Silverlight 2 in Action

by Campbell, Chad A.

• ISBN13: 9781933988429
• ISBN10: 1933988428
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-01
• Publisher: Manning Pubns Co

Summary

Microsoft describes Silverlight as a cross-browser, cross- platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. That's a really boring description for a really exciting new technology. Anyone who has looked at the demos and gotten a taste of what Silverlight can do knows that Silverlight represents an entirely new level of rich web interface technology for Microsoft developers. With Silverlight 2, developers can use JavaScript, VB, C#, Python, and Ruby to build user- friendly, interactive, and visually-dazzling web applications that work in most major browsers. Silverlight 2 in Action is the first book to cover Silverlight 2, a far more robust implementation of Silverlight than the current 1 release that supports only JavaScript. The much-anticipated 2 release adds powerful new features along with the ability to code in multiple languages and integrate your work with Visual Studio and the new Expression suite of tools. This book delivers real-world examples and in-depth walkthroughs to help you confidently enhance your web applications using Silverlight 2.

Author Biography

Chad Campbell is a Microsoft MVP and solutions architect. He has been developing enterprise-level web applications with a wide variety of technologies since 1999. Beginning with the initial public release of what would become Silverlight in 2006, Chad hit the ground running and has not looked back. He holds MCSD and MCTS certifications. In addition, Chad has a BS degree from Purdue University where he focused his studies on computer science and minored in psychology.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
About this book	p. xx
Introducing Silverlight	p. 1
Silverlight up your life	p. 2
Productivity	p. 2
Performance	p. 3
Portability	p. 3
Why can't we be friends?	p. 6
The developer experience	p. 7
The designer experience	p. 8
XAML	p. 8
Code behind	p. 9
Namespaces	p. 10
Compound properties	p. 12
Attached properties	p. 12
Blending it together	p. 13
Summary	p. 21
Harmony with the web	p. 22
The relationship between Silverlight and the Html Dom	p. 23
The HTML Document Object Model	p. 24
The Silverlight plug-in	p. 25
The Silverlight Object Model	p. 25
Creating a Silverlight plug-in	p. 26
The Silverlight utility file: Silverlight.js	p. 27
Creating an instance of the Silverlight plug-in	p. 28
Integrating a Silverlight plug-in	p. 29
Relating the Silverlight application to the HTML DOM	p. 30
Clarifying the initial experience	p. 32
Handling plug-in events	p. 36
Sending initialization parameters	p. 38
The Silverlight Application Model	p. 39
The manifest file	p. 40
The Silverlight application	p. 41
Application dependencies	p. 44
Interacting with the HTML DOM	p. 44
Managing the web page from managed code	p. 44
Working with the user's browser window	p. 48
Bridging the scripting and managed code worlds	p. 51
Summary	p. 55
Back to the basics: Layout and text	p. 56
A Canvas for your imagination	p. 57
Arranging content of a Canvas	p. 58
The Canvas: packing a punch	p. 60
The StackPanel: Stack 'em deep	p. 61
The power Grid	p. 62
Arranging Grid content	p. 63
Sizing it up	p. 65
Working with the Grid programmatically	p. 68
Customizing cell boundaries	p. 69
Displaying text	p. 72
Font properties	p. 72
Flow control	p. 76
Text properties	p. 76
Spacing	p. 78
The UIElement and FrameworkElement	p. 80
Properties	p. 80
Methods	p. 85
Summary	p. 86
Handling user interaction	p. 88
Understanding device support	p. 89
Capturing the keyboard	p. 89
Trapping the mouse	p. 92
Delivering text controls	p. 96
Handling basic text	p. 96
Collecting sensitive data	p. 98
Button controls	p. 99
The Button	p. 100
The HyperlinkButton	p. 101
The RadioButton	p. 102
The CheckBox	p. 104
The ItemsControl	p. 105
The ListBox	p. 105
The ComboBox	p. 107
The TabControl	p. 108
Date controls	p. 110
Calendar	p. 110
DatePicker	p. 113
Choosing from a numeric range	p. 114
Using the ProgressBar	p. 115
Implementing a Slider	p. 115
Displaying visual prompts	p. 116
Popping up a dialog box	p. 116
Prompting for a file	p. 118
Miscellaneous controls	p. 121
Creating a border	p. 121
Collecting drawings	p. 121
Summary	p. 124
Getting down with data binding	p. 126
Binding with your data	p. 127
Mastering the binding syntax	p. 127
Choosing a binding mode	p. 129
Understanding your data source	p. 131
Binding to a property	p. 131
Binding to an object	p. 133
