Question

Is there a way to use a ValueConverter without defining it in a resource? As is the syntax is pretty verbose.

Answer 1

You can use a MarkupExtension to minimise the amount of xaml code required. E.g:

public class  MyConverter: MarkupExtension, IValueConverter

{
private static MyConverter _converter;

public object Convert(object  value, Type targetType, 
object  parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
    // convert and return something
}

public object  ConvertBack(object value, Type  targetType, 
object parameter,  System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
    // convert and return something (if needed)
}

public override object  ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
{
    if (_converter == null)
        _converter = new MyConverter();
    return _converter;
}

}

You end up with a syntax like this:

{Binding Converter={conv:MyConverter}}

This approach has an added advantage of ensuring that all your converters are singletons.

This article does a great job of explaining the concept and provides sample code.