Avalonia Routed Events

Overview

Avalonia uses routed events that travel the logical tree. Three strategies:

• Bubble — source → root (default for most input events)
• Tunnel — root → source (Preview prefix by convention)
• Direct — only raised on source element

All input events (PointerPressed, KeyDown, etc.) are routed. Version labels: see avalonia-versions.

Handling Events

XAML:

<Button Click="Button_Click"/>
<StackPanel PointerPressed="Panel_PointerPressed"/>

Code-behind (direct +=):

myButton.Click += Button_Click;
private void Button_Click(object? sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { }

AddHandler — explicit routing strategy, required for tunneling:

// Catch bubbled clicks from any child Button
myPanel.AddHandler(Button.ClickEvent, OnAnyButtonClick, RoutingStrategies.Bubble);

// Intercept before children see it (tunneling)
myPanel.AddHandler(InputElement.PointerPressedEvent, OnPreviewPointerPressed,
    RoutingStrategies.Tunnel);

private void OnAnyButtonClick(object? sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Clicked: {e.Source}");
}

Remove handler:

myPanel.RemoveHandler(Button.ClickEvent, OnAnyButtonClick);

Stopping Propagation

private void OnKeyDown(object? sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Key == Key.Escape)
    {
        e.Handled = true; // stops further bubbling/tunneling
    }
}

e.Handled = true prevents subsequent handlers in the route from firing.

Defining Custom Routed Events

public class MyControl : Control
{
    // Event registration
    public static readonly RoutedEvent<RoutedEventArgs> ActivatedEvent =
        RoutedEvent.Register<MyControl, RoutedEventArgs>(
            name: "Activated",
            routingStrategy: RoutingStrategies.Bubble);

    // CLR event wrapper
    public event EventHandler<RoutedEventArgs> Activated
    {
        add => AddHandler(ActivatedEvent, value);
        remove => RemoveHandler(ActivatedEvent, value);
    }

    // Raise it
    protected void RaiseActivated()
        => RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(ActivatedEvent, this));
}

Custom event args:

public class ValueChangedEventArgs : RoutedEventArgs
{
    public double OldValue { get; }
    public double NewValue { get; }

    public ValueChangedEventArgs(RoutedEvent routedEvent, object source,
        double oldValue, double newValue)
        : base(routedEvent, source)
    {
        OldValue = oldValue;
        NewValue = newValue;
    }
}

public static readonly RoutedEvent<ValueChangedEventArgs> ValueChangedEvent =
    RoutedEvent.Register<MyControl, ValueChangedEventArgs>(
        "ValueChanged", RoutingStrategies.Bubble);

Tunneling Events (Preview)

Convention: tunneling events prefixed with Preview.

public static readonly RoutedEvent<PointerPressedEventArgs> PreviewPointerPressedEvent =
    RoutedEvent.Register<InputElement, PointerPressedEventArgs>(
        "PreviewPointerPressed",
        RoutingStrategies.Tunnel);

Use pattern:

// Parent intercepts before child
myParent.AddHandler(InputElement.PointerPressedEvent, Handler, RoutingStrategies.Tunnel);

RoutingStrategies Enum

OnApplyTemplate Pattern

Called when ControlTemplate is applied. Use to wire up named template parts:

protected override void OnApplyTemplate(TemplateAppliedEventArgs e)
{
    base.OnApplyTemplate(e);

    // Get required part (throws if missing)
    _button = e.NameScope.Get<Button>("PART_Button");
    _button.Click += OnPartButtonClick;

    // Get optional part (returns null if missing)
    _indicator = e.NameScope.Find<Border>("PART_Indicator");
}

// Clean up old subscriptions if template changes
private Button? _button;
private Border? _indicator;

Template XAML:

<ControlTemplate TargetType="local:MyControl">
    <StackPanel>
        <Border Name="PART_Indicator" Background="Gray"/>
        <Button Name="PART_Button" Content="Click"/>
    </StackPanel>
</ControlTemplate>

Convention: template part names prefixed with PART_.

Declare expected parts (documentation + tooling):

[TemplatePart("PART_Button", typeof(Button))]
[TemplatePart("PART_Indicator", typeof(Border))]
public class MyControl : TemplatedControl { }

Class Handlers (Static, All Instances)

static MyControl()
{
    // Fires for every instance when a child Button is clicked
    Button.ClickEvent.AddClassHandler<MyControl>((instance, e) =>
        instance.OnChildButtonClicked(e));

    // Intercept tunneling on all instances
    InputElement.PointerPressedEvent.AddClassHandler<MyControl>(
        (instance, e) => instance.OnPreviewPointerPressed(e),
        RoutingStrategies.Tunnel);
}

private void OnChildButtonClicked(RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Button clicked in {this}");
}

Focus and Gesture Events

// (12.0+) FocusChangedEventArgs: OldFocusedElement, NewFocusedElement, NavigationMethod, KeyModifiers
private void OnGotFocus(object? sender, FocusChangedEventArgs e) { }
// (11.x) GotFocusEventArgs

(12.0+) Cancellable: GettingFocus / LosingFocus raise FocusChangingEventArgs (TryCancel(), TrySetNewFocusedElement(el)).

Gesture events are routed events declared on InputElement: Tapped, RightTapped, DoubleTapped, Holding, Pinch, PinchEnded, PullGesture, ScrollGesture, SwipeGesture, etc.

<Border Pinch="OnPinch"/>              <!-- (12.0+) -->
<Border Gestures.Pinch="OnPinch"/>     <!-- (11.x) -->

myPanel.AddHandler(InputElement.TappedEvent, OnTapped);   // works in all versions

Interaction Events (Non-Routed) vs Routed

Control.AttachedToVisualTree / DetachedFromVisualTree — not routed, fires on control directly:

protected override void OnAttachedToVisualTree(VisualTreeAttachmentEventArgs e)
{
    base.OnAttachedToVisualTree(e);
    // Safe to access TopLevel, start subscriptions
}

protected override void OnDetachedFromVisualTree(VisualTreeAttachmentEventArgs e)
{
    base.OnDetachedFromVisualTree(e);
    // Clean up subscriptions
}

Common Mistakes

• += vs AddHandler routing strategies — myPanel.PointerPressed += Handler only catches Bubble by default; use AddHandler with RoutingStrategies.Tunnel for preview intercept
• Tunnel events won't fire with default Bubble strategy — must explicitly pass RoutingStrategies.Tunnel to AddHandler
• new RoutedEventArgs(MyEvent) missing source — always pass this as source: new RoutedEventArgs(MyEvent, this)
• Forgetting e.Handled = true in a handler that should consume the event — other handlers in the route still fire
• OnApplyTemplate without cleaning up previous subscriptions — template can be re-applied; detach old handlers before attaching new ones
• (12.0+) GotFocusEventArgs / Gestures. prefix — replaced by FocusChangedEventArgs / events directly on InputElement
• e.NameScope.Get<T> throws if part missing — use Find<T> for optional parts to avoid KeyNotFoundException