Adding triggers to WPF User Control

I've hit this issue a few times, always forgetting the solution afterwards. It also is a problem that doesn't feel like it should be there. It regards using User Controls in WPF, those with attached XAML files, and wanting to add some triggers that affect some of the elements declared in the XAML.

The problem is that if you want to add a trigger in the UserControl.Triggers collection you get a run-time error telling you only EventTriggers are available in that section. If you try an ugly use of the style triggers collection liks this: UserControl.Style -> Style -> Style.Triggers, you get a compilation error saying you can't use TargetName in a Style setter.

There are two solutions, one uglier than the other. One is to use a multi binding to add all the things that affect a property in a setter. Of course, you need a converter class for each one. Yuck! The other solution is to add a setter in the style of the element you want to change, therefore eliminating the need for the TargetName attribute. This is what I use when a trigger is badly needed. I know, fugly.

Update: I have tried to create an attached property that would act like a control trigger collection that would accept any type of trigger. While that was not a problem, I got stuck at the point where every property and value had to be fully qualified, making the style with trigger option look more attractive than this. It appears that the XAML reader itself handles triggers differently and the way it qualifies property names is hardcoded somehow. If anyone gets a handle on how to solve this get a free beer from me :)