I have this winForm applications and we are about to rewrite some of the forms with WPF. So my plan so far is to create wpf user controls and add them into classic winforms. So far so good.
Now looking at using an MVVM frame work to make life easier and I cam across Caliburn and ReactiveUI. Caliburn in this scenario is not so easy to use as it needs to be initialised at an application level in a wpf application. Does the same apply to ReactiveUI or can I make it work with a couple of wpf controls?
ReactiveUI doesn't need to be initialized at the app level by default, it should work fine with your scenario. If it doesn't, make sure to ping the mailing list and let me know about it!
For anyone else coming to this question in the future, Caliburn.Micro now has support for initialisation from anywhere (from version 1.1). See this discussion thread.
Related
As the question suggests, I'd like to know if it's possible to add a flyout panel to a regular wpf application, specifically to a UserControl. From the results I've got from googling, most available flyouts seem to come packaged with a template of some sort without explaining how they're made.
The closest I've got is the Extended WPF Toolkit but even that has no documentation on how to use it. As it is I'm currently trying to keep to the MVVM pattern. So is there anyone with an idea of how to make one?
You can add flyouts using mahapps.metro, which is free and opensource.
I am looking at the possibility to host a WPF control inside a Winforms application. The reason for this is some animations inside the WinForms application. WPF should be able to support this way better because it (mostly) uses the graphic card to render instead of the CPU.
Now my question:
Are there any cons of hosting a WPF Control inside a Winforms application? Does the WPF Control still use the graphic card for the rendering or does it loose some of its advantages?
Thanks for your help. If you have any inputs or tips feel free to tell me.
EDIT
I found a similar question (but maybe that one is a bit more general, I focus more on the rendering):
Any disadvantage to using an ElementHost to host a WPF UserControl in a Winform application?
Mainly it behaves very like in a normal WPF Application.
But sometimes there are little unexpected behaviors. And it should use the hardware rendering if it would be using in normal wpf applications (depending on your configuration)
Sometimes i had problems with correctly recevien some keyboard keys in events. but there are a lot of artikels descriping the problems and solutions.
For example with some controls you could have problems catching keys. So you should have a look at System.Windows.Forms.Integration.ElementHost.EnableModelessKeyboardInterop
-> also see this blogpost
My requirement is to create a winform with contains a datagrid that allows rows to expand and show additional details. I'm considering using a WPF control and incorporate a WPF Datagrid in it to handle this, taking advantage of the RowDetails property of the DataGrid to handle the expansion of rows.
I'm completely new to WPF and the RowDetails property of Datagrid and so am only reading up on them now. Is it possible for me to use this control in my winform once I develop it? What issues may I face when trying to integrate the WPF control in my winform.
I have on multiple occasions used a WPF control on a WinForm. However, the only way I ever do it is to host it inside an ElementHost control. Once there I haven't noticed any major issues, though I do hear performance can be suspect depending on the usage.
As the two previous Answers state you have to use an ElementHost.
Here there is a comparison on how to host WPF in Winforms and Winforms in WPF. It was good for me to read the comparison when I was starting to work with it.
In this article the author links you to Gotchas For Working With Windows Forms/WPF Interop that has some common issues you can run into.
Build your WPF control like it was a Vendor control, with a clear interface and then just host it with the ElementHost. I have had to use it both ways but with legacy controls, and it really helps if you have a good interface in the control that you bring from the other platform, if not it can be a bit messy.
As part of a school project, a group and I will develop a Windows application using C#.
We are not very experienced in C# but has some basic understanding for it. We do however have experience from other languages and platforms.
We would like to build an application in which the layout is split into two primary parts: the menu, which will reside to the left and the content which will be to the right.
The menu will be more or less static and when an entry in the menu is chosen, the content will be changed.
We have not been able to figure out the best way for achieving this nor have we been able to find good material on this. The idea is to have one window and add a view (as far as I can understand, this should be a UserControl?) to this window. This control will be the menu.
Now, our question is if anyone can point us in the right direction to achieve the navigation in the program. Say, when a menu entry is clicked, how will we change the content of the window and how will we manage which view is active? I suppose that every view (in the "content area") will have a controller.
