In Silverlight 3.0, can I create a data template in an external file that includes a reference to an event handler?

Question

Is it possible to include an event handler reference in a data template that is not associated with the code-behind where the event handler is defined? I'm getting a PARSER-BAD-PROPERTY-VALUE when trying to pull this off.

For example, let's say I have this very simple XAML.

page.xaml

<DataTemplate x:Key="ItemsTemplate">
     <HyperlinkButton Click="HyperlinkButton_Click" />
</DataTemplate>

<ItemsControl ItemTemplate="{StaticResource ItemsTemplate}" />

This works fine since the event handler *HyperlinkButton_Click* is in the code-behind for page.xaml.

BUT ... when I move the data template to another file ...

resources.xaml

<DataTemplate x:Key="ItemsTemplate">
     <HyperlinkButton Click="HyperlinkButton_Click" />
</DataTemplate>

page.xaml

<ItemsControl ItemTemplate="{StaticResource ItemsTemplate}" />

... Silverlight seems to lose track of what I'm doing and I get the PARSER-BAD-PROPERTY-VALUE error.

Answer 1

I know you can not dynamically add controls that have event handlers, like in (XamlReader.Load(<"Button Click="handler".../>)). So maybe that's the reason why the Click in the external file does not work.