WPF Control Development Unleashed: Building Advanced User Experiences

WPF Control Development Unleashed Building Advanced User Experiences   In this book, two leading Windows Presentation Foundation experts give developers everything they need to build next-generation WPF applications–software that is more robust, usable, and compelling.   Drawing on their close ties with Microsoft’s WPF development team, Pavan Podila and Kevin Hoffman give you a clear, robust, and practical understanding of WPF, its underpinnings, its overall architecture, and its design philosophy. Podila and Hoffman introduce never-before-published WPF design patterns and support them with robust, real-world code examples–all presented in full color, just as they appear in Visual Studio.   The authors begin by explaining how to “think in WPF,” and then introduce powerful new techniques for everything from handling 3D layouts to creating game-like physics effects. Along the way, they offer in-depth coverage of data binding, building interactivity, and control development: three of WPF’s most challenging concepts. You’ll learn how to choose the right WPF features for every programming challenge, and use those features far more creatively and effectively.   If you want to build truly outstanding WPF applications, this is the book that will get you there.   Master the patterns and techniques you need to build state-of-the-art WPF applications Write more powerful and effective applications that reflect a deep understanding of WPF’s design philosophy Learn how WPF has evolved, and take full advantage of its growing sophistication Make the most of advanced declarative programming techniques Leverage IScrollInfo, virtualization, control theming, and other complex features Build more powerful interactivity into your WPF applications Create more visual software with 3D elements, custom animations, and shader effects Optimize WPF application performance in real-world environments Master design patterns for organizing your controls more effectively   Category: .NET Programming / WPF Covers: Windows Presentation Foundation User Level: Intermediate—Advanced

Table of Contents:
About the Authors          xii Dedications           xiii We Want to Hear from You!        xv Part I Thinking in WPF 1 The WPF Design Philosophy 1 Data and Behavior           2 Working with Data          3 Templates            3 Presenters            4 Binding and Converters         4 Layout            5 Styles            5 Working with Behaviors          6 The User Experience          8 The User Experience Benevolent Circle       9 A Note on Sample Source Code       9 Summary           10 2 The Diverse Visual Class Structure 11 Introducing the Visual Classes        11 The DispatcherObject Class        12 The DependencyObject Class        12 The Visual and DrawingVisual Classes       13 The FrameworkElement Class       15 The Shape Class          16 The Text Classes          18 The Control Class         19 The ContentControl Class         20 The ContentPresenter Class        20 The ItemsControl Class         21 The UserControl Class         22 The Panel Class          23 The Decorator Class          24 The Adorner Class         24 The Image Class          25 The Brushes          25 The DataTemplate, ControlTemplate, and ItemsPanelTemplate Classes        27 The Viewport3D Class         27 The MediaElement Class        28 The InkCanvas          28 Summary           29 3 Getting Started Writing Custom Controls 31 Overcoming the “Start from Scratch” Instinct     31 Using Data Transformations        32 Find the Behavior You Want, Then Extend     34 The Power of Attached Properties       35 Custom Control Creation Checklist      38 Thinking in Layers–The Art of Decomposition    39 Sample: Building a Circular Minute Timer      40 Enhancing and Extending the ProgressBar     40 Creating the Arc Shape         42 Working with the ControlTemplate      43 Summary           47 4 Building Custom Panels 49 Layout Defined          49 How Layout Works          51 Working with Visual Children        52 Creating a Custom Panel: The VanishingPointPanel     56 Building a Panel with Attached Properties: WeightedPanel    58 Using Transformations with Layout       63 Enter the LayoutTransform        66 Layout Events           66 Summary           68 5 Using Existing Controls 69 Customizing Existing Controls        70 