Data Template and Sub DataTemplate

Question

I have a project with WPF. How can I use Data Template and sub Data Template on it.

I have below class in my project.

public abstract Class X
public Class A: X
public Class B: X
public Class C: X

and use below code in XAML file:

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type A}">
...
</DataTemplate>

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type B}">
...
</DataTemplate>

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type C}">
...
</DataTemplate>

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type X}" x:Key="xdatatemplate">
...
<!-- use datatemplate of A,B or C --!>
...
</DataTemplate>


<ItemsControl ItemTemplate="{StaticResource xdatatemplate}"/>

I want to use xdatatemplate for Itemtemplate of my ItemsControl. ItemsSource items are of type A, B or C. and only part of my datatemplate is different between type A, type B and type C. How can I use A, B and C sub DataTemplate on X DataTemplate?

Can I use ItemTemplateSelector for this purpose?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If xdatatemplate selects sub DataTemplate only by its DataType, then you can do it like this:

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type X}" x:Key="xdatatemplate">
  <Grid>
    <ContentControl Content="{Binding}" />
    <!-- Other content -->
  <Grid>
</DataTemplate>

However, if you need more complex sub DataTemplate selection logic, you should use ContentTemplateSelector:

<local:MyTemplateSelector x:Key="MyTemplateSelector" />

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type X}" x:Key="xdatatemplate">
  <Grid>
    <ContentControl Content="{Binding}" ContentTemplateSelector="{StaticResource MyTemplateSelector}" />
    <!-- Other content -->
  <Grid>
</DataTemplate>