Develop Reference

how to create a mapping app in C#

I want to create an app in C# that can display a map of a city (Belfast, Northern Ireland in this case) and overlay on top of the map the routes of the local bus service, Translink. This would work by the user entering into a search box a departure and destination location, clicking an "execute button, resulting in the route appearing on the map. I would likely use of either Google Maps or the OpenStreetMaps system to display said maps. If possible I would also like to track the actual busses themselves in real-time, either through GPS or estimation based on the timetable and average bus speed. All of this I would like to do in C#.
I would like to ask if it is possible to make this in C#. It is the programming language I am most familiar with. I would greatly appreciate it if I could be directed to any guides or examples of such systems, especially home-grown ones. The last objective may be too specific so I wouldn't mind being pointed to examples without that feature, but I would be thankful if I could. Also, if there are examples, but they are not C# based, I wouldn't mind it too. It would just be preferable if if it could be based in C# or at least within Visual Studio or Java Eclipse.
Thank you.

Pull to Refresh UWP - Grid view?

Could someone please advise me on the "correct" way of implementing Pull to refresh on UWP?
Below are some examples I've found however I'm not sure which one is using the best approach:
Microsoft sample which is for a ListView - This works however it is specific to the ListView Control
AmazingPullToRefresh is a NuGet package that also works however it is somewhat limited in terms of styling
PullToRefreshUWP_WindowsComposition is another example however it works differently to the other two as it does not use an extension class
Any advice is much appreciated

There is no standard answer for this question, basically, there are two points we need to implement:
Get the offset changes when user pull something on the control
Generate some indicator to notify user
Both XamlPullToRefresh and PullToRefreshUWP_WindowsComposition use the new Windows Composition API: Windows.UI.Composition namespace
Ref Windows.UI.Composition Overview
The API is a powerful supplement to existing frameworks such as XAML
to give developers of UWP applications a familiar C# surface to add to
their application. These APIs can also be used to create DX style
framework-less applications.
Please notice that this API works only on Windows 10.
While AmazingPullToRefresh uses Manipulation API and implement all things by calculating offset changes. A similar implementation can be found here
If you want to implement a cool pull-to-refresh control, I would recommend using the Windows.UI.Composition API. You can get start from here

The functionality of pulling to refresh is not used by microsoft.
Reloading a page / data is something we have still in our mind from thinking apps like a website.
Why not have a synced database and alway update your UI with the data which got changed in your local db? For eg. see firebase.google.com
If you want to implement this feature anyway there is not really a way to go.
I have used the PullToRefresh.UWP library from NuGet. For a tutorial see:
codeproject.com
With some tweaking it works but sometimes when I lift my finger of the screen after pulling down the bar won't go up again.
So the answer is: Sorry, but nobody can give you an answer on how to do this the "correct" way. But is there a correct way anywhere? Like almost always in programming. It depends on the case you will use it.
Hope this will help you.

How does Battlelog Game Manager work?

I know that it uses a plugin but how does it work in Chrome etc? I can't explain it lol.
Basically I need something very similar to that but for one of my applications. So I have a website and when they visit a certain page I need it to send a function to the plugin I will be making and return some data. I have no clue how I should begin doing anything like this and was wondering if anyone here has any idea?
------------EDIT-------------
To make the question a bit easier is how can I go about creating a plugin for chrome which will allow me to run a application on the user computers like what Battlelog does.

Using data from Google Maps in a C# Program for Windows Mobile

I'm making a charity Windows Mobile 6 app in C# to help those affected by Alzheimer's.
The aim is for this app to let the carer set a boundary by tapping in Google maps to set points. The carer would then put the windows mobile device in the patient's hand bag or coat, so that when the patient walks out on their own, thinking that they are "going home", the carer receives an SMS text with their position, heading and speed.
However, I don't know how to...
Switch from app to google maps for mobile
tap to select points
import the coordinates of that point to my C# program
use the coordinates to Calculate the boundary
Send the text with the position information
Switch back to my C# program
HTC's HD2 comes with a compass that uses this "tap to select a point then return to app" functionality, so surely it's possible for us too?
If anyone would be able to give me a hand my out I would be EXTREMELY grateful as this will help all those affected by Alzheimer's and other similar conditions. My Gran, for example, recently started trying to walk back to the property she lived in 20 years ago...
Thanks everyone! This means sooo much! I'll even come and buy you a drink to say thanks!
James

Whatever technical issues you're considering, I think you should realize that this type of usage is, AFAICS, contrary to the terms of service of google maps. See:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html
That is, you may only use the google maps content if its accessible for everybody, not just whomever you hand out your program to:
Your Maps API Implementation must be generally accessible to users without charge.
If you're building it as a web app, it must be accessible through the internet, not intranet:
[your Maps API Implementation must not:] operate only behind a firewall or only on an internal network (except during the development and testing phase).
Some of the terms in header 10 also seem applicable:
[you must not (nor may you permit anyone else to):]
10.8 use the Static Maps API other than in an implementation in a web browser;
10.9 use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with:
(a) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device;

Why would you want to kludge something together like that? Trying to have your app interface with another application for which you don't have source, whether it's Google Maps fopr Mobile or anything else, is difficult and should only be used as a last resort.
If this app is going to be free and not require users to log in, you can use the Bing Maps Web Service API directly from your application without cost. You could then use built-in GPS through the GPSID APIs as well, and you'd have control over what data goes where, what maps to draw, etc.
This seems like a much easier path to achieve what you're after.
As a side note, I gave a link above for the GPSID sample from Microsoft. I'd recommend looking at it and the native GPSID APIs but the managed wrapper Microsoft provided is, IMO, pure garbage, so you might consider wrapping the lower APIs yourself.

To restate the problem I believe you're trying to solve:
You've a use case when a carer will sent up a "virtual boundary" on a device. If that device leaves the bounded area, you'd like an alert sent via SMS sent to a predefined recipient, saying where that device is.
My suggestion would be to use something like OpenStreetMap maps (as they're free) for when you're setting up the virtual boundary. For their tiles (each 256px square), there is a relatively trivial method for converting between lat/long and pixel co-ordinates.
You might also be able to do what you want by cannibalising one of their existing Windows Mobile applications intended for surveying, such as OSMtracker, which already includes the map controls, downloads and the like, just leaving point 5 and part of point 4 on your list to tackle.

How can I make a product showcase in Silverlight?

I can place a couple of buttons in Silverlight, but I'm not that experienced with the Silverlight tools and capabilities.
What do you think I should use to create something like this?
The control would have to pull and ID from the database and according to that place an image asociated with the record.
I need it to be animated with some crispy movement.
How can I achieve this?

It's all possible, but you need to break the task down into smaller steps.
Once you've done that you should find that you can solve some of these with your current knowledge, others will resolve themselves with a little more research, but there will be some you need to ask questions about here.
I'd suggest you start that break down and try to solve the little problems. Then if you get stuck come back and ask more specific questions.

Well, with Silverlight and c# you can make the animations needed and such, and you can set a Silverlight Image control with a data bound source, so it loads the images dynamically, but Silverlight can't talk with databases directly, you'll need to use a webservice to interact between Silverlight and the database. Don't know how much you know but to not leave anything out, with Expression Blend you can make the graphical part of you're app fast and easy, and with Visual Studio you'll add the code-behind and functionality.
In this link you can find a example of how to make an image slide show with Silverlight, it may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it should give you a heads start.