Silverlight - Sample Data - Complex objects

I really like using the sample data binding at design time for Silverlight.

It is easy to use it when you need to return string values.

In my case, I am trying to bind to my ViewModel one of whose properties returns a SolidColorBrush. How do I setup the sample data to return a SolidColorBrush value?

Here is what the string based properties look in the sampleData.xml file.

<ViewModels:MyViewModel AlphaValue="Abcd" ColorValue="????"/>

How should I format ColorValue to return a SolidColorBrush?

What I am trying to do: I have a textblock with its foreground set to Foreground="{Binding ColorValue}". The TextBlock is invisible on the design surface as its not getting a value from the sampledata.xml file. Where as another textblock on which I have only text property set to a binding value, appears correctly on the design surface.

You need to look at creating a value converter. Look at this and it should give you an understanding of what you need to do. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.binding.converter.aspx