Microsoft Expression Blend 4 Unleashed

by Williams, Brennon

• ISBN13: 9780672331077
• ISBN10: 0672331071
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-14
• Publisher: Sams Publishing

Summary

The complete guide to building world-class rich Internet applications with Microsoft Expression Blend 4 and WPF, Silverlight, and XAML Now in full color! Covers all designer interactions involved in building real-world applications -- from drag-and-drop design to prototyping, and beyond Includes four start-to-finish "Learning Lab Project" case studies By Brennon Williams, Microsoft MVP for Expression Blend and a world-renowned leader of the Expression Blend community Written by Microsoft MVP Brennon Williams, this is the definitive guide to building rich Internet applications with the newest version of Expression Blend. Now in full color, this comprehensive, practical reference covers every designer and developer interaction with Expression Blend 4, including: " Getting started, navigating Blend 4, and utilizing its tools and asset library " Using new designer tools to maximize productivity " Creating styles, control templates, and grid layouts " Prototyping WPF and Silverlight applications " Enabling specific software behaviors in user interfaces via drag-and-drop design " Using design-time data sources, resource dictionaries, and triggers " Storyboarding and then building sophisticated animations " Implementing processes " Importing designs from Adobe Illustrator and other programs " Creating functional prototypes " Working with user, inherited, and custom controls " Integrating 3D elements, and much moreExpression Blend 4 Unleashedalso includes four start-to-finish Learning Lab Projects -- walking designers through building media players, contact managers, application launchers, and media managers.

Author Biography

Brennon Williams is the Chief Technology Officer for the award-winning UK design and development agency, Splendid. Brennon is also a technical advisor to several companies around the world, specializing in the implementation of designer/developer collaboration and workflows.

 

For almost two decades, Brennon has worked in several countries as a consultant software developer and technical advisor.

 

Owner of the ExpressionBlend.com website which is due to be launched in 2011, Brennon’s technology insights can also be followed at his personal blog, brennonwilliams.com

 

Brennon was awarded a BS in Computer Science from NYU and has received the Microsoft MVP award for Expression Blend 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction    1

What Will You Learn in Expression Blend 4 Unleashed?    1

The Topics Covered in Expression Blend 4 Unleashed    2

How This Book Is Structured    2

Sample Applications Covered in This Book    3

1  Expression Blend 4 Overview    5

What Is Expression Blend and Who Is It For?    5

What’s New in Expression Blend 4?    7

A Brief History Leading to the Future…    8

Why the Focus Shifted Away from WPF    8

Enter Silverlight    9

What Does This All Mean for the Big Picture?    10

What Does Expression Blend have to do with HTML5, CSS, and Expression Web?    11

Summary    11

2  Discovering the Expression Blend Interface    13

The Expression Blend Interface Theme    13

How the Experience Changes    16

Project Panel    21

Expression Blend Options Dialog    22

The Artboard    27

The XAML Editor    30

The Code Editor    31

Objects and Timeline Panel    37

Tools Panel    39

Assets Panel    49

Properties Panel    49

Resources Panel    57

Data Panel    58

Summary    59

3  Using Expression Blend for the First Time    61

Keeping Things Simple to Start With    61

It All Starts with a Button!    62

Transformations    72

Simple Animation    74

Summary    78

4  Common Properties and Functionality    79

Controls, Controls, Elements…    79

Border    80

The Checkbox    83

The RadioButton    85

TextBlock Versus Label    88

The TextBox    89

The ProgressBar    92

The Slider    93

The ComboBox    97

The ListBox    100

Summary    102

5  The Art of Layout    103

Layout Panels    103

The Grid Control    104

Canvas    117

The Viewbox    119

Scaling Text    120

StackPanel    121

ScrollViewer    122

Summary    124

6  Element Styles and Templates    125

What Is the Difference Between a Style and a Template?    126

What Is a Style?    126

What Is a Template?    132

Creating the Easiest Button Ever    140

Simple Styles    142

Summary    144

7  Working with Parts    145

It’s the Parts That Make Up the Whole    146

Element to Element Binding    147

Building Your Own Slider Control    151

Summary    156

8  Working with States    157

What Is a State?    157

Working with the VSM    158

The Base State    160

The Unchecked State    160

Control Level States    163

State Transitions    168

Transition Effects    170

Transition Effect Priority    172

Summary    173

9  Working with SketchFlow    175

The User Centered Design Process (UCD)    176

It’s All About the Process    176

Collaboration Isn’t Easy    181

Creating a Basic SketchFlow Solution    183

Summary    215

10  Expression Blend Data Support    217

Designing Sample Data    217

Thinking About the Data    218

Defining Sample Data    219

Editing the Data Template    224

Editing the ItemContainerStyle    227

Working with the Details    229

The ValueConverter Solution    234

Switching to Live Data    239

Summary    246

11  Animations and Transitions    247

The Storyboard Editor    247

Animation Keyframes    250

Transformations    251

Plane Projections    258

Easing Functions    260

The Spline Editor    261

Repeating the Animation    263

Duplicate and Reverse the Storyboard    266

HandOff Animation    267

Managing State Animations with Storyboards    268

Summary    272

12  Shapes, Paths, and Effects    273

Taking Shape    273

Is it a Path or a Line?    274

The New Silverlight PathListBox    282

The Magic of Effects    289

Summary    290

13 Skins, Themes, and Resource Dictionaries    293

Does It Come in Blue?    293

Resource Dictionaries    293

What Is the Difference Between a Skin and a Theme?    297

Multiple Style Resources Within a Single Skin    305

Using the ResourceVault in Your Solution    307

Creating a Default Skin    309

Using Themes in Expression Blend    310

Summary    312

14  Advanced Controls    313

Introduction    313

The WPF and Silverlight Toolkits    313

The DataGrid Control    314

The DataForm    316

Silverlight Charts    317

InkPresenter    319

AutoComplete Textbox    320

WPF Extended Toolkit    322

Summary    323

15  Windows Phone 7    325

And on the 8th Day…    325

Style and Substance with Metro    327

Tools and Add-Ins    329

Building a Simple WP7 Application    335

Adding Rotation Animation Support    346

Summary    349

A  Resources for Going Further    351

Finding Out More…    351

Short URLs    351

Expression Blend Resources    352

SketchFlow Resources    352

XAML Resources    353

Silverlight Resources    353

WPF Resources    354

Windows Phone 7 Resources    354

Surface Resources    354

C# .NET Development Resources    355

M-V-VM Resources    355

Summary    356

Index    357