Silverlight 4 Unleashed

737 Pages·2010·8.948 MB·English

by  Bugnion, Laurent

Laurent Bugnion
Silverlight™ 4
U N L E A S H E D
800 East 96th Street,Indianapolis,Indiana 46240 USA
Silverlight™ 4 Unleashed Editor-in-Chief
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education Karen Gettman
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced,stored in a retrieval
Executive Editor
system,or transmitted by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,
Neil Rowe
or otherwise,without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is
assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every Development Editor
precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book,the publisher and author Mark Renfrow
assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for
damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Managing Editor
ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33336-8 Kristy Hart
ISBN-10: 0-672-33336-1
Project Editor
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Andy Beaster
Bugnion,Laurent.
Silverlight 4 unleashed / Laurent Bugnion. Copy Editor
p. cm. Keith Cline
Includes index.
Indexer
ISBN 978-0-672-33336-1
1. Silverlight (Electronic resource) 2. Multimedia systems. 3. Application software— Brad Herriman
Development. 4. Web site development. 5. Internet programming. 6. User interfaces
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(Computer systems) I. Title.
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2010040175
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Publishing
First Printing October 2010
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Contents at a Glance
Foreword....................................................................................................xxiii
Introduction....................................................................................................1
1 Three Years of Silverlight................................................................................7
2 Setting Up and Discovering Your Environment .........................................27
3 Extending Your Application with Controls .................................................49
4 Investigating Existing Controls ...................................................................75
5 Understanding Dependency Properties .....................................................103
6 Working with Data: Binding, Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering ...............129
7 Understanding the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern ................................157
8 Using Data Controls ..................................................................................187
9 Connecting to the Web .............................................................................215
10 Creating Resources, Styles, and Templates ................................................247
11 Mastering Expression Blend ......................................................................273
12 Sketching User Experience .........................................................................301
13 Creating Line-of-Business Applications .....................................................329
14 Enhancing Line-of-Business Applications and
Running Out of the Browser .....................................................................365
15 Developing Navigation Applications and Silverlight for
Windows Phone 7 ......................................................................................401
16 Using Effects and Recording Media ...........................................................435
17 New Transforms, Right Click, HTML Browser, WebBrowserBrush, and
Isolated Storage...........................................................................................467
18 Drag and Drop, Full Screen, Clipboard, COM Interop, Duplex Polling,
Notification Windows, and Splash Screens................................................503
19 Authentication, Event to Command Binding, Random Animations,
Multitouch, Local Communication, and Bing Maps Control...................539
20 Building Extensible and Maintainable Applications .................................573
21 Optimizing Performance ...........................................................................609
22 Advanced Development Techniques..........................................................641
Conclusion..................................................................................................675
Index...........................................................................................................677
Table of Contents
Foreword xxiii
Introduction 1
1 Three Years of Silverlight 7
Discovering Silverlight 4.................................................................................7
Learning Silverlight Is Betting on the Future.......................................8
How Can They Be So Fast?....................................................................9
How About Compatibility with Older Versions?..................................9
Cross-Browser and Cross-Platform Compatibility........................................10
Windows and Macintosh....................................................................11
Linux....................................................................................................12
Alternatives to Silverlight.............................................................................12
In the Web Browser.............................................................................12
Out of the Browser..............................................................................13
Legacy Technologies............................................................................14
A Short History of Silverlight.......................................................................15
Silverlight 1.0.......................................................................................16
Silverlight 2..........................................................................................16
Silverlight 3..........................................................................................16
And Silverlight 4…..............................................................................17
Previewing the Future of Silverlight.............................................................17
Installing Silverlight 4 as a User...................................................................18
Opening a Silverlight 4 Application...................................................19
What to Do If Silverlight Is Not Installed?.........................................19
Exploring Silverlight 4 Demos......................................................................19
Deep Zooming the Matterhorn...........................................................19
Getting Involved Socially with Sobees................................................20
Navigating with Bing Maps Streetside and PhotoSynth.....................21
Visualizing Information with the Pivot Viewer..................................23
Drawing on the Web with Fantasia.....................................................25
How Can You Get Involved?........................................................................25
Summary.......................................................................................................26
Contents v
2 Setting Up and Discovering Your Environment 27
Installing Visual Studio.................................................................................27
Visual Studio 2010...............................................................................27
Visual Web Developer Express............................................................28
Installing the Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio................................28
Verifying the Installation....................................................................29
Inspecting the Application..................................................................31
Unpacking an XAP File........................................................................32
Using the Visual Studio Designer........................................................32
Implementing Hello Silverlight....................................................................33
Checking the Properties Editor...........................................................34
Adding Some Text................................................................................36
Using Design Time Width and Height................................................39
Saving the Application........................................................................40
