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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-15T23:52:25+00:00

I’m using a ListBox with its DataTemplate containing a Canvas. I then bind the

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I’m using a ListBox with its DataTemplate containing a Canvas. I then bind the Left/Top of the Grid containing that Canvas to move it to a certain point.

I want to then have the child Grid centred at the X,Y coordinates I’ve specified, where the size of the child Grid is variable based on its content. I was planning on achieving this by using a TranslateTransform to move the Grid by half of its width.

I can’t see how I can set that TranslateTransform however as ElementName binding doesn’t work within a DataTemplate. Any ideas how I can achieve this?

<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{TemplateBinding SomeCollection}">
    <ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
        <ItemsPanelTemplate>
            <Grid HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" />
        </ItemsPanelTemplate>
    </ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
    <ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <Canvas>
                <Grid x:Name="Container" 
                        Canvas.Left="{Binding X}" 
                        Canvas.Top="{Binding Y}"
                        Background="#88000000">
                    <Grid.RenderTransform>
                    <TranslateTransform X="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=Container, Converter={StaticResource NegativeHalfConverter}}"
                                        Y="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=Container, Converter={StaticResource NegativeHalfConverter}}" />
                </Grid.RenderTransform>
                <TextBlock Text="{Binding SomeValue}" FontSize="36" Foreground="White" />
            </Grid>
        </Canvas>
    </DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Looks like the fault wasn’t with the binding itself, but with a feature that means the ActualWidth/ActualHeight properties aren’t bindable. Thanks Filip.

    To fix this I created a derived Grid with a couple of new dependency properties that I update in the SizeChanged events to have the ActualWidth/Height. I then use my DataTemplate as above, binding to these new DPs to translate and centre my Grid on a point. Seems to work a treat.

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