failing that if you need to check whether the DataContext is being set you can use the DataContextChanged
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContextChanged += new DependencyPropertyChangedEventHandler(UserControl1_DataContextChanged);
}
void UserControl1_DataContextChanged(object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
// You can also validate the data going into the DataContext using the event args
}
}
Note it wont enter UserControl1_DataContextChanged until DataContext is changed from null to a different value.
Not sure if this answers your question but can be quite handy to use in debugging issues.