WP7 Image Uri as StaticResource

Question

I have a Windows Phone 7 app and I'm trying to move some common elements into resource files.

Text and Styles work fine but I'm struggling to find the right way to partition out Uri's.

This is a code sample I'm trying to get to work.

<phone:PhoneApplicationPage.ApplicationBar>
    <shell:ApplicationBar IsVisible="True" IsMenuEnabled="True">
        <shell:ApplicationBarIconButton IconUri="{StaticResource MenuButton1}" Text="Button1"/>
        <shell:ApplicationBarIconButton IconUri="{StaticResource MenuButton2}" Text="Button2"/>
    </shell:ApplicationBar>
</phone:PhoneApplicationPage.ApplicationBar>

I have made a AppImages.xaml file and here is the code from there;

<ResourceDictionary
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib">
    <sys:String x:Key="MenuButton1">/Images/button1.png</sys:String>
    <sys:String x:Key="MenuButton2">/Images/button2.png</sys:String>
</ResourceDictionary>

It's clear that I can't just use a string but I don't know what I should use.

I am new to WP7 development so if I'm doing something obviously wrong please let me know.

Thanks, Mike

Answer 1

Without testing I'd guess that you're trying to use a string to a parameter which takes a URI. You could try adding a converter to get it into the right type. The framework would normally make the conversion automatically.

Does the debug output show any (binding) errors?

Rather than defining resources this way you could create a class which exposes static properties for each URI. See example on my blog at: http://blog.mrlacey.co.uk/2011/03/binding-to-static-classes-in-windows.html

Answer 2

You could try to store the Uri itself as a resource:

<ResourceDictionary
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=System">
    <sys:Uri x:Key="MenuButton1">/Images/button1.png</sys:Uri>
    <sys:Uri x:Key="MenuButton2">/Images/button2.png</sys:Uri>
</ResourceDictionary>

Note assembly=System in the xmlns:sys namespace declaration. Also, when you type <sys: in the Visual Studio editor, Uri won't be shown in the IntelliSense list, but it seems perfectly fine to use it in XAML.