Sams Teach Yourself Wpf in 24 Hours

Printed entirely in color, with helpful figures and syntax coloring to make code samples appear as they do in Visual Studio. In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be able to begin effectively using WPF to solve real-world problems, developing rich user interfaces in less time than you thought possible. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds on a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of WPF from the ground up. Step-by-step instructionscarefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks. The Q&A sections, quizzes, and exerciseshelp you build and test your knowledge. By the Waynotes present interesting pieces of information. Did You Know?tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something. Watch Out!cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster. Learn how to... Use XAML to build user interfaces Leverage data binding to minimize tedious code Create visually engaging applications Architect and design WPF applications using proven patterns such as MVP Incorporate audio and video into your applications Customize controls with styles, templates, and animation Apply best practices for developing software with WPF Deploy WPF applications to the desktop and Web Take advantage of WPFrs"s advanced printing capabilities Grow as a developer by improving your overall software design skills Introduction 1 Part I Getting Started 1 What WPF Is and Isnrs"t 5 2 Understanding XAML 17 3 Introducing the Font Viewer 27 4 Handling Application Layout 41 5 Using Basic Controls 59 6 Introducing Data Binding 75 Part II Reaching the User 7 Designing an Application 93 8 Building a Text Document Editor 107 9 Getting a Handle on Events 121 10 Commands 145 11 Output 157 Part III Visualizing Data 12 Building a Contact Manager 177 13 Presenters and Views 193 14 Resources and Styles 211 15 Digging Deeper into Data Binding 229 16 Visualizing Lists 251 Part IV Creating Rich Experiences 17 Building a Media Viewer 267 18 Drawing with Shapes 291 19 Colors and Brushes 315

Author Biography

Rob Eisenberg is vice president and cofounder of Blue Spire Consulting, Inc. (www.bluespire.com). He is a frequent blogger in the Devlicio.us (www.devlicio.us) blogging community and speaks at various community events on the subjects of WPF, Agile, and TDD. His career began in music composition, which very naturally led him into interactive media. He was drawn to the .NET Framework by the persistent recommendations of his present business partner and soon after discovered WPF. Rob has been working with WPF since the prebeta days and was among the top 20 finalists in Microsoft’s Code Master Challenge in 2006. In his spare time, he enjoys playing and teaching drums, making artisan cheese, reading, and swing dancing with his lovely wife, Anna.

Christopher Bennage is the president and cofounder of Blue Spire Consulting, Inc., a Florida-based software consulting firm specializing in .NET technologies and emphasizing personal interactions with the customer. Christopher began programming on his Texas Instrument in elementary school but fell in love with computers with the advent of the Commodore Amiga. His career has brought him through various technologies beginning with Lotus Notes, VBA, and classic ASP before eventually landing him in the marvelous world of C# and the .NET Framework. His early interest in Flash, rich user experiences, and usability led him to be an early adopter of both WPF and Silverlight. Christopher embraces the values of the Agile Software Manifesto and has been heavily influenced by Extreme Programming, Domain Driven Design, and other related practices. In his free time, Christopher is usually very distracted by a dozen different, competing creative ideas. Aside from that he can sometimes be found playing Frisbee golf, guitar, or video games. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, Sandra, and their two children, Adah and Ranen (soon to be three children).

Introduction	p. 1
Getting Started
What WPF Is and Isn t	p. 5
Understanding XAML	p. 17
Introducing the Font Viewer	p. 27
Handling Application Layout	p. 41
Using Basic Controls	p. 59
Introducing Data Binding	p. 75
Reaching the User
Designing an Application	p. 93
Building a Text Document Editor	p. 107
Getting a Handle on Events	p. 121
Commands	p. 145
Output	p. 157
Visualizing Data
Building a Contact Manager	p. 177
Presenters and Views	p. 193
Resources and Styles	p. 211
Digging Deeper into Data Binding	p. 229
Visualizing Lists	p. 251
Creating Rich Experiences
Building a Media Viewer	p. 267
Drawing with Shapes	p. 291
Colors and Brushes	p. 315
Transforms and Effects	p. 331
Using Control Templates	p. 347
Triggers	p. 369
Animation	p. 383
Best Practices	p. 407
Appendixes
Tools and Resources	p. 423
3D Tutorial Using ZAM 3D	p. 427
Project Source (downloadable)	p. 437
Index	p. 439
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

Introduction IntroductionWindows Presentation Foundation, or WPF, is Microsoft's latest framework for building sophisticated and rich user interfaces for desktop applications. WPF differs significantly from its predecessor, and yet draws on many of the concepts found existing in frameworks for both desktops and the web.WPF enables developers to easily and quickly handle tasks that were either very difficult or impossible to accomplish in previous frameworks. Audience and OrganizationThis book is intended for those who have at least some experience with general .NET development. If you have worked with WinForms or ASP.NET, you should feel comfortable with this book. The code examples provided are written in C#, but we've been careful to keep them readable for those whose primary language is Visual Basic.Because WPF is both a broad and a deep topic, it can easily become overwhelming. Our approach in this book is to stay broad. We cover the essential concepts of the framework. Our goal is for you to feel confident building a WPF application when you are done with the book, as well as equipping you to dig deeper into any areas of the framework that interest you.The book is organized into five parts. In each of the first four parts, we build a sample application that demonstrates the features of WPF covered in that part. Although the applications are simplified, they are designed to reflect real-world scenarios that you are likely to encounter. Each of the parts builds on its predecessor, and we recommend reading them in order. Part V concludes with information designed to help you move forward after the book.Part I, "Getting Started"--We build a utility for browsing the fonts installed on your system. You'll learn about the new markup language XAML that is an integral part of WPF. We also introduce you to most of the basic controls, including those that handle layout. You'll also learn about basic data binding in WPF.Part II, "Reaching the User"--You'll create your own rich text editor. You'll learn about the powerful new event and command systems. We also introduce you to a few more controls and show you how you can deploy your WPF applications. You also discover how to print from WPF.Part III, "Visualizing Data"--This part teaches you how to style an application, as well as how to use WPF's powerful graphics capabilities for visualizing the data in your applications. We also dig further into data binding and show you some options for architecting your WPF applications.Part IV, "Creating Rich Experiences"--You'll learn how to easily embed media in your applications. You'll see how WPF's drawing and templating APIs make it easy to create unique and visually attractive interfaces. You'll also get started with animation.Part V, "Appendices"--This includes a brief introduction to 3D and a list of tools, frameworks, and other resources that aid in WPF development.Throughout the book, we use code-continuation characters: When a line of code is too long to fit on the printed page, we wrap it to the next line and precede it with a code-continuation character, like this: public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture) Farther Up and Further InLearning WPF is really a lot of fun. We've discovered a new joy in building user interfaces since we've begun using this technology. We believe that you'll have the same experience working through this book. Although it may take some time to become a master of WPF, it's actually quite easy to g