title: ElementName vs. FindVisualAncestor
body: <p>How does the XAML engine search for <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.binding.elementname.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>Binding.ElementName</code></a> vs <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.relativesource.ancestortype.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>RelativeSource.AncestorType</code></a>.</p>
  
  <p>It would take a huge different when I am searching for a parent Window or Page (that x:Name was set in it), if the ElementName searches up (meaning starting from near current element up the tree levels children, then it's better to use the AncestorType since it won't search the siblings, just the ancestors.
  But if it (the ElementName) starts from to top of the visual tree and goes deeper and deeper, then of course I should get it by the ElementName property.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Bottom line</strong>: my question is whether the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.binding.elementname.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>Binding.ElementName</code></a> is search for the name from the top of the tree, or from the point of the binding upwards.</p>
  
  <p>So please share me with your knowledge.</p>