Creating data templates in code

FuncDataTemplate

Avalonia UI supports creating a data template in code. You can do this by using the FuncDataTemplate<T> class that supports the IDataTemplate interface.

At its simplest you can create a data template by passing a lambda function that creates a control to the FuncDataTemplate<T> constructor, like this:

var template = new FuncDataTemplate<Student>((value, namescope) =>
    new TextBlock
    {
        [!TextBlock.TextProperty] = new Binding("FirstName"),
    });

Which is equivalent to the XAML:

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:Student}">
    <TextBlock Text="{Binding FirstName}"/>
</DataTemplate>

Taking more control in code

If you need take more control over a data template in code, you can write a class that implements the IDataTemplate interface yourself. This will allow you to present the properties of your bound data type in whatever way you require.

To use the IDataTemplateinterface you must implement the following two members in your data template class:

• public bool Match(object data) { ... } - implement this member to check whether the provided bound data matches your IDataTemplate or not. Return true if the bound data type matches, otherwise false.
• public Control Build(object param) { ... } - implement this member to build and return the control that will present your data.

Example

This is a simple implementation of the IDataTemplate interface to display some string data in a text block:

using Avalonia.Controls.Templates;
...
public class MyDataTemplate : IDataTemplate
{
    public Control Build(object param)
    {
        return new TextBlock() { Text = (string)param };
    }

    public bool Match(object data)
    {
        return data is string;
    }
}

You can now use the class MyDataTemplate in your view, like this:

<!-- xmlns:dataTemplates="using:MyApp.DataTemplates" -->

<ContentControl Content="{Binding MyContent}">
	<ContentControl.ContentTemplate>
		<dataTemplates:MyDataTemplate />
	</ContentControl.ContentTemplate>
</ContentControl>

## More examples

[Advanced uses of the `FuncDataTemplate<T>`class](https://github.com/AvaloniaUI/Avalonia.Samples/blob/main/src/Avalonia.Samples/DataTemplates/FuncDataTemplateSample).

[Advanced implementations of the `IDataTemplate` interface](https://github.com/AvaloniaUI/Avalonia.Samples/tree/main/src/Avalonia.Samples/DataTemplates/IDataTemplateSample).