Simpler WPF Binding

WPF has a lot of great concepts. One of my favorite was the implementation of data binding. The syntax though can get pretty tough and you end up having to look it up every time or using some kind of cheat sheet. Also you can't bind directly to methods, you have to wrap methods around commands.

There limitation really slowed me down, luckily WPF binding is extendedable, so I created my own binding which simplified things a lot. It simply allows you to use a simpler syntax. Below are some examples an a link to download the source code.

// before
{Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}
// after
{BindTo PathToProperty}

// before
{Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type typeOfAncestor}}}
// after
{BindTo Ancestor.typeOfAncestor.PathToProperty}

// before
{Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}
// after
{BindTo Template.PathToProperty}

// before
{Binding Path=Text, ElementName=MyTextBox}
// after
{BindTo #MyTextBox.Text}

// BEFORE
// in your class (RelayCommand available separately)
private ICommand _saveCommand;
public ICommand SaveCommand {
 get {
  if (_saveCommand == null) {
   _saveCommand = new RelayCommand(x => this.SaveObject());
  }
  return _saveCommand;
 }
}

private void SaveObject() {
 // do something
}
// in your xaml
{Binding Path=SaveCommand}

// AFTER
// in your class
private void SaveObject() {
 // do something
}
// in your xaml
{BindTo SaveObject()}

The 'BEFORE' example for binding to a method is already shorter than it would have been without the aid of RelayCommand which I don't think of a native part of WPF. You can find the code for it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx

Source Code WpfBindTo.zip
Just the DLL WpfBindTo.dll