/avalonia-layout-zafiro

Theme Organization and Shared Styles

Efficient theme organization is key to avoiding redundant XAML and ensuring visual consistency.

🏗️ Structure

Follow the pattern from Angor:

1. Colors & Brushes: Define in a dedicated Colors.axaml. Use DynamicResource to support theme switching.
2. Styles: Group styles by category (e.g., Buttons.axaml, Containers.axaml, Typography.axaml).
3. App-wide Theme: Aggregate all styles in a main Theme.axaml.

🎨 Avoiding Redundancy

Instead of setting properties directly on elements:

<!-- ❌ BAD: Redundant properties -->
<HeaderedContainer CornerRadius="10" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Blue" Background="LightBlue" />
<HeaderedContainer CornerRadius="10" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Blue" Background="LightBlue" />

<!-- ✅ GOOD: Use Classes and Styles -->
<HeaderedContainer Classes="BlueSection" />
<HeaderedContainer Classes="BlueSection" />

Define the style in a shared axaml file:

<Style Selector="HeaderedContainer.BlueSection">
    <Setter Property="CornerRadius" Value="10" />
    <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1" />
    <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{DynamicResource Accent}" />
    <Setter Property="Background" Value="{DynamicResource SurfaceSubtle}" />
</Style>

🧩 Shared Icons and Resources

Centralize icon definitions and other shared resources in Icons.axaml and include them in the MergedDictionaries of your theme or App.axaml.

<Application.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <MergeResourceInclude Source="UI/Themes/Styles/Containers.axaml" />
            <MergeResourceInclude Source="UI/Shared/Resources/Icons.axaml" />
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>