Customizing Controls Using Properties      70 Customization Using Control Templates      70 Customization with Data Templates      71 Using a ControlTemplate and a DataTemplate     71 Customizing the ItemsControl        72 Customizing a ListBox          74 Customizing the ItemContainerStyle      74 Customizing the ItemTemplate and the ItemsPanelTemplate  77 Creating a Custom ScrollBar         78 Using Brushes to Create Advanced Visuals      82 Using the VisualTreeHelper and LogicalTreeHelper    82 Customization Sample–The Radar Screen      83 Moving Enemies in a ListBox        84 Concentric Circles and a Sweeping Cone      85 Summary           91 6 The Power of Attached Properties 93 Overview of Attached Properties        93 Building the UseHover Attached Property     95 Using Attached Properties as Extension Points     100 Data Templates          102 Property Abstraction         102 Layout Animations          102 Constraining Panels         102 Application Services         102 UI Helper Objects         103 Implementing Drag and Drop with Attached Properties   103 Summary            111 Part II Adding Complex Features 7 Advanced Scrolling 113 The Anatomy of a Scrollbar         113 The Magic of IScrollInfo         115 Responding to User-Requested Horizontal and Vertical Scrolling 116 Controlling the Bounds for the Track and Thumb    116 Managing the Location of the Thumb      116 Logical Scrolling         117 Building a Custom Panel with Custom Scrolling     117 Creating the Layout Logic        117 Adding the Scrolling Functionality      119 Animated Scrolling          122 Taking Scrolling to the Next Step        123 Scrolling Without IScrollInfo        124 Summary            127 8 Virtualization 129 Virtualization Distilled         129 Building Blocks of UI Virtualization       130 UI Virtualization in WPF         131 Component Interaction         132 A Deeper Look at the ItemContainerGenerator    133 Making Our Own Virtualized Control: The StaggeredPanel  135 Deferred Scrolling          139 Container Recycling         140 Virtualization in 3D         140 Summary            142 9 Creating Advanced Controls and Visual Effects 143 Lasso Selection Using the InkCanvas       143 Building a Dock Slide Presenter       146 Docking and Undocking Controls       149 Building a Transition Abstraction: The TransitionContainer   154 Handling Transitions         157 Applying a Transition         159 Implementing Popular Visual Effects       161 Reflection           161 Drop Shadows          163 Opacity Masks          164 Gloss Effects           164 Summary            166 10 Control Skinning and Themes 167 Introduction to Skins and Themes       168 Resource Lookups in WPF        168 Building Default Styles        169 Using Resources in Default Styles        170 Creating Theme-Specific Styles        172 Enabling Runtime Skinning         174 Using the ApplyTemplate Override      177 Control Customization Through Property Exposure     182 Summary            183 Part III Building Interactivity, 3D, Animations 11 Bridging the 2D and 3D Worlds 185 A Brief Introduction to 3D Worlds       185 Using the Viewport3D Element       186 Embedding a Viewport3D Element      189 Mapping 2D Visuals on 3D Surfaces       192 Getting Interactive with ModelUIElement3D and ContainerUIElement3D        196 2D Bounds of a 3D Object        198 Hints on Layout in 3D        200 Interactive 2D-on-3D Surfaces        200 Summary            201 12 Custom Animations 203 Procedural Animations         203 Animating Using the DispatcherTimer      204 Animating Using CompositionTarget.Rendering     204 Animating with Storyboards        206 Simple Type-Based Animations (From, To, and By)    206 Keyframe Animations         207 Using Storyboards with Parallel Timelines      208 Using Path-Based Animations       211 Creating Custom Animations        212 Creating the 3D Surfaces         219 Animating Within the DrawingContext       220 Summary            221 13 Pixel Shader Effects 223 New and Improved Bitmap Effects       224 Working with Shaders          224 Setting Up the Environment       224 An Overview of HLSL         225 Writing Custom Shaders         228 Grayscale Shader         228 Building a Parameterized Shader: TwirlEffect     231 Animating the Shader Effects       235 Effect Mapping for GUI Interaction and Eventing    235 Multi-Input Shaders         239 A Useful Tool           