Question

How do I, form my contructor in the code-behind get a reference to the OuterBorder control in the XAML below?

<Window Template="{DynamicResource WindowTemplate}">
    <Window.Resources>      
        <ControlTemplate x:Key="WindowTemplate" TargetType="{x:Type Window}">
            <AdornerDecorator>
                <Border Name="OuterBorder" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Red" BorderThickness="1" CornerRadius="0">
                    <!-- Implementation here... -->
                </Border>
            </AdornerDecorator>
        </ControlTemplate>
    </Window.Resources>
</Window>

Answer 1

Two possible solutions:

Solution 1

Put a Loaded event in XAML

<Border Name="OuterBorder" Loaded="Border_Loaded" ...

And in code behind store it in a private field:

private Border border;

void Border_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    this.border = (Border)sender;
}

OR:

Solution 2

Override the OnApplyTemplate of your Window:

private Border border;

public override void OnApplyTemplate()
{
    base.OnApplyTemplate();
    this.border = (Border) Template.FindName("OuterBorder", this);
}