Screens using LongListSelector shared between WP7 and WP8

Question

In my project I have a library shared between WP7 and WP8 clients. The library contains views, view models and other interesting data.

I also want to use the latest version of Windows Phone Toolkit.

The problem that I run into is that while my xaml code is compatible, I get a runtime error, because LongListSelector exists in different assemblies in Windows Phone Toolkit for wp7 and in framework code for WP8.

in wp7:

xmlns:toolkit="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Toolkit"

in wp8:

xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone"

How can I solve this conundrum without needing to duplicate my xamls for both platforms?

Answer 1

After all this is the solution I decided to implement:

1. I decided that the library that contains all views for WP7 an WP8 was not the right place for views that are in fact different in respective platforms. So I created two copies of problematic views and placed them in their respective application projects for WP7 and WP8.

2. This created some duplication in xaml - fortunately for me my xamls were not very complex - just a handful of controls, styled. So I created a style dictionary for each page and placed in alongside the page in the WP7 project.

3. I linked the dictionary file into the WP8 project. I did the same for the code behind file.

4. In my xaml files I linked the local dictionary file with styles used on those pages:

5. With this solution I achieved minimal code duplication, with all styles still in one place, and the only differing code (XAML) placed where it really belongs.

The final folder tree looks something like this:

Solution
|-- Common Library
|    |-- Views 
|         |-- Page1
+-- WP7
    |-- Views
      |-- Page1
          |-- Page1.xaml  (Windows 7 specific markup)
          |-- Page1.xaml.cs (code behind file)
          |-- Page1.styles.xaml (common styles shared between wp7 and wp8 apps)
+-- WP8
|-- Views
      |-- Page1
          |-- Page1.xaml  (Windows 8 specific markup)
          |-- ->Page1.xaml.cs (linked from the WP7 project)
          |-- ->Page1.styles.xaml (linked from the WP7 project)