How do I use WPF bindings with RelativeSource?

How do I use RelativeSource with WPF bindings and what are the different use-cases? .net wpf databinding relativesource link | edit | flag edited Jan 21 '10 at 9:01 asked Sep 17 '08 at 15:10 David Schmitt 15.1k 3 27 61 67% accept rate

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up vote 71 down vote accepted

If you want to bind to another property on the object: {Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}  If you want to get a property on an ancestor: {Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type typeOfAncestor}}}  If you want to get a property on the templated parent (so you can do 2 way bindings in a ControlTemplate) {Binding Path=PathToProperty, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}  or, shorter (this only works for OneWay bindings): {TemplateBinding Path=PathToProperty}  link | edit | flag edited Jun 15 '10 at 16:26 answered Sep 17 '08 at 15:14 Abe Heidebrecht 5,160 6 17

1   When you say "bind to another property on the object", which object are you talking about? The display element or the object within the data context? –  Drew Noakes Dec 9 '08 at 17:42 1   It turns out, as I revisit this, that the object in question is the object upon which the binding is being applied. I tried using <Button Tag="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}" /> and looking in the debugger. The Tag property contained the button itself. –  Drew Noakes Mar 3 '09 at 9:31

up vote 20 down vote

Binding RelativeSource={      RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type ItemType}  }  ...  The default attribute of RelativeSource is the Mode property. A complete set of valid values is given here (from MSDN): PreviousData Allows you to bind the previous data item (not that control that contains the data item) in the list of data items being displayed. TemplatedParent Refers to the element to which the template (in which the data-bound element exists) is applied. This is similar to setting a TemplateBindingExtension and is only applicable if the Binding is within a template. Self Refers to the element on which you are setting the binding and allows you to bind one property of that element to another property on the same element. FindAncestor Refers to the ancestor in the parent chain of the data-bound element. You can use this to bind to an ancestor of a specific type or its subclasses. This is the mode you use if you want to specify AncestorType and/or AncestorLevel. link | edit | flag answered Mar 3 '09 at 9:24 Drew Noakes 13.3k 3 43 90

1   Thanks for poitning out PreviousData! Exactly what i was looking for! –  LnDCobra Sep 16 '10 at 9:14

up vote 13 down vote	Here is the cheat-sheet that does help not being confused: http://www.nbdtech.com/Free/WpfBinding.pdf -aj link | edit | flag answered Mar 14 '10 at 19:15 ajdotnet 131 1 3
	1   nice overview, thanks for the link! –  David Schmitt Mar 15 '10 at 15:00

up vote 3 down vote	Don't forget TemplatedParent: <Binding RelativeSource="{RelativeSource TemplatedParent}"/>  or {Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}  link | edit | flag answered Sep 17 '08 at 15:14 Bob King 6,316 1 13 41

up vote 3 down vote	It's worthy of note that for those stumbling across this thinking of Silverlight: Silverlight offers a reduced subset only, of these commands link | edit | flag answered Apr 24 '10 at 16:02 Matthew Black 31 1
	Yep, I was looking for SL support also. Vote it up: connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/480603/… –  TravisWhidden May 18 '10 at 18:31

up vote 2 down vote	I just posted another solution for accessing the DataContext of a parent element in Silverlight that works for me. It uses Binding ElementName. link | edit | flag answered Aug 23 '10 at 13:05 Juve 487 5 13

up vote 0 down vote

Here's a more visual explanation in the context of a MVVM architecture: /> (http://www.rootsilver.com/2009/05/wpf-relativesource-ancestor-datacontext)