Table of Contents

Introduction   1
Who Should Read This Book?    2
Code Examples   2
How This Book Is Organized   2
Conventions Used in This Book   4
Part I: The XAML Language
Chapter 1: What Is XAML?    5
Elements and Attributes   6
Namespaces   9
Property Elements   11
Summary   13
Chapter 2: Child Elements and Keywords   15
Children of Object Elements   15
XAML Keywords   19
Summary   22
Chapter 3: Mixing XAML with Code   23
Loading and Parsing XAML at Runtime   23
Compiling XAML   26
Summary   30
Chapter 4: Extending XAML   31
Type Converters   31
Using Arbitrary Types in XAML   34
Markup Extensions   38
Some Notes About XAML2009   40
Summary   45
Part II: Graphics
Chapter 5: Arranging Elements   47
Controlling Size   48
Controlling Position   52
Applying 2D Transforms   55
Applying 3D Transforms   63
Summary   66
Chapter 6: Automatic Layout   67
Canvas   68
StackPanel   71
DockPanel   72
Grid   75
VariableSizedWrapGrid and WrapPanel   84
Primitive Panels   87
Handling Content Overflow   89
Summary   97
Chapter 7: 2D Graphics   99
Shapes   99
Geometries   107
Brushes   115
Summary   129
Chapter 8: 3D Graphics   131
Getting Started with 3D Graphics   131
Cameras and Coordinate Systems   135
Transform3D   147
Model3D   157
Visual3D   181
Viewport3D   186
2D and 3D Coordinate System Transformation   187
Summary   195
Part III: Controls
Chapter 9: Content Controls   197
Button   198
HyperlinkButton   199
RepeatButton   200
ToggleButton   201
CheckBox   201
RadioButton   202
ToolTip   203
Summary   205
Chapter 10: Items Controls   207
Items in the Control   208
Items Panels   209
ComboBox   212
ListBox   214
ListView   215
GridView   219
Summary   220
Chapter 11: Images   221
The Image Element   222
Multiple Files for Multiple Environments   231
Decoding Images   236
Encoding Images   244
Summary   252
Chapter 12: Text   253
TextBlock   253
RichTextBlock   265
TextBox   270
RichEditBox   276
PasswordBox   279
Summary   279
Chapter 13: Audio and Video   281
Playback   281
Capture   292
Transcoding   303
Summary   308
Chapter 14: Other Controls   311
Range Controls   311
Popup   314
Hub   316
DatePicker   322
TimePicker   323
ProgressRing   324
ToggleSwitch   325
Summary   326
Chapter 15: User Controls and Custom Controls   327
Creating a User Control   328
Creating a Custom Control   331
Summary   340
Part IV: Exploring XAML Features
Chapter 16: Resources   341
Binary Resources   341
Logical Resources   348
Summary   355
Chapter 17: Data Binding   357
Introducing Binding   357
Controlling Rendering   366
Customizing the View of a Collection   374
Summary   378
Chapter 18: Styles, Templates, and Visual States   379
Styles   380
Templates   386
Visual States   395
Summary   404
Chapter 19: Animation   405
Theme Transitions   406
Theme Animations   417
Custom Animations   422
Custom Keyframe Animations   435
Easing Functions   439
Manual Animations   444
Summary   446
Part V: Advanced Features
Chapter 20: Layout with Custom Panels   447
Communication Between Parents and Children   448
Creating a SimpleCanvas   451
Creating a SimpleStackPanel   455
Creating a UniformGrid   458
Summary   463
Chapter 21: Fun with XAML Readers and Writers   465
System.Xaml Overview   465
The Node Loop   468
Reading XAML   469
Writing to Live Objects   473
Writing to XML   475
XamlServices   476
Summary   478
Index   479

About the Author

Adam Nathan is a principal software architect for Microsoft, a best-selling technical author, and a prolific developer of apps for Windows. He introduced XAML to countless developers through his books on a variety of Microsoft technologies. Currently a part of the Windows team, Adam has previously worked on Visual Studio and the Common Language Runtime. He was the founding developer and architect of Popfly, Microsoft’s first Silverlight-based product, named by PCWorld as one of its year’s most innovative products. He is also the founder of PINVOKE.NET, the online resource for .NET developers who need to access Win32. His apps have been featured on Lifehacker, Gizmodo, ZDNet, ParentMap, and other enthusiast sites.

Adam’s books are considered required reading by many inside Microsoft and throughout the industry. Adam is the author of Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed (Sams, 2013), 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps (Sams, 2011), Silverlight 1.0 Unleashed (Sams, 2008), WPF 4.5 Unleashed (Sams, 2013), .NET and COM: The Complete Interoperability Guide (Sams, 2002), and several others. You can find Adam online at www.adamnathan.net or @adamnathan on Twitter.