Warning The development of this package has been moved to the main AvaloniaUI repository. Please consider opening issues or pull requests in the main AvaloniaUI repository. Head over to AvaloniaUI Gitter or check AvaloniaUI Discussions if you have any questions regarding the migration process.
This is a C# SourceGenerator built for generating strongly-typed references to controls with x:Name (or just Name) attributes declared in XAML (or, in .axaml). The source generator will look for the xaml (or axaml) file with the same name as your partial C# class that is a subclass of Avalonia.INamed and parses the XAML markup, finds all XAML tags with x:Name attributes and generates the C# code.
In order to get started, just install the NuGet package:
dotnet add package XamlNameReferenceGenerator
Or, if you are using submodules, you can reference the generator as such:
<ItemGroup>
<!-- Remember to ensure XAML files are included via <AdditionalFiles>,
otherwise C# source generator won't see XAML files. -->
<AdditionalFiles Include="**\*.xaml"/>
<ProjectReference Include="..\Avalonia.NameGenerator\Avalonia.NameGenerator.csproj"
OutputItemType="Analyzer"
ReferenceOutputAssembly="false" />
</ItemGroup>After installing the NuGet package, declare your view class as partial. Typed C# references to Avalonia controls declared in XAML files will be generated for classes referenced by the x:Class directive in XAML files. For example, for the following XAML markup:
<Window xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Class="Sample.App.SignUpView">
<TextBox x:Name="UserNameTextBox" x:FieldModifier="public" />
</Window>A new C# partial class named SignUpView with a single public property named UserNameTextBox of type TextBox will be generated in the Sample.App namespace. We won't see the generated file, but we'll be able to access the generated property as shown below:
using Avalonia.Controls;
namespace Sample.App
{
public partial class SignUpView : Window
{
public SignUpView()
{
// This method is generated. Call it before accessing any
// of the generated properties. The 'UserNameTextBox'
// property is also generated.
InitializeComponent();
UserNameTextBox.Text = "Joseph";
}
}
}
The typed x:Name references might be useful if you decide to use e.g. ReactiveUI code-behind bindings:
// UserNameValidation and PasswordValidation are auto generated.
public partial class SignUpView : ReactiveWindow<SignUpViewModel>
{
public SignUpView()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.WhenActivated(disposables =>
{
this.BindValidation(ViewModel, x => x.UserName, x => x.UserNameValidation.Text)
.DisposeWith(disposables);
this.BindValidation(ViewModel, x => x.Password, x => x.PasswordValidation.Text)
.DisposeWith(disposables);
});
}
}Never keep a method named
InitializeComponentin your code-behind view class if you are using the generator withAvaloniaNameGeneratorBehaviorset toInitializeComponent(this is the default value). The privateInitializeComponentmethod declared in your code-behind class hides theInitializeComponentmethod generated byAvalonia.NameGenerator, see Issue 69. If you wish to use your ownInitializeComponentmethod (not the generated one), setAvaloniaNameGeneratorBehaviortoOnlyProperties.
The x:Name generator can be configured via MsBuild properties that you can put into your C# project file (.csproj). Using such options, you can configure the generator behavior, the default field modifier, namespace and path filters. The generator supports the following options:
-
AvaloniaNameGeneratorBehavior
Possible values:OnlyProperties,InitializeComponent
Default value:InitializeComponent
Determines if the generator should generate get-only properties, or theInitializeComponentmethod. -
AvaloniaNameGeneratorDefaultFieldModifier
Possible values:internal,public,private,protected
Default value:internal
The default field modifier that should be used when there is nox:FieldModifierdirective specified. -
AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByPath
Posssible format:glob_pattern,glob_pattern;glob_pattern
Default value:*
The generator will process only XAML files with paths matching the specified glob pattern(s).
Example:*/Views/*View.xaml,*View.axaml;*Control.axaml -
AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByNamespace
Posssible format:glob_pattern,glob_pattern;glob_pattern
Default value:*
The generator will process only XAML files with base classes' namespaces matching the specified glob pattern(s).
Example:MyApp.Presentation.*,MyApp.Presentation.Views;MyApp.Presentation.Controls -
AvaloniaNameGeneratorViewFileNamingStrategy
Possible values:ClassName,NamespaceAndClassName
Default value:NamespaceAndClassName
Determines how the automatically generated view files should be named.
The default values are given by:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<AvaloniaNameGeneratorBehavior>InitializeComponent</AvaloniaNameGeneratorBehavior>
<AvaloniaNameGeneratorDefaultFieldModifier>internal</AvaloniaNameGeneratorDefaultFieldModifier>
<AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByPath>*</AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByPath>
<AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByNamespace>*</AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByNamespace>
<AvaloniaNameGeneratorViewFileNamingStrategy>NamespaceAndClassName</AvaloniaNameGeneratorViewFileNamingStrategy>
</PropertyGroup>
<!-- ... -->
</Project>
For SignUpView, we get the following generated output when the source generator is in the InitializeComponent mode:
// <auto-generated />
using Avalonia.Controls;
using Avalonia.Markup.Xaml;
namespace Sample.App
{
partial class SampleView
{
internal global::Avalonia.NameGenerator.Sandbox.Controls.CustomTextBox UserNameTextBox;
public global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock UserNameValidation;
private global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox PasswordTextBox;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock PasswordValidation;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.ListBox AwesomeListView;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox ConfirmPasswordTextBox;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock ConfirmPasswordValidation;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.Button SignUpButton;
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock CompoundValidation;
public void InitializeComponent(bool loadXaml = true, bool attachDevTools = true)
{
if (loadXaml)
{
AvaloniaXamlLoader.Load(this);
}
// This will be added only if you install Avalonia.Diagnostics.
#if DEBUG
if (attachDevTools)
{
this.AttachDevTools();
}
#endif
UserNameTextBox = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.NameGenerator.Sandbox.Controls.CustomTextBox>("UserNameTextBox");
UserNameValidation = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("UserNameValidation");
PasswordTextBox = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox>("PasswordTextBox");
PasswordValidation = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("PasswordValidation");
AwesomeListView = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.ListBox>("AwesomeListView");
ConfirmPasswordTextBox = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox>("ConfirmPasswordTextBox");
ConfirmPasswordValidation = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("ConfirmPasswordValidation");
SignUpButton = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.Button>("SignUpButton");
CompoundValidation = this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("CompoundValidation");
}
}
}If you enable the OnlyProperties source generator mode, you get:
// <auto-generated />
using Avalonia.Controls;
namespace Avalonia.NameGenerator.Sandbox.Views
{
partial class SignUpView
{
internal global::Avalonia.NameGenerator.Sandbox.Controls.CustomTextBox UserNameTextBox => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.NameGenerator.Sandbox.Controls.CustomTextBox>("UserNameTextBox");
public global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock UserNameValidation => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("UserNameValidation");
private global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox PasswordTextBox => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox>("PasswordTextBox");
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock PasswordValidation => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("PasswordValidation");
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox ConfirmPasswordTextBox => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBox>("ConfirmPasswordTextBox");
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock ConfirmPasswordValidation => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("ConfirmPasswordValidation");
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.Button SignUpButton => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.Button>("SignUpButton");
internal global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock CompoundValidation => this.FindNameScope()?.Find<global::Avalonia.Controls.TextBlock>("CompoundValidation");
}
}