Formatting multiple bound field in one TextBlock in XAML

Question

I have 2 fields that I'd like to format into a TextBlock, example: "{0} of {1} hours used".

Currently have:

<TextBlock Text="{Binding HoursEntered}" />
<TextBlock Text=" of " />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding EstimatedHours}"  />
<TextBlock Text=" hours used "  />

Was looking at StringFormat for a single field, however this appears to only be available for WPF, not Silverlight:

<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=HoursEntered, StringFormat='{0} of XX hours used'}"/>

I thought to use MultiBinding but this is not available in Silverlight 3 either?

How can I do a format string with multiple bound fields in Silverlight 3 xaml?

Answer 1

you could put the text in a readonly string in your binding source

Public ReadOnly Property HoursUsedMessage() As String
    Get
        Return String.Format("{0} of {1} hours used", _hoursEntered, _estimatedHours)
    End Get
End Property

just make sure you also raise property notification for this property in the HoursEntered and EstimatedHours setters

Answer 2

If you want a more dynamic solution you can use a Converter. I made a small example, see the link below. I have used element binding for brevity, but it works with any data binding.

http://pastebin.com/f4465f5ae