How to use string values in place of ticks on WPF Tickbar?

Question

I wish to customize the appearance of the basic WPF TickBar. I was wondering if there was a simple way to do this using a control template:

I wish to have numbers in place of ticks along the tickbar. I want the position of the number to correspond to the value of a slider (much like the picture in the link).

I've searched around and one suggestion I found said to create a class that inherits from TickBar and override it's OnRender method.

I'd much rather find a solution that doesn't involve that. I was really hoping using a control template would do the trick. So, If there is one such solution, suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :)

Answer 1

Okay, I have a solution. I figured I should answer my question in the event some other fellow along the line runs into the same situation as I. :-)

Override OnRender seems to be the most obvious solution. I was really hoping to use a template of sorts...sigh ...ah well. Anyways, I ran across this discussion on MSDN's forums which provided an answer to send me in the right direction.

Simple, and it need a few tweeks to make it more flexible, so here's my version:

class CustomTickBar : TickBar
{
    protected override void OnRender(System.Windows.Media.DrawingContext dc)
    {
        double num = this.Maximum - this.Minimum;
        double y = this.ReservedSpace * 0.5;
        FormattedText formattedText = null;
        double x = 0;
        for(double i = 0; i <= num; i += this.TickFrequency)
        {
            formattedText = new FormattedText(i.ToString(), FlowDirection.LeftToRight, 
                new Typeface("Verdana"), 8, Brushes.Black);
            if(this.Minimum == i)
                x = 0;
            else
                x += this.ActualWidth / (num / this.TickFrequency) ;
            dc.DrawText(formattedText, new Point(x, 10)); 
        }
    }
}