Programming Windows Presentation Foundation

Description:

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (formerly known by its code name "Avalon") is a brand-new presentation framework for Windows XP and Windows Vista, the next version of the Windows client operating system. For developers, WPF is a cornucopia of new technologies, including a new graphics engine that supports 3-D graphics, animation, and more; an XML-based markup language (XAML) for declaring the structure of your Windows UI; and a radical new model for controls.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation is the book you need to get up to speed on WPF. By page two, you'll have written your first WPF application, and by the end of Chapter 1, "Hello WPF," you'll have completed a rapid tour of the framework and its major elements. These include the XAML markup language and the mapping of XAML markup to WinFX code; the WPF content model; layout; controls, styles, and templates; graphics and animation; and, finally, deployment.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation features:

• 
  Scores of C# and XAML examples that show you what it takes to get a WPF application up and running, from a simple "Hello, Avalon" program to a tic-tac-toe game
  
  
• Insightful discussions of the powerful new programming styles that WPF brings to Windows development, especially its new model for controls
  
  
• A color insert to better illustrate WPF support for 3-D, color, and other graphics effects
  
  
• A tutorial on XAML, the new HTML-like markup language for declaring Windows UI
  
  
• An explanation and comparison of the features that support interoperability with Windows Forms and other Windows legacy applications

The next generation of Windows applications is going to blaze a trail into the unknown. WPF represents the best of the control-based Windows world and the content-based web world; it's an engine just itching to be taken for a spin. Inside, you'll find the keys to the ignition.

 

Table of Contents:

Preface

1. Hello, WPF

     WPF from Scratch

     Navigation Applications

     Content Model

     Layout

     Controls

     Data Binding

     Dependency Properties

     Resources

     Styles and Control Templates

     Graphics

     Application Deployment

     Where Are We?

2. Layout

     Layout Basics

     DockPanel

     StackPanel

     Grid

     Canvas

     Viewbox

     Text Layout

     Common Layout Properties

     When Content Doesn't Fit

     Custom Layout

     Where Are We?

3. Controls

     What Are Controls?

     Handling Input

     Built-In Controls

     Where Are We?

4. Data Binding

     Without Data Binding

     Data Binding

     Binding to List Data

     Data Sources

     Master-Detail Binding

     Where Are We?

5. Styles and Control Templates

     Without Styles

     Inline Styles

     Named Styles

     Element-Typed Styles

     Data Templates and Styles

     Triggers

     Control Templates

     Where Are We?

6. Resources

     Creating and Using Resources

     Resources and Styles

     Binary Resources

     Global Applications

     Where Are We?

7. Graphics

     Graphics Fundamentals

     Shapes

     Brushes and Pens

     Transformations

     Visual-Layer Programming

     Video and 3-D

     Where Are We?

8. Animation

     Animation Fundamentals

     Timelines

     Storyboards

     Key Frame Animations

     Creating Animations Procedurally

     Where Are We?

9. Custom Controls

     Custom Control Basics

     Choosing a Base Class

     Custom Functionality

     Templates

     Default Visuals

     Where Are We?

10. ClickOnce Deployment

     A Brief History of Windows Deployment

     ClickOnce: Local Install

     The Pieces of ClickOnce

     Publish Properties

     Deploying Updates

     ClickOnce: Express Applications

     Choosing Local Install versus Express

     Signing ClickOnce Applications

     Programming for ClickOnce

     Security Considerations

     Where Are We?

A. XAML

B. Interoperability

C. Asynchronous and Multithreaded Programming in WPF Applications

Index