Dynamic XAML

I thought I'd post up a Silverlight Beta 2 dynamic XAML sample.  This is a pretty simple sample which consists of a textbox, a button and a grid.

All you simply do is paste some XAML into the textbox, click the button and the XAML will appear in the grid.

You can view an online demo here

This is a very simple implementation however this could be extended much further as an application.  Isolated Storage to store XAML, save it back to a WCF Service etc.

You could take the concept further even still and use a duplex WCF service (or sockets) to post XAML between different clients.

The key thing when dealing with dynamic XAML is using System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load to load the XAML.

The code is below.

XAML

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <ColumnDefinition/>
    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <RowDefinition/>
        <RowDefinition/>
    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <Grid x:Name="gridDynamic"
          Grid.Row="0"
          Height="500" Width="500"/>
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Grid.Row="1">
        <TextBox x:Name="myTextbox"
                 Text="Load Xaml"
                 AcceptsReturn="True" TextWrapping="Wrap"
                 Margin="5" Height="200" Width="500"/>
        <Button Content="Load Xaml" 
                Height="30" Width="100"
                Click="Button_Click"/>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>

C#

public partial class DynamicXaml : UserControl
{
    public DynamicXaml()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        myTextbox.Text = @"<Grid xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007"" xmlns:x=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml""><Ellipse Height=""100"" Width=""100"" Fill=""Red""/></Grid>";
    }

    private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        UIElement xamlElement = (UIElement)System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(myTextbox.Text);
        gridDynamic.Children.Clear();
        gridDynamic.Children.Add(xamlElement);
    }
}