Is there a Visual Studio (or freeware) equivalent for Expression Blend's "Edit Template" feature?

Answer 1

The SimpleStyles project

Try that I think it would be the same. It gives you the simplest template for each control, so you can use it as a jump-off point.

Code for project to get templates:

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Markup;
using System.Xml;

namespace ControlTemplateBrowser
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for Window1.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class Window1 : Window
    {
     private System.Windows.Forms.NotifyIcon icon;
     private WindowState _storedWindowState;
     private bool _ballonShownOnce = false;

     public Window1()
     {
      InitializeComponent();
     }

     private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
     {
      Type controlType = typeof(Control);

      List<Type> derivedTypes = new List<Type>();

      // Search all the types in the assembly where the Control class is defined
      Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(Control));

      foreach (Type type in assembly.GetTypes())
      {
       // Only add a type of the list if it's a Control, a concrete class, and public.
       if (type.IsSubclassOf(controlType) && !type.IsAbstract && type.IsPublic)
       {
        derivedTypes.Add(type);
       }
      }

      // Sort the types. The custom TypeComparer class orders types alphabetically by type name.
      derivedTypes.Sort(new TypeComparer());
      lstTypes.ItemsSource = derivedTypes;

      SetupTrayIcon();
     }

     private void lstTypes_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
     {
      try
      {
       // Get the selected type.
       Type type = (Type)lstTypes.SelectedItem;

       // Instantiate the type
       ConstructorInfo info = type.GetConstructor(System.Type.EmptyTypes);
       Control control = (Control)info.Invoke(null);

       // Add it to the grid (but keep it hidden)
       control.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
       grid.Children.Add(control);

       // Get the template.
       ControlTemplate template = control.Template;

       // Get the XAML for the template.
       XmlWriterSettings settings = new XmlWriterSettings();
       settings.Indent = true;
       StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
       XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sb, settings);
       XamlWriter.Save(template, writer);

       // Display the template
       txtTemplate.Text = sb.ToString();
       grid.Children.Remove(control);
      }
      catch (Exception err)
      {
       txtTemplate.Text = "<< Error generating template: " + err.Message + ">>";
      }
     }

     #region System tray icon code

     private void SetupTrayIcon()
     {
      // Add system tray icon
      icon = new System.Windows.Forms.NotifyIcon();
      icon.Icon = new System.Drawing.Icon("appIcon.ico");
      icon.BalloonTipIcon = System.Windows.Forms.ToolTipIcon.Info;
      icon.BalloonTipTitle = "Minimized to tray";
      icon.BalloonTipText = "Click icon to maximize.";
      icon.Visible = false;
      icon.Click += new EventHandler(icon_Click);
     }

     private void icon_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
      Show();
      WindowState = _storedWindowState;
     }

     private void Window_StateChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
      if (WindowState == WindowState.Minimized)
      {
       Hide();
       if (icon != null)
       {
        if (!_ballonShownOnce)
        {
         icon.ShowBalloonTip(2000);
         _ballonShownOnce = true;
        }
       }
      }
      else
       _storedWindowState = WindowState;
     }

     private void Window_IsVisibleChanged(object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
     {
      if (icon != null)
       icon.Visible = !IsVisible;
     }

     private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
      icon.Visible = false;
      icon.Dispose();
      icon = null;
     }

     #endregion
    }

    public class TypeComparer : IComparer<Type>
    {
     #region IComparer<Type> Members

     public int Compare(Type x, Type y)
     {
      return String.Compare(x.Name, y.Name);
     }

     #endregion
    }

}

WPF:

<Window x:Class="ControlTemplateBrowser.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="WPF Control Template Browser" Height="600" Width="800" Loaded="Window_Loaded" Icon="/ControlTemplateBrowser;component/appIcon.png" Closed="Window_Closed" StateChanged="Window_StateChanged" IsVisibleChanged="Window_IsVisibleChanged">
    <Grid x:Name="grid" Margin="8">
     <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
      <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
      <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
     </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
     <ListBox Grid.Column="0" x:Name="lstTypes" SelectionChanged="lstTypes_SelectionChanged">
      <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
       <DataTemplate>
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" Margin="5,0" />
       </DataTemplate>
      </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
     </ListBox>
     <TextBox Grid.Column="1" x:Name="txtTemplate" Text="Select a control to see its template." VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
    </Grid>
</Window>

Copy paste this into your project and do the necessary namespace modifications. I think what you'll need to modify is this part:

// Search all the types in the assembly where the Control class is defined
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(Control));

To get the controls from a different assembly. Let if you tried it, and how it went.