Style TargetType property question

What is the difference between t开发者_C百科he following TargetType specifications?

1.

<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}" ...

2.

<Style TargetType="Button" ...

It seems the both works fine.

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In the first example, the Type markup extension creates an instance of Type specified by the given string, i.e. Button.

In the second example, the type converter associated with the TargetType property converts the string "Button" into the required Type.

Both give exactly the same result. Notably, in Silverlight the Type markup extension does not exist so (2) is only possible.

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Sorry for poking such an old thread but I feel it's worth it. I have recently encountered a situation which shows that x:Type is different from TypeName-as-String. From my experience -

x:Type considers the strong name or the version of the assembly but not TypeName-as-String.

I have explained about my scenario and other details in my blog here -

http://weblogs.asp.net/akjoshi/archive/2012/02/03/importance-of-specifying-ancestortype-with-x-type-in-relativesourcebinding.aspx

Apart from this, there is also difference in how WPF infers the type. For x:Type TypeExtension is used, whereas for TypeName-as-String FrameworkElementFactory is used.

As per MSDN -

Type Properties That Support Typename-as-String

WPF supports techniques that enable specifying the value of some properties of type Type without requiring an x:Type markup extension usage. Instead, you can specify the value as a string that names the type. Examples of this are ControlTemplate.TargetType and Style.TargetType. Support for this behavior is not provided through either type converters or markup extensions. Instead, this is a deferral behavior implemented through FrameworkElementFactory.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms753322.aspx