How do you insert a binding into the middle of a sentence of a TextBlock in WPF?

Question

I'm looking for something along these lines:

<TextBlock
    Grid.Column="1"
    Text="Welcome, {Binding UserName}!" />

This will of course actually display the text "{Binding UserName}" to the user rather than decode it, but I know you can do something like this with ASP.NET, so I'm hoping there's a way to get this to work in WPF.

I'm already aware that I could use an IValueConverter...I'm looking for something I can do purely in markup if possible.

EDIT:

Based on @Matt Hamilton's most excellent solution, I attempted to push the envelope and bind two values into the same TextBlock using a MultiBinding. Works like a charm:

<TextBlock
    Style="{StaticResource TextBlock_ValueStyle}"
    Grid.Column="1">
    <TextBlock.Text>
        <MultiBinding
            StringFormat="{}Attempts: {0:G} of {1:G}">
            <Binding
                Path="AttemptNumber" />
            <Binding
                Path="AttemptCount" />
        </MultiBinding>
    </TextBlock.Text>
</TextBlock>

This produces: Attempts: 1 of 4 (assuming AttemptNumber = 1 and AttemptCount = 4).

I also found this link helpful for figuring out which formats to place after the colon:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fbxft59x.aspx

Answer 1

So far I don't know of a solution which makes this possible in exactly the same way as you describe it. However, you can, as a workaround, use multiple text blocks to piece together your sentence:

<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <TextBlock Text="Welcome, "/>
    <TextBlock Text="{Binding UserName}"/>
    <TextBlock Text="!"/>
</StackPanel>

This is what I used so far and while cumbersome to type it seems to be the easiest solution. But as soon as you need Internationalization it's a no-go for obvious reasons.

Answer 2

You can use the StringFormat binding property in .NET 3.5 SP1:

<TextBlock Text="{Binding UserName,StringFormat='Welcome, \{0\}!'}" />

Note that you need to escape the curly braces in the string format with a backslash.

Update Yes, multiple values are also supported:

<TextBlock>
    <TextBlock.Text>
        <MultiBinding StringFormat="Welcome, {0} {1}!">
            <Binding Path="FirstName" />
            <Binding Path="LastName" />
        </MultiBinding>
    </TextBlock.Text>
</TextBlock>

Answer 3

Have a look at this library "WPFix". It allows the user to write lambda expressions in the XAML. I didn't use it in production code, only in demo code. I was able to take the width of a form, divide it by two, and bind the value to a control. Ordinarily, you would need to create a converter class, as you describe. This library may be the thing you are looking for:

http://www.fikrimvar.net/lestirelim/?p=15

Answer 4

This is simplest way to mix text and controls

<TextBlock>Welcome, <TextBlock Text="{Binding UserName}"/>!</TextBlock>

you can inline styled buttons or other controls to.