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In WPF, is there any real reason to use Storyboard.TargetName="myElement" instead of Storyboard.Target="{x:Reference myElement}"?

laptou
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My answer is based off this post and this MS forum (has examples with pictures)

MS does not comment on this, although from researching I have concluded that ElementName is the way to go as:

  1. ElementName is optimised for UiElements and won't work for Non-UIElements
  2. x:Reference returns a reference to the object. ElementName looks for the object in the VisualTree so it is already in memory.
  3. x:Reference searches a scope (usually top-level window) to search for the element (e.g. Window.UserNameTB) which most likely gives a performance overhead when compared to navigating the VisualTree (cannot say for sure as I did not program that functionality).


  • {x:Reference ...} ->
    • returns just a reference of an object it doesn't create that "bridge" between two properties like binding would do.
    • Behind all that a service is being used that searches for the given name in a specific scope which is usually the window itself.


  • {Binding ElementName="..." } ->
    • Creates that binding object then it searches for the object name. The search algorithm moves up and/or down in VisualTree to find the desired element.
    • Therefore a functional VisualTree is always needed. As example when used inside a Non-UiElement, it won't work. In the end the Binding stays and does its daily bread.