SYSK 281: Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF): The Missing LinkButton

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To my surprise, System.Windows.Controls does not have LinkButton! Perhaps Windows forms shouldn’t use links? But since my UI design team insisted on having them, I’ve created my own LinkButton (code below)… As always – use at your own risk… this code has not been rigorously tested.

 

1.  Declare the following style somewhere in the resources section (e.g. Window.Resources, Application.Resources, etc.)

 

<Style x:Key="LinkButtonStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">

      <Setter Property="SnapsToDevicePixels" Value="true" />

      <Setter Property="OverridesDefaultStyle" Value="true" />

      <Setter Property="Template">

            <Setter.Value>

                  <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">

                        <TextBlock x:Name="tb" Background="{x:Null}" Cursor="Hand" TextDecorations="Underline" TextWrapping="Wrap" >

                              <ContentPresenter VerticalAlignment="Center" RecognizesAccessKey="true"/>

                        </TextBlock>

                        <ControlTemplate.Triggers>

                              <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="true" >

                                    <Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Hand" />

                                    <Setter TargetName="tb" Property="BitmapEffect">

                                          <Setter.Value>

                                                <DropShadowBitmapEffect ShadowDepth="1" Direction="330" Color="Black" Opacity="0.5" Softness="0.25" />

                  </Setter.Value>

                                    </Setter>

                              </Trigger>

                        </ControlTemplate.Triggers>

                  </ControlTemplate>

            </Setter.Value>

      </Setter>

</Style>

 

2.  Use it by adding Style="{StaticResource LinkButtonStyle}" attribute to your buttons:

 

<Button Click="YourClickEventHandler" Style="{StaticResource LinkButtonStyle}"

      Foreground="Blue" Margin="10,10,10,10"

HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="120px" >

Your link text here...

</Button>

 

3.  Remember to replace YourClickEventHandler with your own delegate