Installing Expression Blend..........................................................................40
Creating a New Silverlight Application..............................................40
Opening Hello Silverlight....................................................................41
Adding an Effect..................................................................................42
Creating a Pulse Animation................................................................44
Triggering the Storyboard....................................................................45
Testing the Application.......................................................................46
Summary.......................................................................................................47
3 Extending Your Application with Controls 49
Extending XAML...........................................................................................49
Mapping a Prefix to a CLR Namespace...............................................49
Why Is a Prefix Not Always Needed?..................................................52
Adding a Namespace to Any Element.................................................52
Defining Your Own URI and Mapping CLR Namespaces...................52
What’s a Control?.........................................................................................53
User Controls.......................................................................................53
Custom Controls.................................................................................63
Summary.......................................................................................................73
4 Investigating Existing Controls 75
Reviewing the Basics.....................................................................................75
Show Me Some Code!...................................................................................76
Changes in Existing Controls.......................................................................77
Mouse Wheel Support.........................................................................77
Localizing for Right-to-Left Languages...............................................77
Getting a Control Template’s Current State.......................................78
vi Silverlight 4 Unleashed
AddingSelectedValueandSelectedValuePath................................79
AddingCommandandCommandParameter.............................................79
Presenting and Editing Text with the RichTextBox.....................................84
Zooming with the Viewbox...........................................................................85
Opening a ChildWindow................................................................................87
Finding More Information............................................................................90
Where to Find Additional Controls?............................................................90
Do You Really Need a Control?...........................................................90
The Silverlight Toolkit.........................................................................91
Installing the Silverlight Toolkit.........................................................92
Third-Party Providers.........................................................................101
Summary.....................................................................................................102
5 Understanding Dependency Properties 103
InheritingDependencyObject.....................................................................104
Threading...........................................................................................104
Accessing a Dependency Property’s Value........................................105
Using a DependencyObjectas Data Item...........................................105
Registering Dependency Properties............................................................108
Defining Metadata.............................................................................109
Initializing Dependency Objects.......................................................111
Understanding Attached Properties............................................................114
Using Attached Properties for Values................................................114
Registering an Attached Property......................................................115
Using Custom Attached Properties in XAML...................................118
Implementing an Attached Behavior................................................118
Building on Attached Behaviors with Blend Behaviors....................122
Adding a New Property with Snippets.......................................................123
Installing the Snippets for Silverlight...............................................123
Using the Snippets.............................................................................124
Calculating a Dependency Property’s Value..............................................124
Getting the Property’s Base Value.....................................................126
Reading the Local Value....................................................................126
Summary.....................................................................................................127
6 Working with Data: Binding,Grouping,Sorting,and Filtering 129
Diving into Data Bindings..........................................................................130
Understanding a Binding’s Elements................................................130
Understanding the Namescope.........................................................132
Setting the Source..............................................................................133
Refining the Path...............................................................................136
Contents vii
Flowing in Two Directions................................................................138
Converting the Values.......................................................................138
Changing the Format........................................................................139
Handling Special Cases......................................................................141
Property Trigger.................................................................................142
Validating Input.................................................................................142
Using the Visual Studio Binding Dialog.....................................................146
Using the Expression Blend Binding Dialog..............................................148
Debugging Data Bindings...........................................................................149
Checking the Output Tab..................................................................149
Creating a Test Converter..................................................................150
Grouping, Filtering, and Sorting Data........................................................151
Working with the CollectionViewSource........................................151
Using a PagedCollectionView...........................................................154
Binding Directly to the Source..........................................................154
Summary.....................................................................................................155
7 Understanding the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern 157
About Design Patterns................................................................................157
Separating the Concerns.............................................................................158
Why Is Separation Good?..................................................................158
Classic Separation Patterns................................................................158
History of MVVM........................................................................................159
Developing Expression Blend............................................................160
Presentation Model for WPF and Silverlight....................................160
Architecture of MVVM................................................................................160
Translating to Silverlight...................................................................161
Two Kinds of View-models................................................................162
Binding the View to the View-model.........................................................163
Understanding the Data Context......................................................163
