Did You Know That… the content property is not the content inside the XAML element?

In a previous Tip of the Day, I talked about using the content property of the Silverlight control (plug-in).

Previous documentation suggested that other XAML objects also have a content property, that is the content within the XAML element, as opposed to the content set specifically as a property.

That erroneous documentation differentiates setting the text in a textblock using the text property

   
   <TextBlock
      Name="TextBlock1"
      Canvas.Left ="10"
      Canvas.Top ="50"
      FontSize="12"
      FontWeight="Bold"
      Width ="75"
      Text="Text Property!"/>
from setting the text in the TextBlock as content
   
   <TextBlock Name="TextBlock2"
              Canvas.Left="150"
              Canvas.Top="50"
              FontSize="12"
              FontWeight="Bold">
      
      Text Content!
      
   </TextBlock>
   
</Canvas>

It turns out that the TextBlock  does not have a content member.  Whether set explicitly as a property or as the content of the XAML element, you retrieve the text from the TextBlock using the text property

handleLoad: function(plugIn, userContext, rootElement) 
{
    this.plugIn = plugIn;
    var tb1 = this.plugIn.content.FindName("TextBlock1");
    var tb2 = this.plugIn.content.FindName("TextBlock2");
    alert("TextBlock1: " + tb1.Text);
    alert("TextBlock2: " + tb2.Text);
}

 

textContent 

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About Jesse Liberty

Jesse Liberty has three decades of experience writing and delivering software projects and is the author of 2 dozen books and a couple dozen online courses. His latest book, Building APIs with .NET will be released early in 2025. Liberty is a Senior SW Engineer for CNH and he was a Senior Technical Evangelist for Microsoft, a Distinguished Software Engineer for AT&T, a VP for Information Services for Citibank and a Software Architect for PBS. He is a Microsoft MVP.
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