Windows Presentation Foundation

Introducing

Windows Presentation Foundation By

Pradeep

Agenda Introduction to .NET Framework 3.0 What is WPF? What is XAML? WPF application types WPF controls Using WinForms(.Net 2.0) controls in WPF Styles Benefits of WPF Drawbacks of WPF Tools for application development

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0

Framework 3.0 = .NET Framework 2.0 + 4 new technologi

The application development framework for Windows Platform

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0

The .NET Framework 3.0 is included with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. It can also be installed on Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

Windows Presentation Foundation

New technology for building User Interface applications in .NET Framework 3.0

Windows Presentation Foundation It enables you to build UI that can handle media content including 2D and 3D graphics, vector-based graphics, animation, speech, audio and video.

A UI element in WPF consists of two parts: Mark-Up code - XAML (User Interface) Code - C# or VB.Net (Application logic)

XAML XAML stands for Extensible Application Markup Language. XAML is an XML based markup language for creating user interfaces for .NET applications.  Every XAML code must be a well-formed XML file and XAML inherits all XML definitions and rules.  Every XAML element maps to a .NET CLR class.  XAML attributes map to CLR properties and events. XAML files can be rendered in the browser / stand alone application. XAML separates the UI from the code behind application logic. XAML files will have the extension “.XAML”. Ex: App.xaml

XAML File..

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Application types in WPF Supports two types of applications: Windows Application—Hosted in a window and has full access to system resources. XAML Browser Application—Deployed on a server and accessible through browser. This application type runs in the Internet zone, which limits its access to system resources.

WPF Windows App. Project Structure

XBAP Application Project Structure

App.Xaml App.xaml declares the application starting point. It is used to

Set the initial XAML file to be loaded – Startu Define application level styles. Handle application level events.

App.xaml

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WPF Controls Supports a rich set of controls. Custom controls. User controls. Windows Forms controls can be used. Namespace – System.Windows.Controls Few standard controls available in .NET 2.0 are missing.

WPF Controls WPF controls can be grouped into following categories: Layout/Panel controls Buttons Menus List Selection Range Selection

User Information UI Navigation Editing Media Digital Ink

Layout/Container controls A WPF Window can hold only a single element. To add more than one element use a container control. WPF container controls derive from System.Windows.Controls.Panel class.

Layout controls Grid: Child controls are arranged in rows and columns. StackPanel: Child controls are stacked either vertically or horizontally. WrapPanel: Child controls are positioned in left-to-right order and wrapped to the next line when there are more controls on the current line than space allows. Canvas: enables absolute positioning of controls. DockPanel: Child controls are aligned to the edges of the panel.

Buttons Button RadioButton RepeatButton ToggleButton – Two states Pushed & UnPushed

Menus Menu ToolBar ContextMenu

List Selection ComboBox ListBox TreeView

User Interface Navigation ScrollBar TabControl Thumb Frame

User Information Expander Label TextBlock Popup ProgressBar StatusBar ToolTip

Editing TextBox RichTextBox - Display text in paragraph, in table format,View images, enable spell check

Media Image MediaElement <MediaElement Source=“media\JabWeMet.wmv" Width="450" Height="250" />

WPF Controls Range Selection Slider

Dialog Boxes PrintDialog

Missing controls Color Dialog

LinkLabel

DataGridView

MaskedTextBox

BindingNavigator

MonthCalendar

DateTimePicker

NotifyIcon

ErrorProvider

PageSetupDialog

FolderBrowserDi alog

PrintDocument

FontDialog

PrintPreviewDialo g

HelpProvider

PropertyGrid

ImageList

Hosting Windows Forms control in WPF Use WindowsFormHost control to host windows forms control. Add a reference to WindowsFormsIntegration.dll. Assign the Windows Forms control to the Child property of the WindowsFormHost control.

Sample code..

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Styles Style is a set of properties applied to change the look and feel of an element. Styles can be used in two ways: Inline Styles Named Styles

Inline Styles Stylable elements have Style property which can be set inline.

Named Styles Create a style within the Resource section, give a name to the style and apply the style by name.

Triggers WPF styles support triggers, which allow you to change the style of a control when another property is changed.

Shapes WPF supports a rich set of Shape objects. Available shape objects include Rectangle Ellipse Line Path Polygon PolyLine

All shape objects inherit from Shape class.

Brushes SolidBrush – paints an area with solid color. Link LinearGradient Brush - paints an area with multiple colors that blend into each other . Link RadialGradientBrush – Gradient radiates out from the center. Link ImageBrush – paints an area with an image. Link DrawingBrush - paints an area with a Drawing, which can include shapes, text, video, images, or other drawings . Link VisualBrush – paints an area with the visual content of an element. Link

Brushes Example

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WPF Application Compilation Application – MainWindow.xaml, MainWindow.xaml.cs Phase-1 – XAML Compilation 1. 2.

XAML file will be converted to BAML file by XAML compiler. [

MainWindow.xaml  MainWindow.baml ]

3.

BAML file will be placed in obj/Debug or obj/Release folder.

4.

Partial class will be generated – MainWindow.g.c

Phase-2 – Class Compilation 1.

MainWindow.xaml.cs and MainWindow.g.c will be compiled into an assembly by language compiler – csc.exe.

2.

BAML files are embedded as resource files in the assembly.

Benefits Browser support. Relatively easy to understand XAML. Allows separation of UI design from implementation - Markup/Code behind model. Easy to create 2D and 3D animations in UI. Rich UI.

Benefits – Continued.. WINFORMS Forms, Controls Complex text Images

WinForms

PDF

X

WinForms + GDI

3D Graphics

Direct3D

X

WPF X

X

X X

Video / Audio 2D Graphics

Windows Media Player

X X

X X

X X

X

Drawbacks Few standard controls available in .NET 2.0 are missing. Steep Learning curve. Performance impairment – extensive use of System resources.

Development tools .NET Framework 3.0/3.5 Visual Studio 2008. Visual Studio 2005 with extension for WPF Intellisense Compilation feature

XamlPad Microsoft Expression (Suite of tools)

Questions and Answers