Inheriting the Data Context.............................................................164
Binding to the View...........................................................................164
Building a Sample Application...................................................................168
The Model’s Interface........................................................................168
Building a CustomerViewModel..........................................................170
Calling the Service in the MainViewModel.........................................172
Binding to Results..............................................................................174
Testing the Application.....................................................................177
Bridging the Separation..............................................................................178
Implementing a ViewModelBaseClass..............................................178
Using Commands..............................................................................180
Sending Messages..............................................................................183
viii Silverlight 4 Unleashed
Using an MVVM Framework......................................................................184
What Could Be Better?...............................................................................184
Summary.....................................................................................................184
8 Using Data Controls 187
Filtering and Paging with the PagedCollectionView................................188
Preparing the Sample.........................................................................188
Building the PagedCollectionView...................................................190
Filtering Data.....................................................................................192
Paging Through Data.........................................................................194
Optimizing Data Handling................................................................195
Implementing Custom Sorting.........................................................195
Adding a DataPagerControl......................................................................196
Customizing the Display...................................................................197
Validating Data Input.................................................................................197
Using Interface-Based Validation......................................................198
Validating with Data Annotations....................................................201
Validating Before or After the Data Is Set.........................................203
Validating on the Client and on the Server......................................203
Reviewing the DataGrid..............................................................................204
Using the DataGridwith Automatic Columns.................................204
Choosing Between DataGridandListBox.......................................208
Editing Data in the DataForm.....................................................................208
Adding a Description.........................................................................210
Validating the Input..........................................................................211
Committing Changes Manually........................................................211
Defining Fields Manually..................................................................212
Getting More Information................................................................213
Making a Simple Property Editor......................................................213
Summary.....................................................................................................214
9 Connecting to the Web 215
Getting Information from Cross-Domain Servers......................................216
Checking Whether a Policy File Exists..............................................216
Working Around Cross-Domain Restrictions....................................217
Placing Simple Calls....................................................................................218
Informing the User............................................................................218
Learning with a Sample.....................................................................219
Downloading Strings.........................................................................219
Detecting Errors, Checking the Result..............................................223
Opening a Resource for Reading.......................................................224
Uploading a String.............................................................................225
Contents ix
Opening a Resource for Writing........................................................227
Accessing Headers..............................................................................231
Sending Complex Messages........................................................................231
Posting a File to the Server with HttpWebRequest............................231
Discovering the New Networking Stack.....................................................234
Using the Client HTTP Stack.............................................................235
Using Other HTTP Methods..............................................................236
Using the CookieContainer...............................................................236
Handling Responses....................................................................................237
Handling XML Responses..................................................................238
Handling JSON Responses.................................................................238
Communicating with WCF........................................................................239
Setting Up a Service...........................................................................239
Connecting the Client Application...................................................241
Updating the Code on the Server.....................................................244
Publishing the Service.......................................................................244
Summary.....................................................................................................245
10 Creating Resources,Styles,and Templates 247
Working with Resources in XAML.............................................................248
Using Local Resources........................................................................248
Merging Dictionaries.........................................................................249
From the Same Assembly..................................................................250
From a Different Assembly................................................................251
Resolving Resources...........................................................................254
Working with Resources in Blend..............................................................256
Merging a Resource Dictionary.........................................................256
Creating New Resources....................................................................257
Selecting a Resource for a Property...................................................257
Using the Resources Panel.................................................................257
Cleaning Up Unused Resources..................................................................259
Using the Pistachio Tool....................................................................259
Styling a Control.........................................................................................260
Using Implicit Styles..........................................................................261
Creating a Hierarchy of Styles...........................................................263
Creating a New Style in Blend..........................................................264
Templating a Control..................................................................................265
Copying a Template in Blend............................................................265
Creating a Custom Easing Function.................................................269
Making a Control in Blend...............................................................270
Applying a Theme.......................................................................................271
Summary.....................................................................................................272