SimpleBinding extension

1. A method comprising:

establishing a binding for a presentation layer of an application framework using a compact binding syntax in which all binding components are specified in a Window Presentation Foundation (WPF) extensible application Markup language (SAML) simple binding string;

parsing the syntax of the WPF XAML simple binding string to derive a binding class, wherein the simple binding string includes a typecast that indicates a type of a binding result to be obtained; and

evaluating the binding class using a custom type conversion routine that ensures the type of the binding result is of a type understood by the target WPF dependency property, wherein the custom type conversion routine converts, during application runtime, the binding result to a desired type as identified by properties of the target WPF dependency property using a type converter provided with a windows .NET framework.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the presentation layer is windows presentation foundation (WPF), and wherein the binding class is a native WPF binding class.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 further comprising overriding a ProvideValue method when the native WPF binding class is derived to access XAML parser services.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the binding components are selected from a group of binding components comprising: a source, an inherited source, a relative source, an element name, a property path, a converter and a typecast.

5. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein the syntax of the binding components are parsed during WPF runtime.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simple binding string includes a typecast that indicates a type of a binding result to be obtained when a parsed syntax of the simple binding string is evaluated; and wherein deriving the binding class comprises converting the binding result during application runtime using the typecast into a type understood by a target presentation layer dependency property.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the binding class type understood by the target presentation layer dependency property and specified by the type cast is a common language runtime (CLR) type.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein converting the binding result during application runtime comprises converting the binding result to the type understood by the target presentation layer dependency property using a default type converter provided with a NET framework.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein parsing the syntax of the simple binding string to derive a binding class comprises:

using a separate markup extension class to parse the syntax of the simple binding string to derive the binding class.

10. A method for resolving a binding expression for use by an application invoking Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), the method comprising:

retrieving a markup or code declaration that includes a simple binding string;

parsing the simple binding string into a parsed binding object;

applying the parsed binding object to a target WPF dependency property such that the applied parsed binding object is evaluated by the WPF to obtain a binding result, wherein a type of the binding result to be obtained is indicated by a typecast within the simple binding string; and

using a custom type conversion routine that ensures the type of the binding result is a type understood by the target WPF dependency property, wherein the custom type conversion routine converts, during application runtime, the binding result into a desired type as identified by properties of the target WPF dependency property using a default type converter provided with a NET framework.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein the parsed binding object indicates a source and a path.

12. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein a type of the binding result is derived from properties of the target WPF dependency property.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

retrieving a declaration that includes a binding string, the binding string including a typecast;

parsing the binding string into a parsed binding object;

applying the parsed binding object to a target dependency property such that the applied parsed binding object is evaluated by a windows presentation foundation (WPF) to obtain a binding result;

obtaining a type of the binding result that is indicated by the typecast included within the simple binding string; and

using a custom type conversion routine that ensures the type of the binding result is a type understood by the target dependency property, wherein the custom type conversion routine converts, during application runtime, the binding result into a desired type as identified by properties of the target dependency property using a default type converter provided with a NET framework.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 13 wherein the binding string includes binding components, and wherein a type of the binding result is derived from properties of the target WPF dependency property.