242 Summary            242 Part IV Bringing the Controls to the Real World 14 Events, Commands, and Focus 243 Routed Events          243 Routed Events, Event Triggers, and Property Mirrors   245 Attached Events          246 Class Handlers          249 Weak Events Using Weak References       250 Implementing the Weak Event Pattern      251 Subclassing the Weak Event Manager      252 Delivering Events Via the IWeakEventListener     254 Commands           255 Routed Commands          259 Commands Versus Events        259 Request Requery         261 The ICommandSource Interface       262 Focus Management         266 Logical and Keyboard Focus        266 Focus-Related Events and Properties       267 Keyboard Navigation         271 Summary            273 15 Advanced Data Binding 275 Dependency Properties         276 Dependency Property Precedence       276 Using AddOwner Instead of Creating a New DependencyProperty  279 Listening to Property Changed Events on Dependency Properties  280 Special Data Binding Scenarios        282 Using RelativeSource.PreviousData      282 Using NotifyOnSourceUpdated and NotifyOnTargetUpdated   284 The Dispatcher and DispatcherPriority       285 Deferring UI Operations         287 Posting Messages from Worker Threads      287 The BackgroundWorker Class       289 Introduction to Continuous LINQ (CLINQ)     291 Summary            292 16 Control and Visual Design Tips 295 Control Design Tips         295 Use Internal Resource Dictionaries      295 Define Complex Controls as Partial Classes     296 Use Scoped Dependency Properties for Internal State Management  296 Use Attached Properties for Adding Functionality    297 Compose Graphics Using Simpler Building Blocks    297 Communicating Between a Control and Its Subparts   297 Use a State Machine to Handle Multiple Events and Property Changes         299 Use Low-Priority Delegates for Noncritical Tasks     299 Use x: Shared for Cloning Resources       299 Use Markup Extensions to Encapsulate Object Creation   300 Useful Patterns for GUI Development      301 The Strategy Pattern         301 The Builder Pattern         301 Model-View-Controller        302 Model-View-View Model         302 Factory Method          303 Composed Method          303 State Pattern           303 Code Should be Idiomatic with Regard to“Framework Design Guidelines”       304 Visual Design Tips          304 Using Tile Brushes          304 Using Gradients with Relative Transforms      306 XAML Coding Conventions        307 Use the Vista Interface Guidelines       308 Using Nonstandard Fonts for Icons      308 Using Transparent PNGs         309 Import from Photoshop and Illustrator      309 Opacity Masks          310 Using Clip Geometries        310 Some Useful Tools          312 Snoop            312 Mole           313 Kaxaml            313 Summary            315 17 Performance 317 Different Kinds of Performance       318 Choice of Visuals         318 Brushes and Caching         320 Resource Management        321 Reference Handling         321 Data Binding and Freezables       321 Background Threads for Long-Running Operations    322 Scrolling and Virtualization        322 Storyboard Animations        323 Pixel Shaders           323 Framework Property Metadata Options      323 RenderCapability–Hardware and Software Rendering    324 Optimizing the Render Pipeline       325 3D            325 Measuring Performance         326 Visual Profiler          327 Perforator           328 Third-Party Tools         329 Perceived Responsiveness        329 Summary            330 18 Control Automation 331 The Need for UI Automation        331 The Automation Object Model        332 Assemblies and Namespaces        333 AutomationElement, AutomationPeer, and Control Patterns   333 Automation Properties        335 Navigating the Automation Tree       336 Using the Automation API        338 Locating Elements in the Automation Tree      339 Checking for Control Patterns        340 Looking Up Property Values        341 Listening to Events          341 Navigating to the Parent, Child, or Sibling      342 Performing Operations on Automation Elements     342 Automation of a Custom Control        343 Picking a Base Peer Class         343 Picking Pattern Interfaces, aka the Control Patterns    344 Building RangeSelectorAutomationPeer      345 Additional Resources          349 Summary            349 Index            351