In XAML, a custom namespace can be imported with an xmlns
directive:
xmlns:custom="clr-namespace:GreatStuff"
In C#, that namespace can be imported with
using GreatStuff;
Moreover, evaluation of that namespace based on the global (root) namespace can be enforced as follows:
using global::GreatStuff;
How can I enforce evaluation based on the global namespace in XAML?
Background:
I am facing the (admittedly slightly obscure) situation that there is such a namespace global::GreatStuff
, which contains a WPF control class named ... GreatStuff
(i.e. fully qualified, that's global::GreatStuff.GreatStuff
in C#). In the same namespace, I want to use that control in a WPF window.
Interestingly, in this constellation, I cannot use the Name
/x:Name
attribute on any controls of type global::GreatStuff.GreatStuff
in my XAML file for the window:
The type name 'GreatStuff' does not exist in type 'GreatStuff.GreatStuff'. (CS0426)
Note that the very same file compiles fine if I do not specify a Name
/x:Name
attribute!
Now, why should the compiler assume that by setting a Name
/x:Name
attribute, I am trying to access something called GreatStuff.GreatStuff.GreatStuff
?
The answer can be found by examining the .g.cs
file generated from the window XAML file. In that file, the XAML snippet
<custom:GreatStuff x:Name="stuff"/>
gets compiled to the following C# snippet:
internal GreatStuff.GreatStuff stuff;
That is, the fully-qualified name is used, but without the explicit global namespace marker.
Of course, as a field in a class in namespace global::GreatStuff
, all of this is wrapped in
namespace GreatStuff {
And so, the poor C# compiler cannot help but assume that stuff
is supposed to be of a type global::GreatStuff.GreatStuff.GreatStuff
. This could be avoided if in
xmlns:custom="clr-namespace:GreatStuff"
I could enforce that any mentions of that namespace prefix could be converted while enforcing the global namespace.
For reasons external to this question, changing the namespace and/or class names is not an option here.