Introduction to WPF

WPF is a radical departure from the established way of building Windowsbased apps

Subindev P

What we will cover in this session

Introduction to WPF
What is WPF ? Why WPF ? Architecture WPF Graphics Model WPF Development Introduction XAML Element Composition Deployment Security

What is WPF
A productive, unified approach to UI, media and documents to deliver unmatched UX. Not only about UI Controls. Introduced a new programming model.

.NET Framework 3.0

.NET Framework 3.0 (formerly WinFx)
NET Framework 2.0 + 4 new technologies
C# 2.0 VB.NET 2005 J# 2.0 C++ XAML

ASP.NET 2.0

Win Forms 2.0

WCF

WF

WPF

Card space

Base Class Libraries 2.0

Common Language Runtime 2.0

The Code Names

.NET Framework 3.0 (WinFx)
Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) Windows Communication Foundation (Indigo) Windows Workflow Foundation Windows CardSpace (InfoCard)

WPF Flavours
WPF
Windows Application
Runs on the client desktop Equivalent to a Windows Forms Application

XAML Browser Application (XBAP)

Runs in the browser Limited security context (WPF requires at least .NET 3.0 installed on the client)

Silverlight
Cross browser, Cross Platform plug-in for creating rich internet applications

Why WPF?
With all the existing UX technologies what does WPF give us?

Limitations of existing technologies

Not taking full advantage of hardware capabilities Pixel size dependent
Poor experience on very high or very low DPI displays

Implementation difficulty can be a huge barrier to pleasing and efficient user experience Etc

Advantage WPF
Greater hardware capabilities used Declarative programming XAML Integrated Platform Powerful features
Developer-Designer workflow Many Tools emit XAML

Images, Audio, Video, 3D, Documents

Data binding, Styles, Triggers, Control Template, Dependency Properties, Routed events & commands

Interoperability Win forms Win32

Demo

WPF Architecture
.NET DirectX Graphics pipeline of WPF

presentationcore

milcore

WPF Graphics Model

Coordinate System
Coordinate system is basically the same as in GDI
0,0 is top left of coordinate space Y-axis points down, X-axis points right Coordinates are doubles in WPF instead of integers Z-index by default is applied from bottom to top in the order of the elements in the visual tree. Panel.ZIndex allow this behavior to be changed.

Vector Based Graphics

Vector graphics are graphics defined by line and curve segments rather than a bit map of colors Resolution independence Allow for full scalability

High Quality Rendering

Resolution Independence
WPF uses Device Independent Pixels
All elements in a WPF application will scale correctly based on DPI settings. A DIP is defined as 1/96th of a screen inch

WPF Development Introduction

How do you build WPF Applications?

WPF Application Model

XAML-based User Interface Managed code behind Application Class

Demo

XAML
eXtensible Application Markup Language Declarative markup language for UI design If you learn XAML, then you can program UI in, WPF Silverlight WP7 WinRT

XAML, cont.
XML-based serialization format for CLR objects
Eg. Class Property Event : Button : Height, Background : b_Click

<Button Height=100 Background=Red Click=b_Click />

XAML, cont.
Xaml compiler compiles XAML into BAML BAML is a binary representation of the XAML optimized for runtime loading. The compiled BAML is embedded into the resources of the assembly.

XAML, cont.
Any CLR namespace can be mapped into XAML:
<Window xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation' xmlns:x='http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml' xmlns:my='clr-namespace:MyClrNamespace;assembly=MyAssembly>

XAML can also be used for things other than WPF UI declaration.
For example: Windows Workflow uses XAML to describe their workflows. (They call it XOML).

Managed Code
When compiled, the XAML file is used to generate a code file
Eg. Window1.g.cs Partial class

XAML files can be paired with managed code-behind files which are also marked as partial classes.
Partial classes are a feature of the .NET Framework 2.0

Application Class
The Core of the WPF Application Model Application Message Dispatching Provides Application Events Application
Application.Run method

Serves as a container for WPF applications Allows data to be shared across pages

Supports Navigation Between Pages

Lifetime: Activated, Current, Deactivated, Dispatch erUnhandledException, Exit, Run, SessionEnding, Shu tdown, ShutdownMode, Startup.

Note :- We can create a WPF application without Application class. But XBAP required one.

Element Composition
Element composition is at the heart of WPFs user interface model An element may contain one or more child elements, which in turn, may contain additional elements

Composed elements form a hierarchy known as an element tree

Demo

Deployment
ClickOnce Deployment
A .NET Framework 2.0 Technology
Preferred method of deployment for WPF applications
Both installed and browser-hosted

The application is published on a server

A deployment manifest is used to specify the deployment parameters
Version checking/updating occurs each time the application runs

MSI Deployment
WPF applications can also be deployed using a traditional MSI-based installation routine

Security
Full Trust Applications
Installed applications run with full trust Have complete access to system resources If installed through ClickOnce, the user is prompted for authorization
Similar to Win32 applications

Partial Trust Applications

Browser applications run with partial trust Have limited access to system resources If installed through ClickOnce, the user is not prompted for authorization
Cannot compromise system security
With Internet Zone permissions

Development Tools
Visual Studio Expression Suite XamlPad (SDK Tool) Perforator (SDK Tool) Snoop - http://www.blois.us/Snoop/ Kxaml

Thank You