Binding to a collection	p. 134
Customizing the display	p. 136
Converting values during binding	p. 136
Creating data templates	p. 139
The DataGrid	p. 141
Displaying your data	p. 142
Editing grid data	p. 147
Sorting items	p. 148
Language Integrated Query (LINQ)	p. 149
Introducing LINQ	p. 149
LINQ to Objects	p. 153
LINQ to XML	p. 154
LINQ-ing it together	p. 156
Summary	p. 158
Networking and communications	p. 159
Trust, security, and browser limitations	p. 160
It's all a matter of trust	p. 160
Making your application secure	p. 163
Limitations of the browser	p. 164
Connecting to data sources	p. 165
Using SOAP services	p. 165
Time for a REST	p. 170
Making the data usable	p. 173
Reading POX	p. 173
Converting JSON	p. 177
Reading syndicated feeds	p. 179
Using advanced services	p. 185
WCF service enhancements	p. 185
WCF duplex services	p. 186
Connecting to sockets	p. 191
Summary	p. 193
Managing digital media	p. 194
Stunning audio and video	p. 195
Getting to the source	p. 195
Common properties	p. 199
Audio specifics	p. 201
Video specifics	p. 203
The lifecycle of a media file	p. 203
Playlists: for that web-based mixtape	p. 205
Understanding client-side playlists	p. 205
Using server-side playlists	p. 207
Interactive playback	p. 209
Controlling the play state	p. 209
Timely interaction	p. 210
Going full screen	p. 212
Using protected content	p. 213
Requesting protected content	p. 214
Retrieving the PlayReady components	p. 214
Unlocking protected content	p. 215
Using images in your application	p. 215
Basic imaging	p. 216
Deep Zoom	p. 216
The 7th inning stretch: Dealing with dead space	p. 222
I'll have none of this stretching business	p. 222
Uniform sizing	p. 223
Fill the area	p. 224
UniformToFill	p. 225
Summary	p. 225
Getting a grip on graphics	p. 226
Getting in shape	p. 227
A Line in the sand	p. 228
Rectangle	p. 229
The ellipse	p. 230
Polyline	p. 230
Polygon	p. 231
Geometry	p. 231
Simple geometries	p. 232
Path geometries	p. 233
Composite geometries	p. 235
Brushes	p. 235
SolidColorBrush	p. 236
LinearGradientBrush	p. 237
RadialGradientBrush	p. 239
ImageBrush	p. 240
VideoBrush	p. 241
Transforms	p. 242
RotateTransform	p. 242
ScaleTransform	p. 243
SkewTransform	p. 243
TranslateTransform	p. 244
TransformGroup	p. 244
Blending it together	p. 245
Summary	p. 251
Bringing it to life: Animation	p. 253
Animation: It's about time	p. 254
Mastering the timeline	p. 256
What type of property are you animating?	p. 256
Where are you starting from and where are you going?	p. 258
How long should the animation run?	p. 261
Storyboarding	p. 264
Understanding the storyboard	p. 264
Hitting the target	p. 265
Controlling the Storyboard	p. 267
Being resourceful	p. 269
Key framing	p. 271
Interpolation: It's about acceleration	p. 273
Timing is everything	p. 276
Summary	p. 277
Giving it style	p. 278
Being resourceful	p. 279
Declarative resources	p. 279
Accessing loose resources	p. 282
Bundling resources	p. 284
Giving your elements style	p. 286
Defining the look	p. 287
Targeting style definitions	p. 289
Creating templates	p. 290
Building a control template	p. 291
Creating reusable templates	p. 295
Dealing with visual states	p. 295
Understanding the components	p. 296
Leveraging the VisualStateManager	p. 298
Sharing your effects	p. 301
Summary	p. 303
Enhancing the experience	p. 305
Storing data in isolated storage	p. 306
IsolatedStorageFile: The virtual filesystem	p. 306
Reading and writing files: The isolated storage way	p. 311
Administering the isolated storage	p. 314
Using XAML at runtime	p. 314
BackgroundWorker	p. 316
Doing the work	p. 316
Updating the UI	p. 317
Retrieving content on demand	p. 321
Requesting content	p. 322
Managing larger download requests	p. 323
Loading the content	p. 325
The Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR)	p. 332
Dynamic typing	p. 332
Metaprogramming	p. 335
Summary	p. 337
Share the light: Distribution and deployment	p. 338
Creating a user control	p. 339
Defining the appearance	p. 339
Defining the behavior	p. 340
Calling the control	p. 344
Architecting navigation in Silverlight	p. 344
Setting up the architecture	p. 345
Implementing a navigator	p. 346
Navigating between pages (a.k.a. UserControls)	p. 347
Using a custom splash screen	p. 348
Creating the appearance	p. 348
Integrating the custom splash screen	p. 350
Monitoring the load progress	p. 351
Hosting with Silverlight Streaming	p. 351
Preparing to stream!	p. 352
Pack it up!	p. 352
Ship it!	p. 354
Use it!	p. 354
Summary	p. 355
Index	p. 357
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