C# – Window vs Page vs UserControl for WPF navigation

cwpf

I am currently writing a desktop application, but I cannot seem to get my head around what to use when redirecting someone to a new section of the application.

My options appear to be

  • Window
  • Page
  • UserControl

but I don't understand what the difference between them is, and when I should use each one.

Could someone explain the differences for me, and give an example of what situations/applications you may use each one for?

Best Answer

A Window object is just what it sounds like: its a new Window for your application. You should use it when you want to pop up an entirely new window. I don't often use more than one Window in WPF because I prefer to put dynamic content in my main Window that changes based on user action.

A Page is a page inside your Window. It is mostly used for web-based systems like an XBAP, where you have a single browser window and different pages can be hosted in that window. It can also be used in Navigation Applications like sellmeadog said.

A UserControl is a reusable user-created control that you can add to your UI the same way you would add any other control. Usually I create a UserControl when I want to build in some custom functionality (for example, a CalendarControl), or when I have a large amount of related XAML code, such as a View when using the MVVM design pattern.

When navigating between windows, you could simply create a new Window object and show it

var NewWindow = new MyWindow();
newWindow.Show();

but like I said at the beginning of this answer, I prefer not to manage multiple windows if possible.

My preferred method of navigation is to create some dynamic content area using a ContentControl, and populate that with a UserControl containing whatever the current view is.

<Window x:Class="MyNamespace.MainWindow" ...>
    <DockPanel>
        <ContentControl x:Name="ContentArea" />
    </DockPanel>
</Window>

and in your navigate event you can simply set it using 

ContentArea.Content = new MyUserControl();

But if you're working with WPF, I'd highly recommend the MVVM design pattern. I have a very basic example on my blog that illustrates how you'd navigate using MVVM, using this pattern:

<Window x:Class="SimpleMVVMExample.ApplicationView"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SimpleMVVMExample"
        Title="Simple MVVM Example" Height="350" Width="525">

   <Window.Resources>
      <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:HomeViewModel}">
         <local:HomeView /> <!-- This is a UserControl -->
      </DataTemplate>
      <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:ProductsViewModel}">
         <local:ProductsView /> <!-- This is a UserControl -->
      </DataTemplate>
   </Window.Resources>

   <DockPanel>
      <!-- Navigation Buttons -->
      <Border DockPanel.Dock="Left" BorderBrush="Black"
                                    BorderThickness="0,0,1,0">
         <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding PageViewModels}">
            <ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
               <DataTemplate>
                  <Button Content="{Binding Name}"
                          Command="{Binding DataContext.ChangePageCommand,
                             RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"
                          CommandParameter="{Binding }"
                          Margin="2,5"/>
               </DataTemplate>
            </ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
         </ItemsControl>
      </Border>

      <!-- Content Area -->
      <ContentControl Content="{Binding CurrentPageViewModel}" />
   </DockPanel>
</Window>

Screenshot1 Screenshot2

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