Here are some excerpts from my slide deck on XAML. If you need to see the complete powerpoint, let me know and I can either mail it to you or upload it here.
If you don’t know, XAML is the new Extensible Application markup language that is part of Longhorn. If you have the PDC bits you should be able to run these. I am skipping on most of the details of the controls, probably will post that some other day.
What is XAML?
- Pronounced as “Zammell”
- “Extensible Application Markup Language”
- Declarative Language
- Elements represented in a .xaml file by tags
- “XAML” is a collection of class objects that correspond to markup elements
Why use XAML?
- Combination of both desktop and web worlds to an application.
- Separation of UI and Implementation.
Highlights
Application object.
XAML pages are characteristically dynamic incorporating both procedural code and markup elements
All that things you can do with markup can be done with procedural code.
XAML applications are managed.
Only “pure” XAML pages need not be compiled.
Structure of a XAML File
Panels
Handles Page Layout
Containers for other Elements
Controls
Handles user interaction
Documents
Handles document presentation
Shapes
Handles vector graphic shapes
What are Panels?
Panels control rendering of elements and objects
- size
- dimensions
- position
- arrangement
Kind of Panels
Canvas
Area in which child elements can be explicitly positioned
DockPanel
Area in which child elements can be arranged horizontally or vertically.
FlowPanel
Used to break, wrap, and align content > length of a line
GridPanel
Defines a grid area consisting of columns and rows
TextPanel
Formats, sizes and draws text
Supports multiple lines of text and formats
Kind of Controls
Chief components of a UI and enable user interaction
Control Patterns
Simple Controls
Content Controls
Items Controls
Headered Items and Headeres Content
Resources