	EndProjectSection
EndProject
Global
	GlobalSection(TeamFoundationVersionControl) = preSolution
		SccNumberOfProjects = 3
		SccEnterpriseProvider = {4CA58AB2-18FA-4F8D-95D4-32DDF27D184C}
		SccTeamFoundationServer = http://jack:8080/
		SccLocalPath0 = .
		SccProjectUniqueName1 = ..\\Applications\\WindowsApplication\\WindowsApplication.csproj
		SccProjectName1 = ../Applications/WindowsApplication
		SccLocalPath1 = ..\\Applications\\WindowsApplication
		SccProjectUniqueName2 = ..\\ClassLibrary\\CustomControlLibrary\\CustomControlLibrary.csproj
		SccProjectName2 = ../ClassLibrary/CustomControlLibrary
		SccLocalPath2 = ..\\ClassLibrary\\CustomControlLibrary
	EndGlobalSection
	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
		Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU
		Release|Any CPU = Release|Any CPU
	EndGlobalSection
	GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms) = postSolution
		{BA3AF910-516B-427C-9BAF-71C7C76F4889}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
		{BA3AF910-516B-427C-9BAF-71C7C76F4889}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
		{BA3AF910-516B-427C-9BAF-71C7C76F4889}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
		{BA3AF910-516B-427C-9BAF-71C7C76F4889}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU
		{46791E2A-5B16-48A1-9517-35BF1E9939F1}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
		{46791E2A-5B16-48A1-9517-35BF1E9939F1}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
		{46791E2A-5B16-48A1-9517-35BF1E9939F1}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
		{46791E2A-5B16-48A1-9517-35BF1E9939F1}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU
	EndGlobalSection
	GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution
		HideSolutionNode = FALSE
	EndGlobalSection
EndGlobal

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License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Written By

Karin Huber

Software Developer software architects

Austria

Hi, my name is Karin Huber. Since 1998 I have been working as a developer and IT consultant focusing on building database oriented web applications. In 2007 my friend Rainer and I decided that we want to build a business based on COTS (component off-the-shelf) software. As a result we founded "software architects".

These days we are offering our first version of the time tracking software called 'time cockpit'. You can find more information at www.timecockpit.com.

Creating a look-less custom control in WPF

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