We are interested in the "best practices" for this when using WinForms and the MVC pattern.
We hope that someone can help us further in this project.
If I were you I would seriously consider using WPF instead of winforms.
It, and the use of the MVVM pattern, allows you to do some pretty impressive stuff with far less code than if you are using winforms. If you don't already know winforms then it might also be a slightly less steep learning curve as WPF is a better thought out framework (at least in my opinion).
If you go the WPF route spend some time getting to understand how bindings work and how to bind your ViewModel to the UI. Once you have a good understanding of proper UI separation you are able to do far more than you could with the old WinForms framework.
I found this link quite useful when I first started looking at WPF. Especially the RelayCommand.
If you are using Winforms the options that you have got is:
-dynamically clearing forms and generating content on menu navigation
-using mdi container form, which can be parent to a number of child forms
If you are using for WPF you could use Pages in a Frame control loaded based on used menu selection. You could also use MVVM pattern to build your app.
I want to create a UI for my application.
What really confuses me is how to actually do it. I know that Microsoft has introduced WPF.
I have also seen some examples, but what I am not getting is whether or not WPF a seperate language? How can I use C# with WPF?
Lets say I want the user to click on a browse button, select a file and display it's content on the UI. I want to do it using C# while WPF providing the UI, is this possible?
Any good resources for a newbie like me?
EDIT
What i didnt understand, will i use WPF for my UI or windows form for my UI while my actual code is in C# ?
I think i am being lost here ? WPF seems something else that supports c#. is that true ? i thought WPF was only for UI while the actual code would be in C# or VB.
I have taken wpf unleashed but it explains wPF and not how to use C# with it. Atleast in the starting chapters ?
I know i am being dumb here but i am really confused
Yes it is definitely possible. Take a look at this article about Mode-View-ViewModel (MVVM) from Microsoft, which is a good introduction to using Xaml (the markup language for WPF) with C#.
Since you are familar with WinForms I will explain it like this.
WinForms provides the GUI and it is similar to what WPF does.
WPF however mainly uses XAML, a markup language based on xml to design the visual elements. It is a presentation foundation on its own that could be used without XAML but it is certainly a big part of it.
When creating an application it will be either WPF or WinForms you can't combine the two (well easily anyway I know there are a few ways to get around it)
You can interact with WPF the same way you interact with WinForms elements.
You can create a Window. On there you can place a grid, where you can then place controls such as a button or textbox. Then in the code behind it is exactly the same as referencing a control in winforms. for example in the page_load function doing
txtInput.Text = "A String";
So what should you choose? (Please note I am about to give you a few things to compare I realize this hardly describes both technologies to its fullest)
WPF
Pros
- Great for visually appealing designs
- You have XAML based control over your visual elements. Meaning you can change the way your form looks by writing xaml instead of doing all through the visual studio IDE pressing buttons.
Cons
- Bit of a performance hog. It has come along way with .net 3.5 sp1 but still chews up quite a few resources
- Not as many controls built for it as WinForms, mainly because its a newer technology.
- Can become complex as syntax for binding information to controls doesn't include intellisense.
WinForms
Pros
- Familiar and well used technology so your development will be faster
- Better performance
- More controls built for it
Cons
- More effort to build a visually appealing design
- Its not new and exciting so to speak. I know we all like to learn new things :)
It is not a seperate language. WPF employs XAML, a derivative of XML, to define and link various UI elements. As in web development, both layouts and specific themes are well suited to markup, but XAML is not required for either. Indeed, all elements of WPF may be coded in a .NET language (C#, VB.NET). The XAML code can ultimately be compiled into a managed assembly in the same way all .NET languages are.
You can implement your requirement in easily WPF.
To get a hands-on in WPF start with this article, http://10rem.net/blog/2010/02/09/getting-started-with-wpf--hello-world-in-multiple-flavors
Happy coding..
WPF is part of .NET framework, so it's not related with specific programming language. Please read MSDN's "Introduction to WPF" - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa970268.aspx