With C# and WinUI3, how do you create a reusable flyout in XAML and create multiple instances of it in several code-behinds?

Question

I have a Flyout I want to reuse across several classes.

            <CommandBarFlyout x:Name="BasicFlyout"
                              AlwaysExpanded="True"
                              x:Key="ImageContextMenu">
                
                <CommandBarFlyout.SecondaryCommands>

                    <AppBarButton x:Name="1"
                    Label="A"/>
                    <AppBarButton x:Name="2"
                    Label="B"/>
                    <AppBarButton x:Name="3"
                    Label="C"/>
                    <AppBarButton x:Name="4"
                    Label="D"/>
                    
                </CommandBarFlyout.SecondaryCommands>
                
            </CommandBarFlyout>

I need to attach a unique combination of the buttons for up to 120 images and each image has an associated state class that contains boolean flags for whether each button should be visible or not as well as callbacks for each button which will be set in the code-behind.

Ideally, it would look something like this, though the syntax is off.

CommandBarFlyout flyout = new Resources["ImageContextMenu"] as CommandBarFlyout;
// Set visibility and callbacks
FlyoutBase.SetAttachedFlyout(image, flyout);

The problem is I am not sure how to declare this in XAML. It looks like the code has to be added to the resources of the entire project, but I am not sure how to do that. The resource dictionary will not allow me to use CommandBarFlyout as the root element.

The closest way that I can think of is to add a code-behind to your `ResourceDictionary` file. Check this [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/98422/2411960). — Andrew KeepCoding, Aug 14 '23 at 08:02

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 14 '23 at 08:03

As you said, it seems that the resource dictionary will not allow us to use CommandBarFlyout as the root element.

I suggest you could try to add CommandBarFlyout in the StackPanel.Resources. And then you could try to use {StaticResource} markup extension

like:

<Button x:Name="myButton" Click="myButton_Click" FlyoutBase.AttachedFlyout="{StaticResource ImageContextMenu}">Click Me</Button>

Or use {x:Bind} markup extension

Like:

<Button x:Name="myButton" Click="myButton_Click" FlyoutBase.AttachedFlyout="{x:Bind BasicFlyout}">Click Me</Button>

I ended up creating the command bar layout in code and calling the utility method whenever I need a CommandBarFlyout. I also learned that XAML resources are not reusable in the sense that I thought. — John Glen, Aug 14 '23 at 15:54

With C# and WinUI3, how do you create a reusable flyout in XAML and create multiple instances of it in several code-behinds?

1 Answers1