I came across this post today while having the same question, using the answers in this thread I came up with a manageable solution to simple text/text pairs. To add new fields simply expand the "FormItems" collection.
xmlns:c="clr-namespace:System.Collections;assembly=mscorlib"
<Window.Resources>
<c:ArrayList x:Key="FormItems">
<c:DictionaryEntry Key="First Name" Value="John"/>
<c:DictionaryEntry Key="Last Name" Value="Smith"/>
</c:ArrayList>
</Window.Resources>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{StaticResource FormItems}" Grid.IsSharedSizeScope="True">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" SharedSizeGroup="Label"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock>
<Run Text="{Binding Key}"/><Run Text=": "/>
</TextBlock>
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding Value}"/>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
There has been no consideration for margins and padding, it just shows the concept of using a DataTemplate to reuse the layout of each item. It can be adapted to include other data types and controls fairly easily. You could even use the ItemTemplateSelector to select a different template based on the type of the DictionaryEntry.Value
EDIT
Another approach that I found that made it easier for DataBinding was to use Visual Studio to create a new WPF "Custom Control". Doing so will create a new file named Themes/Generic.xaml with a new default layout defined there. A few simple edits and we can use the ItemsControl to display our new control.
New class:
public class FormControlItem : ContentControl
{
public object Field {
get { return base.GetValue(FieldProperty); }
set { base.SetValue(FieldProperty, value); }
}
static FormControlItem() {
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(
typeof(FormControlItem),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(FormControlItem)));
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty FieldProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register(
"Field",
typeof(object),
typeof(FormControlItem),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata());
}
Themes/Generic.xaml:
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MyApplication">
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:FormControlItem}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type local:FormControlItem}">
<Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" SharedSizeGroup="Label"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ContentPresenter ContentSource="Field"/>
<ContentPresenter Grid.Column="1" ContentSource="Content"/>
</Grid>
</Border>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
Usage example:
<ItemsControl Grid.IsSharedSizeScope="True">
<local:FormControlItem Field="Name: ">
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=Name}"/>
</local:FormControlItem>
<local:FormControlItem Field="Type: ">
<ComboBox
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=Type}"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=TypeValues}"/>
</local:FormControlItem>
<local:FormControlItem Field="Category: ">
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=Category}"/>
</local:FormControlItem>
</ItemsControl>
