mui:LinkGroup & mui:Link DisplayName as DependencyProperty

[picrap]

Currently they are simple properties and can not be bound, making localization hard to achieve here.
Is it possible to turn them into DependencyProperty ?

[macgile]

Hi picrap,

this can help
You can use WPFLocalizeExtension

consider this sample:

/*******************************/
In mainwindow.xaml
/*******************************/

<mui:Link DisplayName="customer"   Source="/Pages/Customer.xaml"  x:Name="CustomerLink" />

/*******************************/
In mainwindows.cs
/*******************************/
Loc.SetDisplayName(CustomerLink);

/*******************************/
In custom class Loc
/*******************************/
using WPFLocalizeExtension.Engine;
using WPFLocalizeExtension.Extensions;

private const string Prefix = "MyApp:Resource:";

     /// <summary>
    /// Localize LinkGroup DisplayName
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="control"></param>
    public static void SetDisplayName(LinkGroup control)
    {
        SetDisplayName(control.DisplayName, control);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Localize Objct DisplayName
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="key"></param>
    /// <param name="control"></param>
    public static void SetDisplayName(string key, object control)
    {
        var locTextExtension = new LocExtension(Prefix + key);

        // optional: set a forced culture -> the output stays the same
        // locTextExtension.ForceCulture = "en";
        // set the binding to the content property of the label
        locTextExtension.SetBinding(control, control.GetType().GetProperty("DisplayName"));
    }

[picrap]

I'll have a workaround solution soon, however I am still thinking that a DependencyProperty here may be a good thing. I'll see if I can submit you a pull request with proper change.

[picrap]

I have one question: why does the class NotifyPropertyChanged not inherit from DependencyObject? Basically, instead of using INotifyPropertyChanged, all properties could be implemented as dependency properties, which makes sense when in WPF controls.

[kozw]

It is certainly possible to change the Link properties to dependency properties, but I would advice against it, since the Link class is part of the Presentation layer in MVVM. Presentation classes are View agnostic, where a DependencyProperty implementation ties it to the View layer.

An interesting discussion about this at stack overflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/291518/inotifypropertychanged-vs-dependencyproperty-in-viewmodel

[picrap]

I agree with the discussion, which discusses of view-models. We tried a few years ago to use dependency properties in view-models, and it lead to a dead end: we had infinite loops with view, because of multithreading (as far as I remember).
However, the classes in Modern UI I'm talking about are related to the view, not the view-model. This is why I suggest here using dependency properties, exactly as all other controls do.
Anyway, you are the boss 😎

[picrap]

I submitted a pull request, so I close this issue.
(of course, up to you to accept or reject it)