Archive for category WPF
WpfToolkit + VisualStateManager + Visual studio .net 2008 = hotfix time
Posted by suddenelfilio in Visual Studio .Net, WPF on 05/07/2010
I got into playing a bit with WPF. I had to look at some reference samples that were created by some of my colleagues and I found that I had an issue opening any xaml file in the visual studio .net 2008 designer. The problem was the VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups that could not be resolved. Appareantly this is some that has been introduced in the WPFToolkit which is used by our development team.
After some Googling for the issue I discovered a Hotfix released by Microsoft that should resolve my issues. The thing about this hotfix was that you also neede to install another hotfix because the fix might break something else. You gotta love the irony in that!
Anyways the hotfixes I’m talking about can be found here:
- KB958017 – Rollup Hotfix for several issues in WPF designer Visual Studio 2008
- KB963035 – VS2008 SP1 sometimes hangs irretrievably after WPF Designer
After installing both hotfixes the problem was gone I can now open the xaml files that use VisualStateManager.
More information about the VisualStateManager itself can be found here: http://windowsclient.net/wpf/wpf35/wpf-35sp1-toolkit-visual-state-manager-overview.aspx
Get started with Expression Blend and Design
Posted by suddenelfilio in .net, WPF on 06/06/2007
F or those that like to get started with the new Microsoft products Expression Blend and Expression Design. You should check out these links below. They give you access to tons of FREE video tutorials hosted by lynda.com
Links:
- Getting started with Expression Blend
In Getting Started with Expression Blend , Lee Brimelow covers all the basics that every designer and developer of WPF and Silverlight content needs to know. He starts with an overview of how Expression Blend fits into WPF and Silverlight workflows, then guides viewers through the process of creating and manipulating objects, building timeline-based animations, and exporting compositions into XMAL for use in Visual Studio.
- Getting started with Expression Design
From basic vector-based drawings to professional three-dimensional graphics built with Live Effects, Ted LoCascio covers the full range of possibilities in Getting Started with Expression Design. He starts by explaining Expression Design’s interface and how to work with documents, then moves on to cover working with objects and applying fills, strokes, and effects for best results. Exercise files accompany this training.
Enjoy!
note: the lynda.com logo is protected by copyrights. Suddenelfilio.net is not in any way affiliated with lynda.com or any of its partners.
Windowsclient.net New Microsoft Community Site
Posted by suddenelfilio in .net, WPF on 13/05/2007
As you can read on the home page:
The WindowsClient.NET Community Site Launches
Welcome to WindowsClient.net, the community learning resource for Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation.
This site focuses on all aspects of rich client development on Windows using the .NET Framework. New content from both the Microsoft product teams and from the community will be added regularly to highlight the many user experience and developer productivity benefits of rich client applications on Windows.
Everytime they launch a new site I’m amazed by the looks and the ease to navigate it. They really put in an effort to make their sites look-a-like.
WPF: draggable windowless windows
Posted by suddenelfilio in WPF on 19/01/2007
I’m currently trying out the Microsoft Expression Blend designer (formerly known as Microsoft Expression Interactive Designer). I must say it’s already very nice, the only I still can’t seem to get working is the integration with visual studio .net 2005 to edit the code behind files… Anyway that’s not what I wanted to talk about.
We probably know that you can do marvelous things with WPF it’s like a Flash designer but for .Net developers : Not sure Adobe is going to like that. So why should you constrain yourself to the old looking windows? Why not try something more different.
The image below shows you the kind of application I mean.
As you can see the image has something extra stick out in the left upper corner. To achieve this you just set the WindowStyle to None, Background to “transparent” and AllowTransparancy to “True”.
This will give you a borderless and transparent window. In this example I’ve set the background of the grid using an ImageBrush that will allow me to use a customized background image
….
Next is the actual image that represents the out-of-border network drive. This is nothing more than an image placed in that particular position. Okay the application is ready to run.When you run the application you’ll see that you can’t drag the application to another location on the screen…
To solve this problem you need to add a Thumb. A Thumb is a WPF Control that can be dragged around. You can declare a thumb that has the same size as your window. When you do this the application will kind of funny because all you see is a light gray area. To prevent this overlay set the Opacity property of the Thumb to 0.
Next thing to do is to implement the DragDelta event of the thumb. It’s this code that will actually move the entire window. The code for this is pretty simple:
Public Sub onDragDelta(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As Primitives.DragDeltaEventArgs) Canvas.SetLeft(Me, Canvas.GetLeft(Me) + e.HorizontalChange) Canvas.SetTop(Me, Canvas.GetTop(Me) + e.VerticalChange) End Sub
That’s it… you can now drag the window around.