Pro WPF in VB 2010 - Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 4

1195 Pages·2009·13.9 MB·English

by  Matthew MacDonald

Pro WPF in VB 2010

Windows Presentation Foundation
in .NET 4

■ ■ ■
Matthew MacDonald
Pro WPF in VB 2010: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 4
Copyright © 2010 by Matthew MacDonald
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-7240-3
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-7241-0
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For my wonderful family,
Faria, Maya, and Brenna
Contents at a Glance

Contents.....................................................................................................................vi
About the Author...................................................................................................xxxi
About the Technical Reviewer..............................................................................xxxii
Acknowledgments...............................................................................................xxxiii
Introduction.........................................................................................................xxxiv

■ Chapter 1: Introducing WPF...................................................................................1
■ Chapter 2: XAML..................................................................................................23
■ Chapter 3: Layout.................................................................................................61
■ Chapter 4: Dependency Properties....................................................................105
■ Chapter 5: Routed Events...................................................................................119
■ Chapter 6: Controls............................................................................................159
■ Chapter 7: The Application.................................................................................213
■ Chapter 8: Element Binding...............................................................................247
■ Chapter 9: Commands........................................................................................263
■ Chapter 10: Resources.......................................................................................291
■ Chapter 11: Styles and Behaviors......................................................................307
■ Chapter 12: Shapes, Brushes, and Transforms..................................................331
■ Chapter 13: Geometries and Drawings..............................................................373
■ Chapter 14: Effects and Visuals.........................................................................397
■ Chapter 15: Animation Basics............................................................................421
iv
■ CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

■ Chapter 16: Advanced Animation ......................................................................465
■ Chapter 17: Control Templates..........................................................................497
■ Chapter 18: Custom Elements............................................................................539
■ Chapter 19: Data Binding...................................................................................591
■ Chapter 20: Formatting Bound Data ..................................................................635
■ Chapter 21: Data Views......................................................................................685
■ Chapter 22: Lists, Trees, and Grids....................................................................703
■ Chapter 23: Windows.........................................................................................745
■ Chapter 24: Pages and Navigation.....................................................................785
■ Chapter 25: Menus, Toolbars, and Ribbons.......................................................835
■ Chapter 26: Sound and Video.............................................................................861
■ Chapter 27: 3-D Drawing...................................................................................885
■ Chapter 28: Documents......................................................................................929
■ Chapter 29: Printing...........................................................................................983
■ Chapter 30: Interacting with Windows Forms.................................................1015
■ Chapter 31: Multithreading..............................................................................1037
■ Chapter 32: The Add-in Model.........................................................................1051
■ Chapter 33: ClickOnce Deployment..................................................................1075

Index.....................................................................................................................1097

v
■ CONTENTS

Contents

Contents at a Glance..................................................................................................iv
About the Author...................................................................................................xxxi
About the Technical Reviewer..............................................................................xxxii
Acknowledgments...............................................................................................xxxiii
Introduction.........................................................................................................xxxiv

■ Chapter 1: Introducing WPF...................................................................................1
The Evolution of Windows Graphics..................................................................................1(cid:2)
DirectX: The New Graphics Engine...........................................................................................................2(cid:2)
Hardware Acceleration and WPF..............................................................................................................3(cid:2)
WPF: A Higher-Level API....................................................................................................4(cid:2)
Windows Forms Lives On.........................................................................................................................6(cid:2)
DirectX Also Lives On................................................................................................................................6(cid:2)
Silverlight.................................................................................................................................................6(cid:2)
Resolution Independence..................................................................................................7(cid:2)
WPF Units.................................................................................................................................................8(cid:2)
System DPI...............................................................................................................................................8(cid:2)
Bitmap and Vector Graphics...................................................................................................................11(cid:2)
The Architecture of WPF..................................................................................................12(cid:2)
The Class Hierarchy................................................................................................................................13(cid:2)
WPF 4...............................................................................................................................16(cid:2)
New Features.........................................................................................................................................17(cid:2)
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■ CONTENTS

