One particular thing about FindAncestor confuses me, have a look at the example below:
<Expander.HeaderTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Name="headerLabel" Content="Show Contents" Padding="0" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
<Button Name="headerButton" Margin="6,0,0,0" Content="Button" Padding="6,1" />
</StackPanel>
<DataTemplate.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Expander}}, Path=IsExpanded}" Value="True">
<Setter TargetName="headerLabel" Property="Content" Value="Hide Contents" />
</DataTrigger>
</DataTemplate.Triggers>
</DataTemplate>
</Expander.HeaderTemplate>
I use the xaml above to change the text of my custom expander header. My question is, when do I actually need to explicitly use FindAncestor when I want to use a property of an ancestor in my binding? Because the following three bindings appear to yield the same result in my scenario at least:
Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Expander}}, Path=IsExpanded}"
Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Expander}}, Path=IsExpanded}"
Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Expander}}, Path=IsExpanded}"
I have seen lots of examples of all three, is it just a matter of personal taste?