Use Windows Phone sample data in WinRT

Question

I'm making a Windows 8 program with MVVM that shares the MVM part with Phone.

My problem is that when I try to use the XAML sample data of the Windows Phone project in WinRT I get a bunch of errors. My XAML is:

<vm:MyViewModel
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:MyApp.ViewModels" 
>

This is obviusly faulty, because uses the clr-namespace directive. But if I change it to

<vm:MyViewModel
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:vm="using:MyApp.ViewModels" 
>

I get the same bunch of errors, such as

The name "MyViewModel" does not exist in the namespace "using:MyApp.ViewModels"

Can I use XAML files as sample in WinRT as in Windows Phone? How can I solve this errors?

thanks :)

possible duplicate of How can I use DesignData to help develop a Metro app? — Rowland Shaw
I've already read that question, but my problem was different. See solution for details. If my question is useless, it can be closed or deleted — blueocean

Deani Hansen Deani Hansen · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-20T08:50:08

Another way to create use sample data is to set the d:DataContext to your ViewMode, set IsCreatableInDesignTime=True (which means it will run it's constructor), then create some sample objects in the constructor.

XAML:

xmlns:viewmodel="clr-namespace:SampleApp.ViewModels"
d:DataContext="{d:DesignInstance Type=viewmodel:SampleViewModel, IsDesignTimeCreatable=True}">

Code-behind:

public SampleViewModel()
{
   if (DesignerProperties.IsInDesignTool)
   {
      //CREATE DESIGN TIME DATA HERE
   }

}

The DesignerProperties.IsInDesignTool is a part of the System.ComponentModel, and returns a bool depending on whether you are in designtime or not, meaning when you run the app, it will always return false. This will work if you are developing for Windows Phone and Silverlight.

If you are developing for Windows Store you can check whether you are in designtime by using Windows.ApplicationModel.DesignMode.DesignModeEnabled instead. Besides that it works the same way.

Use Windows Phone sample data in WinRT

2 Answers