Can't access the Text property of a TextBlock in a ControlTemplate

Question

I'm trying to data bind a property to a Label and change its color and text in response to the value of the bound property. I'm using a ControlTemplate to change the color and Text because changing the Content of a Label in response to DataTriggers didn't work (the text never appeared).

So, using a ControlTemplate works when defining it inline on the Label, but does not seem to work when defining the template as a resource.

The code below is a simpler example to demonstrate the problem.

This is what I have so far:

    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ControlTemplate x:Key="baseTemplate" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
            <Grid Background="{TemplateBinding Background}">
                <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                    <ColumnDefinition Width="24"/>
                    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
                    <ColumnDefinition Width="24"/>
                </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <TextBlock x:Name="InnerTextBlock" Grid.Column="1"
                           Text="{TemplateBinding Label.Content}" <!-- An attempt to tie the Text here to the Label's Content property -->
                           VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"
                           HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
                           Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"
                           Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                           Foreground="{TemplateBinding Foreground}"
                           Width="{TemplateBinding Width}"
                           Height="{TemplateBinding Height}"
                     />
            </Grid>
        </ControlTemplate>

        <Style x:Key="availableLabelStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
            <Setter Property="Background" Value="#FF567E4A"/>
            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
            <Setter Property="Content" Value="Available"/>
            <Setter Property="Template" Value="{StaticResource baseTemplate}"/>
        </Style>
    </ResourceDictionary>

    <Label x:Name="StatusLabel"
           Style="{StaticResource availableLabelStyle}"
           Grid.Column="1"
           HorizontalAlignment="Left"
           Margin="111,71,0,0"
           VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="124"
           HorizontalContentAlignment="Center"
           VerticalContentAlignment="Center"
           Height="18"
           Padding="2"
    />

The problem is that the Content property in the Setter for the 'availableLabelStyle' does not seem to work. No text appears when this style is applied to a Label.

Is there a better way to do the same thing here AND get the text to appear in the Label?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Answer 1

The code you have is working. Here is my complete example:

<Window x:Class="WPFTestApp2.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Window.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
    <ControlTemplate x:Key="baseTemplate" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
        <Grid Background="{TemplateBinding Background}">
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="24"/>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="24"/>
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="{TemplateBinding Label.Content}"
                           VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"
                           HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
                           Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"
                           Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                           Foreground="{TemplateBinding Foreground}"
                           Width="{TemplateBinding Width}"
                           Height="{TemplateBinding Height}"/>
        </Grid>
    </ControlTemplate>

    <Style x:Key="availableLabelStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="#FF567E4A"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
        <Setter Property="Content" Value="Available"/>
        <Setter Property="Template" Value="{StaticResource baseTemplate}"/>
    </Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
    </Window.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <Label x:Name="StatusLabel" Style="{StaticResource availableLabelStyle}"
           Grid.Column="1"
           HorizontalAlignment="Left"
           Margin="111,71,0,0"
           VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="124"
           HorizontalContentAlignment="Center"
           VerticalContentAlignment="Center"
           Height="18"
           Padding="2"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Which produces the following output:

Answer 2

Another way to do this is to use ContentPresenter instead of TextBlock . You can still add all of your additional properties to it (at least the ones you have shown), and it would allow displaying content other than text.