How to inherit styles when using TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate?

[karmeye]

For example, when I do

<tv:TableViewTemplateColumn Header="Quantity">
            <tv:TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                <DataTemplate x:DataType="qi:QItem">
                    <TextBlock Text="{x:Bind Quantity}" />
                </DataTemplate>
            </tv:TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
</tv:TableViewTemplateColumn>

I lose all margins and possibly other styles that are present when I do

<tv:TableViewTextColumn Header="Name" Binding="{Binding Quantity}" />

Is there a way to inherit the default style somehow?

[w-ahmad]

The difference you're seeing is by design. TableViewTemplateColumn and TableViewTextColumn are fundamentally different in how they render content:

• TableViewTextColumn
  This column type has a built-in display element (TextBlock) with its own predefined styling that includes margins, padding, alignment, and other visual properties. When you use it, the column automatically creates and styles the TextBlock for you with all the default cell styling applied.

• TableViewTemplateColumn
  This column type is designed to give you complete control over the cell's content and appearance. When you provide a CellTemplate, you're responsible for defining the entire visual tree and styling from scratch. It doesn't inherit or share any styling from TableViewTextColumn because they are separate implementations.

To achieve consistent styling, you need to manually apply the same margins and other properties in your template. Here's an example:

<tv:TableViewTemplateColumn Header="Quantity">
    <tv: TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate x:DataType="qi:QItem">
            <TextBlock 
                Text="{Binding Quantity}" 
                Margin="12,0,12,0" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </tv:TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
</tv:TableViewTemplateColumn>

[karmeye]

The reason, in my case, I had to use CellTempate was not because of the cell's content and appearance. It was because the cells were not populated in the published app because {Binding ColumnValue} was probably being trimmed out. I had to use {x:Bind ColumnValue}. The only way I could figure out how to use x:Bind in this case is to use the DataTemplate and set the x:DataType property.

<DataTemplate x:DataType="ns:RowItems">

…

    <tv:TableView.Columns>
      <tv:TableViewTemplateColumn Header="{x:Bind Column1Name}">
        <tv:TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
          <DataTemplate x:DataType="ns:RowItem">
            <TextBlock Text="{x:Bind ColumnValue}" />
          </DataTemplate>
        </tv:TableViewTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
      </tv:TableViewTemplateColumn>

So in my case the use of CellTemplate is not, then, the intended use.

I was just checking if there was a way to fetch the same styling as before. I guess it was more of a XAML question. And of lazyness. The proper way to do it would be to globally style all TableViews, overwriting the defaults everywhere.

Thanks

(btw I get trim warnings in WinUI.TableView when publishing trimmed, I am not sure if that is related to my initial issue with Binding)

[w-ahmad]

TableView doesn't support IL trimming for the columns except the template column. The reason is other columns use traditional binding to work and these binding doesn't support IL trimming or native AOT. When you use template column you define a display element with x:Bind and it works when you compile with aot. Template columns cannot inherit any kind of display or editing element styles from other columns and they never should.