What does (x) in x:Name mean in Silverlight XAML Markup?

We see some properties in TextBlock or Grid like this:

<TextBlock x:Name="TextBlock1" ...

Why do we include this (x)? why don't we just say:

<TextBlock Name开发者_高级运维="TextBlock1" ...

I mean, we're already within the definition scope of this TextBlock, right?

There must be a reason for that.

Thanks in advance.

As an extension to Gabe's answer, x:Name is an attached property. Attached properties are different from standard properties, as they aren't defined (usually) on the control that uses them. For example, the TextBlock control does not have an x:Name property - instead, this property is defined elsewhere (in the XAML namespace), and is being "attached" to the TextBlock control to implement it's behaviour. It's saying "I want to use the Name attached property that can be found in the XAML namespace). Of course, to complicate things, the TextBlock control has a Name property (it didn't used to in Silverlight 2, thus you needed to use the x:Name attached property instead). They do the same thing though.

Another (easier to understand) example of an attached property is Grid.Row. You can use this property on the TextBlock control to specify what row the control should appear in a Grid, even though it's not defined on that control (the Grid control defines it). The TextBlock is simply attaching that property to itself, which associates itself with that behaviour. It's a confusing concept initially, but very powerful and useful. More info on attached properties can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc265152(VS.95).aspx.

Hope this helps...

Chris

That is a namespace prefix.

Example 1:

You should see something like this on the xaml page:

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

Which declares the x prefix referring to the xaml namespace.

Example 2:

You could load your own user controls by registering the namespace and giving it a prefix.

xmlns:mycontrols="clr-namespace:MyControls.Namespace;assembly=MyAssembly"

Then here we are using the prefix to utilize one of the controls from this namespace.

<mycontrols:MyControl />