ItemsControl.ItemTemplateSelector Property (System.Windows.Controls)

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ItemTemplateSelector Property

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This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

ItemsControl..::.ItemTemplateSelector Property

Gets or sets the custom logic for choosing a template used to display each item. This is a dependency property.

Namespace: System.Windows.Controls
Assembly: PresentationFramework (in PresentationFramework.dll)
XMLNS for XAML: http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation, http://schemas.microsoft.com/netfx/2007/xaml/presentation

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<BindableAttribute(True)> _
Public Property ItemTemplateSelector As DataTemplateSelector

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As ItemsControl
Dim value As DataTemplateSelector

value = instance.ItemTemplateSelector

instance.ItemTemplateSelector = value

[BindableAttribute(true)]
public DataTemplateSelector ItemTemplateSelector { get; set; }

Visual C++

[BindableAttribute(true)]
public:
property DataTemplateSelector^ ItemTemplateSelector {
    DataTemplateSelector^ get ();
    void set (DataTemplateSelector^ value);
}

JScript

public function get ItemTemplateSelector () : DataTemplateSelector
public function set ItemTemplateSelector (value : DataTemplateSelector)

XAML Property Element Usage

<object>
  <object.ItemTemplateSelector>
    <DataTemplateSelector .../>
  </object.ItemTemplateSelector>
</object>

XAML Attribute Usage

<object ItemTemplateSelector="ResourceExtension SelectorResourceKey"/>

XAML Values

ResourceExtension: One of the following: StaticResource, or DynamicResource. Unless the styles themselves contain references to potential run-time references such as system resources or user preferences, StaticResource reference to a style is usually recommended for performance.
SelectorResourceKey: x:Key string value referring to the selector being requested as a resource.

Property Value

Type: System.Windows.Controls..::.DataTemplateSelector
A custom DataTemplateSelector object that provides logic and returns a DataTemplate. The default is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Dependency Property Information

Identifier field	ItemTemplateSelectorProperty
Metadata properties set to true	None

Remarks

You use the ItemTemplate to specify the visualization of the data objects. If you have more than one template defined and want to supply logic to return a template to use, then you use this property. Note that this property is ignored if ItemTemplate is set.

The ItemsControl provides great flexibility for visual customization and provides many styling and templating properties. Use the ItemContainerStyle property or the ItemContainerStyleSelector property to set a style to affect the appearance of the elements that contain the data items. For example, for ListBox, the generated containers are ListBoxItem controls; for ComboBox, they are ComboBoxItem controls. To affect the layout of the items, use the ItemsPanel property. If you are using grouping on your control, you can use the GroupStyle or GroupStyleSelector property.

For more information, see Data Templating Overview.

Examples

In the following example, the auctionItemDataTemplateSelector resource name (corresponding to an AuctionItemDataTemplateSelector class) is assigned to the ItemTemplateSelector property of the ItemsControl.

XAML

<ItemsControl 
   Template="{StaticResource ScrollTemplate}" 
   ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource items_list}}"
   ItemTemplateSelector="{StaticResource auctionItemDataTemplateSelector}" >
   <ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
      <ItemsPanelTemplate>
         <StackPanel />
      </ItemsPanelTemplate>
   </ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
</ItemsControl>

The following example shows the implementation of the AuctionItemDataTemplateSelector class with an override of the SelectTemplate method:

using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;

namespace SDKSample
{
    public class AuctionItemDataTemplateSelector : DataTemplateSelector
    {
        public override DataTemplate 
            SelectTemplate(object item, DependencyObject container)
        {
            if (item != null && item is AuctionItem)
            {
                AuctionItem auctionItem = item as AuctionItem;
                Window window = Application.Current.MainWindow;

                switch (auctionItem.SpecialFeatures)
                {
                    case SpecialFeatures.None:
                        return 
                            window.FindResource("AuctionItem_None") 
                            as DataTemplate;
                    case SpecialFeatures.Color:
                        return 
                            window.FindResource("AuctionItem_Color") 
                            as DataTemplate;
                }
            }

            return null;
        }
    }
}

In this case, within the SelectTemplate method of the class, there is logic to return the appropriate template based on the value of the SpecialFeatures property of the item object passed. The template to return is found in the resources of the enveloping Window element.

When you set the ItemTemplateSelector property, the ItemsControl is directed to automatically call the SelectTemplate method of AuctionItemDataTemplateSelector for each of the items in the collection to which the ItemsControl is bound. The call passes the data item as an object. The DataTemplate that is returned by the method is then used to display that data item.

For another example, see Data Templating Overview.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0

Reference

ItemsControl Class

ItemsControl Members

System.Windows.Controls Namespace

Other Resources

Introduction to Data Templating Sample

Data Binding Overview