DataTemplate vs ItemContainerStyle

Question

I've seen a few other Silverlight 'vs' questions around, but couldn't find any for this particular match-up.

I'm trying to define the way in which my objects bound to a ListBox will display. I've defined a DataTemplate, but I'm really not sure where this should end and the ItemContainerStyle should begin.

Question 1: Is the ItemContainerStyle just a wrapper for the DataTemplate so that a common item style can be applied to different data layouts?

Question 1a: If so, in the event that a common item style isn't required, is the ItemContainerStyle even necessary or can all the layout and styling be defined in the DataTemplate?

Question 1b: If not, so what is it?

The ListBox is currently like this:

<ListBox Margin="40,118,41,61" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource TaskDataTemplate}"/>

The XAML for my DataTemplate is like this:

<DataTemplate x:Key="TaskDataTemplate">
        <Grid d:DesignHeight="95" Height="150">
            <StackPanel Margin="11,8,-10,68" Orientation="Horizontal" d:LayoutOverrides="Width">
                <TextBlock x:Name="TaskLabel" Margin="0,0,0,8" Style="{StaticResource TitleTextSmall}" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Task" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" d:LayoutOverrides="Height"/>
                <TextBlock x:Name="TaskID" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Margin="10,0,0,0" Style="{StaticResource TitleTextSmall}" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TaskID" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" d:LayoutOverrides="Height"/>
                <TextBlock x:Name="ChangeList" Style="{StaticResource NormalText}" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Changes..." Margin="30,2,0,0"/>
            </StackPanel>
            <ComboBox x:Name="TaskType" Style="{StaticResource TaskComboBox}" Height="29" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="131,30,16,0" d:LayoutOverrides="VerticalAlignment"/>
            <TextBlock x:Name="TaskTypeLabel" Margin="12,39,0,0" Style="{StaticResource NormalTextBold}" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Variation Reason" VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="21"/>
            <TextBox x:Name="TaskDescription" Margin="12,70,15,11" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Enter description..." Style="{StaticResource TaskTextBox}" d:LayoutOverrides="VerticalAlignment"/>
        </Grid>
    </DataTemplate>

Thanks.

Malan

Does this answer your question? What's the difference between ItemTemplate and ItemContainerStyle in a WPF ListBox? – Uintathere

Answer 1

Answer 1: yes

Answer 1a: as far as I can tell you can do all your styling in the ItemTemplate but the ItemContainerStyle has VisualStates which control the Opacity on mouse over/disabled/selected etc.

If you want to change those opacity state changes, or if you want any Container shape other than a rectangle, like a triangle for example, then you'll have to override the default ItemContainerStyle.

Torticollis

Also, for the container shape would I be able to group the contents of my DataTemplate into a Border and have rounded corners on that? Is it just complex shapes that would require the use of an ItemContainerStyle? – Malan

Okay, in my example the border around my ItemTemplate falls within the border from the ItemContainerStyle so you might want to add the border to the ItemContainerStyle rather than the ItemTemplate. – Torticollis