VisualStateGroup Class

Definition

Contains mutually exclusive VisualState objects and VisualTransition objects that are used to move from one state to another.

public ref class VisualStateGroup : System::Windows::DependencyObject
[System.Windows.Markup.ContentProperty("States")]
[System.Windows.Markup.RuntimeNameProperty("Name")]
public class VisualStateGroup : System.Windows.DependencyObject
[<System.Windows.Markup.ContentProperty("States")>]
[<System.Windows.Markup.RuntimeNameProperty("Name")>]
type VisualStateGroup = class
    inherit DependencyObject
Public Class VisualStateGroup
Inherits DependencyObject
Inheritance
Attributes

Examples

The following example creates a simple ControlTemplate for a Button that contains one Grid. It also contains a VisualStateGroup named CommonStates, which defines the MouseOver and Normal states. The VisualStateGroup also has a VisualTransition that specifies that it takes one half second for the Grid to change from green to red when the user moves the mouse pointer over the Button.

<ControlTemplate TargetType="Button">
  <Grid >
    <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
      <VisualStateGroup x:Name="CommonStates">

        <VisualStateGroup.Transitions>

          <!--Take one half second to trasition to the MouseOver state.-->
          <VisualTransition To="MouseOver" 
            GeneratedDuration="0:0:0.5"/>
        </VisualStateGroup.Transitions>

        <VisualState x:Name="Normal" />

        <!--Change the SolidColorBrush, ButtonBrush, to red when the
            mouse is over the button.-->
        <VisualState x:Name="MouseOver">
          <Storyboard>
            <ColorAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="ButtonBrush" 
              Storyboard.TargetProperty="Color" To="Red" />
          </Storyboard>
        </VisualState>
      </VisualStateGroup>
    </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
    <Grid.Background>
      <SolidColorBrush x:Name="ButtonBrush" Color="Green"/>
    </Grid.Background>
  </Grid>
</ControlTemplate>

Remarks

Each VisualStateGroup contains a collection of VisualState objects. A VisualState contains a collection of Storyboard objects that specify how the control's appearance changes when the control is in a certain state. For example, a Button might have a slightly different appearance when it is pressed than when it is not pressed. Two states that the Button defines correspond to when it is pressed ("Pressed") and when it is not ("Normal").

You add VisualState to a control by setting the VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups attached property on the control. You put states that are mutually exclusive to each other in the same VisualStateGroup. For example, the CheckBox has two VisualStateGroup objects. One contains the states, Normal, MouseOver, Pressed, and Disabled. The other contains the states, Checked, UnChecked, and Indeterminate. The CheckBox can be in states MouseOver and UnChecked at the same time, but it cannot be in the MouseOver and Pressed states at the same time.

Although you can add VisualState objects to any element, they are a particularly useful way to enable others to redefine the visual behavior of a Control. If you create a custom control that uses a ControlTemplate, you can specify which states that control can be in by adding a TemplateVisualStateAttribute on its class definition. Then anyone who creates a new ControlTemplate for your control can add VisualState objects to the template. The TemplateVisualStateAttribute enables designer tools, such as Visual Studio and Blend for Visual Studio, to expose the control's states. States with the same TemplateVisualStateAttribute.GroupName belong in the same VisualStateGroup.

For more information about how to use VisualStateGroup objects in a ControlTemplate, see Customizing the Appearance of an Existing Control by Creating a ControlTemplate. For more information about how to create controls that use the VisualStateManager, see Creating a Control That Has a Customizable Appearance.

The Transitions property contains VisualTransition objects that are applied when the control transition between states that are defined in the VisualStateGroup.

Constructors

VisualStateGroup()

Initializes a new instance of the VisualStateGroup class.

Properties

CurrentState

Gets the VisualState that is currently applied to the control.

DependencyObjectType

Gets the DependencyObjectType that wraps the CLR type of this instance.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
Dispatcher

Gets the Dispatcher this DispatcherObject is associated with.

(Inherited from DispatcherObject)
IsSealed

Gets a value that indicates whether this instance is currently sealed (read-only).

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
Name

Gets or sets the name of the VisualStateGroup.

States

Gets the collection of mutually exclusive VisualState objects.

Transitions

Gets the collection of VisualTransition objects.

Methods

CheckAccess()

Determines whether the calling thread has access to this DispatcherObject.

(Inherited from DispatcherObject)
ClearValue(DependencyProperty)

Clears the local value of a property. The property to be cleared is specified by a DependencyProperty identifier.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
ClearValue(DependencyPropertyKey)

Clears the local value of a read-only property. The property to be cleared is specified by a DependencyPropertyKey.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
CoerceValue(DependencyProperty)

Coerces the value of the specified dependency property. This is accomplished by invoking any CoerceValueCallback function specified in property metadata for the dependency property as it exists on the calling DependencyObject.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
Equals(Object)

Determines whether a provided DependencyObject is equivalent to the current DependencyObject.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
GetHashCode()

Gets a hash code for this DependencyObject.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
GetLocalValueEnumerator()

Creates a specialized enumerator for determining which dependency properties have locally set values on this DependencyObject.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
GetValue(DependencyProperty)

Returns the current effective value of a dependency property on this instance of a DependencyObject.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
InvalidateProperty(DependencyProperty)

Re-evaluates the effective value for the specified dependency property.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs)

Invoked whenever the effective value of any dependency property on this DependencyObject has been updated. The specific dependency property that changed is reported in the event data.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
ReadLocalValue(DependencyProperty)

Returns the local value of a dependency property, if it exists.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
SetCurrentValue(DependencyProperty, Object)

Sets the value of a dependency property without changing its value source.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
SetValue(DependencyProperty, Object)

Sets the local value of a dependency property, specified by its dependency property identifier.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
SetValue(DependencyPropertyKey, Object)

Sets the local value of a read-only dependency property, specified by the DependencyPropertyKey identifier of the dependency property.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
ShouldSerializeProperty(DependencyProperty)

Returns a value that indicates whether serialization processes should serialize the value for the provided dependency property.

(Inherited from DependencyObject)
ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
VerifyAccess()

Enforces that the calling thread has access to this DispatcherObject.

(Inherited from DispatcherObject)

Events

CurrentStateChanged

Occurs after a control transitions to a different state.

CurrentStateChanging

Occurs when a control starts transitioning to a different state.

Applies to