How can I bind a background color in WPF/XAML?

Question

What do I have to change to the following code so that the background is red, neither of the 2 ways I tried worked:

alt text http://www.deviantsart.com/upload/1okq25l.png

XAML:

<Window x:Class="TestBackground88238.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300">
    <StackPanel>

        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Message}" Background="{Binding Background}"/>

        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Message}">
            <TextBlock.Background>
                <SolidColorBrush Color="{Binding Background}"/>
            </TextBlock.Background>
        </TextBlock>

    </StackPanel>
</Window>

Code Behind:

using System.Windows;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace TestBackground88238
{
    public partial class Window1 : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {

        #region ViewModelProperty: Background
        private string _background;
        public string Background
        {
            get
            {
                return _background;
            }

            set
            {
                _background = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Background");
            }
        }
        #endregion

        #region ViewModelProperty: Message
        private string _message;
        public string Message
        {
            get
            {
                return _message;
            }

            set
            {
                _message = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Message");
            }
        }
        #endregion



        public Window1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            DataContext = this;

            Background = "Red";
            Message = "This is the title, the background should be " + Background + ".";

        }

        #region INotifiedProperty Block
        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;

            if (handler != null)
            {
                handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }
        #endregion

    }
}

Update 1:

I tried Aviad's answer which didn't seem to work. I can do this manually with x:Name as shown here but I want to be able to bind the color to a INotifyPropertyChanged property, how can I do this?

alt text http://www.deviantsart.com/upload/7tp48m.png

XAML:

<Window x:Class="TestBackground88238.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300">
    <StackPanel>

        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Message}" Background="{Binding Background}"/>

        <TextBlock x:Name="Message2" Text="This one is manually orange."/>

    </StackPanel>
</Window>

Code Behind:

using System.Windows;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Media;

namespace TestBackground88238
{
    public partial class Window1 : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {

        #region ViewModelProperty: Background
        private Brush _background;
        public Brush Background
        {
            get
            {
                return _background;
            }

            set
            {
                _background = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Background");
            }
        }
        #endregion

        #region ViewModelProperty: Message
        private string _message;
        public string Message
        {
            get
            {
                return _message;
            }

            set
            {
                _message = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Message");
            }
        }
        #endregion

        public Window1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            DataContext = this;

            Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red);
            Message = "This is the title, the background should be " + Background + ".";

            Message2.Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Orange);

        }

        #region INotifiedProperty Block
        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;

            if (handler != null)
            {
                handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }
        #endregion

    }
}

Answer 1

I recommend reading the following blog post about debugging data binding: http://beacosta.com/blog/?p=52

And for this concrete issue: If you look at the compiler warnings, you will notice that you property has been hiding the Window.Background property (or Control or whatever class the property defines).

Answer 2

I figured this out, it was just a naming conflict issue: if you use TheBackground instead of Background it works as posted in the first example. The property Background was interfering with the Window property background.

Answer 3

The xaml code:

<Grid x:Name="Message2">
   <TextBlock Text="This one is manually orange."/>
</Grid>

The c# code:

protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
    {
        CreateNewColorBrush();
    }

    private void CreateNewColorBrush()
    {

        SolidColorBrush my_brush = new SolidColorBrush(Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 215, 0));
        Message2.Background = my_brush;

    }

This one works in windows 8 store app. Try and see. Good luck !

Answer 4

You can still use "Background" as the property name, as long as you give your window a name and use this name on the "Source" of the Binding.

Answer 5

Here you've got a copy-paste code:

class NameToBackgroundConverter : IValueConverter
    {
        public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            if(value.ToString() == "System")
            {
                return new SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Colors.Aqua);
            }else
            {
                return new SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Colors.Blue);
            }
        }

        public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            return null;
        }
    }

Answer 6

Important:

Make sure you're using System.Windows.Media.Brush and not System.Drawing.Brush

They're not compatible and you'll get binding errors.

The color enumeration you need to use is also different

System.Windows.Media.Colors.Aquamarine (class name is Colors) <--- use this one System.Drawing.Color.Aquamarine (class name is Color)

If in doubt use Snoop and inspect the element's background property to look for binding errors - or just look in your debug log.