The WPF Toolkit......................................................................................................................................18(cid:2)
Visual Studio 2010..................................................................................................................................18(cid:2)
The Last Word..................................................................................................................21
■ Chapter 2: XAML..................................................................................................23
Understanding XAML.......................................................................................................23(cid:2)
Graphical User Interfaces Before WPF....................................................................................................24(cid:2)
The Variants of XAML.............................................................................................................................25(cid:2)
XAML Compilation..................................................................................................................................25(cid:2)
XAML Basics....................................................................................................................27(cid:2)
XAML Namespaces.................................................................................................................................28(cid:2)
The Code-Behind Class..........................................................................................................................29(cid:2)
Properties and Events in XAML........................................................................................31(cid:2)
Simple Properties and Type Converters.................................................................................................33(cid:2)
Complex Properties................................................................................................................................34(cid:2)
Markup Extensions.................................................................................................................................36(cid:2)
Attached Properties................................................................................................................................37(cid:2)
Nesting Elements....................................................................................................................................38(cid:2)
Special Characters and Whitespace.......................................................................................................41(cid:2)
Events.....................................................................................................................................................42(cid:2)
The Full Eight Ball Example....................................................................................................................44(cid:2)
Using Types from Other Namespaces..............................................................................45(cid:2)
Loading and Compiling XAML..........................................................................................47(cid:2)
Code-Only...............................................................................................................................................47(cid:2)
Code and Uncompiled XAML...................................................................................................................50(cid:2)
Code and Compiled XAML......................................................................................................................52(cid:2)
XAML Only..............................................................................................................................................53(cid:2)
XAML 2009.......................................................................................................................55(cid:2)
Automatic Event Hookup........................................................................................................................55(cid:2)
References.............................................................................................................................................56(cid:2)
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■ CONTENTS

Built-in Types.........................................................................................................................................57(cid:2)
Advanced Object Creation......................................................................................................................57(cid:2)
The Last Word..................................................................................................................59
■ Chapter 3: Layout.................................................................................................61
Understanding Layout in WPF..........................................................................................61(cid:2)
The WPF Layout Philosophy....................................................................................................................62(cid:2)
The Layout Process................................................................................................................................63(cid:2)
The Layout Containers............................................................................................................................63(cid:2)
Simple Layout with the StackPanel.................................................................................65(cid:2)
Layout Properties...................................................................................................................................67(cid:2)
Alignment...............................................................................................................................................68(cid:2)
Margin....................................................................................................................................................69(cid:2)
Minimum, Maximum, and Explicit Sizes.................................................................................................71(cid:2)
The Border..............................................................................................................................................74(cid:2)
The WrapPanel and DockPanel........................................................................................75(cid:2)
The WrapPanel.......................................................................................................................................76(cid:2)
The DockPanel........................................................................................................................................77(cid:2)
Nesting Layout Containers......................................................................................................................79(cid:2)
The Grid...........................................................................................................................80(cid:2)
Fine-Tuning Rows and Columns.............................................................................................................83(cid:2)
Layout Rounding.....................................................................................................................................85(cid:2)
Spanning Rows and Columns.................................................................................................................85(cid:2)
Split Windows.........................................................................................................................................86(cid:2)
Shared Size Groups................................................................................................................................90(cid:2)
The UniformGrid......................................................................................................................................93(cid:2)
Coordinate-Based Layout with the Canvas......................................................................93(cid:2)
Z-Order...................................................................................................................................................95(cid:2)
The InkCanvas........................................................................................................................................95(cid:2)

viii
■ CONTENTS

Layout Examples..............................................................................................................98(cid:2)
A Column of Settings..............................................................................................................................98(cid:2)
Dynamic Content..................................................................................................................................100(cid:2)
A Modular User Interface......................................................................................................................102(cid:2)
The Last Word................................................................................................................104
■ Chapter 4: Dependency Properties....................................................................105
Understanding Dependency Properties.........................................................................105(cid:2)
Defining a Dependency Property..........................................................................................................106(cid:2)
Registering a Dependency Property.....................................................................................................107(cid:2)
Adding a Property Wrapper..................................................................................................................109(cid:2)
How WPF Uses Dependency Properties...............................................................................................110(cid:2)
Shared Dependency Properties............................................................................................................111(cid:2)
Attached Dependency Properties.........................................................................................................112(cid:2)
Property Validation........................................................................................................113(cid:2)
The Validation Callback........................................................................................................................114(cid:2)
The Coercion Callback..........................................................................................................................115(cid:2)
The Last Word................................................................................................................117
■ Chapter 5: Routed Events...................................................................................119
Understanding Routed Events.......................................................................................119(cid:2)
Defining, Registering, and Wrapping a Routed Event...........................................................................120(cid:2)
Sharing Routed Events.........................................................................................................................121(cid:2)
Raising a Routed Event.........................................................................................................................121(cid:2)
Handling a Routed Event......................................................................................................................122(cid:2)
Event Routing.................................................................................................................124(cid:2)
The RoutedEventArgs Class..................................................................................................................125(cid:2)
Bubbling Events....................................................................................................................................126(cid:2)
Handling a Suppressed Event...............................................................................................................130(cid:2)
Attached Events....................................................................................................................................130(cid:2)
ix