How to delete data for designers when using Expression Blend and Visual Studio?

Question

We are testing Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend in a new project. The goal is to clearly define the role of the developer and the designer as a separate one, but take advantage of the developer who can directly consume the XAML created by the designer.

For the most part, it did a great job and I really like the features. One of the difficulties we encountered is designing against DataBindings. In many cases, the GUI does not populate rows or other data structures if the application is not running and the database call is not performed. Therefore, the designer does not have access to the visual layout of the graphical interface.

What I would like to do is somehow create simple flashed or mocked data that the designer can use to work on the design. The big goal is to make this shaded data appear in Expression Blend, but then apply it to the real collection at runtime.

Has anyone found a solid way to do this?

Answer 1

I would suggest reading this blog . The final method seems to work well, your test data is displayed in Blend very well. Just keep in mind that you need to compile the DLL before displaying the data.

Answer 2

I would consider creating XML data islands that emulate the structure of objects to which you ultimately bind the user interface. That way, your constructor can bind the root element of the page (or user control, etc.) to the top level of your fake XML data island, and all relative paths will remain unchanged when replacing this data island with a real DataContext binding.

there will be some degree of refactoring for binding to the real object when you are ready, but therefore your developers should at least know enough XAML to know how to change the bindings correctly.

it looks like the commentator above me has a link to an example of this.