What is the point of the StatusBarItem class in WPF?
statusbar, statusbaritem, wpf
Solution
A `StatusBar` is an `ItemsControl`. All `ItemsControl`s have a container class. For `ListBox`es, it's `ListBoxItem`. For `StatusBar`, it's `StatusBarItem`. If you don't explicitly wrap your item in a `StatusBarItem`, it will be implicitly wrapped in one for you.
If you need to set properties of an `ItemsControl`'s containers, you can use the `ItemContainerStyle` property:
<StatusBar>
<TextBlock>One</TextBlock>
<TextBlock>Two</TextBlock>
<TextBlock>Three</TextBlock>
<StatusBar.ItemContainerStyle>
<Style TargetType="StatusBarItem">
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Right"/>
</Style>
</StatusBar.ItemContainerStyle>
</StatusBar>
Finally, note that the `StatusBar` uses a `DockPanel` by default to lay out its children. This can be frustrating when you're doing intricate layouts. See my blog post here on how to swap it out for a `Grid`.
Problem
How is the `StatusBarItem` class supposed to be used? Is every element in a `StatusBar`'s content supposed to be wrapped with it? I don't really understand how `StatusBarItem` affects the `StatusBar` layout. It seems like I can use `HorizontalAlignment` on a `StatusBarItem`, but not when I put the element in the `StatusBar` directly: ``` <StatusBar> <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Right" Text="Not right" /> <StatusBarItem HorizontalAlignment="Center"> <TextBlock Text="Center" /> </StatusBarItem> </StatusBar> ``` Also if you wrap a `Separator` in a `StatusBarItem` the `Separator` changes to horizontal. `Separator`s default to vertical when put in the `StatusBar` directly without a `StatusBarItem` wrapper.