Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

akjoshi — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:38:03 GMT

VS itself provides very good support for formatting(auto) XAML. You just need to set few settings and that's it, you can easily format your XAML by using one shortcut and moreover if you copy paste the code VS automatically formats it.

Auto formatting the XAML :

weblogs.asp.net/.../auto-formatting-the-xaml.aspx

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

David Anson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:15:24 GMT

Colin,

I tend to create Bindings using the conventional markup extension form (Property="{Binding ...}") and I leave everything on the same line. I realize that in some cases the Binding can get pretty complicated, but in my mind the whole line is generally doing just one "thing" (like setting the TextBlock's Text property). So while I realize that specific aspects of the Binding can change independently - thereby defeating some of the point of my revision control argument - this hasn't been much of an issue for me so far.

However, (I know *you* know this, Colin, but some folks might not be aware) Bindings can also be specified with object element syntax (<Binding .../>), so that's definitely an option for people who want to take my recommendation to the extreme. :)

msdn.microsoft.com/.../ms752300.aspx

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Colin E. — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 20:25:18 GMT

Hi David,

Looks neat to me, but what about bindings? They can get pretty verbose with Path, Converter (plus StaticResource referencer), ConverterParameter et. al.

However, they look a bit funny when spread across multiple lines.

How do you handle these?

Colin E.

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

David Anson — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:04:17 GMT

Rob,

What you say is true, though it's been my experience that the default (ZIP) compression that's applied to the content of XAP files really tends to minimize the impact of extra XAML whitespace on the final download size. There's some value in "minifying" the XAML for public assemblies, but I'm not aware of any great infrastructure to do so at this time - possibly because the benefit is relatively low in the overall scheme of things. However, if you find out about a good option here, I'd love to know about it! :)

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Jobi — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:39:17 GMT

Nowadays all of us have wide screen display for development, So you will really need to utilize the screen area and minimize the scrolling. I second Morton's point of putting all usual/common attributes like Margin,Grid.Column etc on a single line horizontally. Most of those we(As a developer) don't care, and in Expression-Blend you dont really need to read those XAML. But put all Binding and other uncommon Attributes in new lines.

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Jim — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:08:21 GMT

I have found that in certain places in Xaml this is worthwhile. What works better is to change the color settings in VS so that the attributes and values 'pop' more. This keeps you from having to go back and edit a lot of UI stuff more than necessary.

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Rob — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:20:49 GMT

I write lots of XAML by hand so I totally agree except,

remember that xaml does not get stripped of white space when added to the xap and services like bing map apps require all xaps to be under 100k.

This is especially true of comments that also not stripped.

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

David Anson — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:12:26 GMT

Marc/Mark,

I hope you both get your wish - but for most people, I think the reality is probably somewhere in between... :)

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Mark — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:24:05 GMT

My opinion only. I hope I will always be able to write xaml by hand. Many activities are quicker than can be done by mousing which I assume is what you would prefer.

re: Breaking up (lines) is (not) hard to do [Tip: Put XAML attributes and elements on multiple lines so the markup is easy to read and work with]

Marc Roussel — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:35:22 GMT

My opinion only. I hope I will never have to write any xaml by hand.