Assembly-wide / root-level styles in WPF class library
- by WarpedBoard
I have a C# (2008/.NET 3.5) class library assembly that supports WPF (based on http://dotupdate.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/how-to-add-a-wpf-control-library-template-to-visual-c-express-2008/). I've created several windows, and am now attempting to create a common style set for them. However, as it's a class library (instead of a WPF app), I don't have an app.xaml (and its contained Application & corresponding Application.Resources) in which to store these styles for global access.
So: How can I create a top-level set of style definitions that'll be seen by all xaml files in the assembly, given that I do not have app.xaml (see above)? And/or is it possible to add a working app.xaml to a class library?
FYI, I did try creating a ResourceDictionary in a ResourceDictionary.xaml file, and include it in each window within a "Window.Resources" block. That turned out to solve the styling of Buttons, etc... but not for the enclosing Window. I can put 'Style="{StaticResource MyWindowStyle}"' in the Window's opening block, and it compiles and shows up in the VS Design window fine, but during actual runtime I get a parse exception (MyWindowStyle could not be found; I'm guessing Visual Studio sees the dictionary included after the line in question, but the CRL does things more sequentially and therefore hasn't loaded the ResourceDictionary yet).