xaml-csharp-development-skill-for-avalonia

WPF Routed Events, Commands, and InputBindings to Avalonia

Table of Contents

1. Scope and APIs
2. Event and Command Mapping
3. Input Gesture Mapping
4. Conversion Example
5. Avalonia C# Equivalent
6. Troubleshooting

Scope and APIs

Primary WPF APIs:

• RoutedEvent, bubbling/tunneling handlers
• RoutedCommand, CommandBinding, InputBinding, KeyBinding

Primary Avalonia APIs:

• RoutedEvent and routed event handlers
• ICommand command sources (Button, MenuItem, etc.)
• KeyBinding, KeyGesture, HotKey

Event and Command Mapping

WPF	Avalonia
RoutedCommand + CommandBinding	ICommand on command sources + explicit handlers
CanExecute routing	command CanExecute + view-model state
routed events (Preview*, *)	routed input events with tunnel/bubble semantics

Input Gesture Mapping

WPF	Avalonia
<Window.InputBindings>	root KeyBindings on Window/UserControl
InputGestureText in menu	InputGesture display hint on MenuItem
shortcut execution	HotKey or KeyBinding

Conversion Example

WPF XAML:

<Window.InputBindings>
  <KeyBinding Gesture="Ctrl+S" Command="{Binding SaveCommand}" />
</Window.InputBindings>

<MenuItem Header="_Save" Command="{Binding SaveCommand}" InputGestureText="Ctrl+S" />

Avalonia XAML:

<UserControl xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:vm="using:MyApp.ViewModels"
             x:DataType="vm:EditorViewModel">
  <UserControl.KeyBindings>
    <KeyBinding Gesture="Ctrl+S" Command="{CompiledBinding SaveCommand}" />
  </UserControl.KeyBindings>

  <Menu>
    <MenuItem Header="_File">
      <MenuItem Header="_Save"
                Command="{CompiledBinding SaveCommand}"
                InputGesture="Ctrl+S"
                HotKey="Ctrl+S" />
    </MenuItem>
  </Menu>
</UserControl>

Avalonia C# Equivalent

using Avalonia.Controls;
using Avalonia.Input;

var root = new UserControl();
root.KeyBindings.Add(new KeyBinding
{
    Gesture = KeyGesture.Parse("Ctrl+S"),
    Command = viewModel.SaveCommand
});

Troubleshooting

1. Shortcut text shows but command never runs.
   • InputGesture is only hint text; wire HotKey or KeyBinding for execution.
2. command executes twice.
   • remove duplicate bindings at nested roots.
3. routed handler order changed.
   • verify tunnel vs bubble registration points after port.

This site is open source. Improve this page.