Windows Store App Development: C# and XAML : C# and XAML

**Summary** __Windows Store App Development__ introduces C# developers to working with Windows Store apps. It provides full coverage of XAML, and addresses both app design and development. Following numerous carefully crafted examples, you'll learn about new Windows 8 features, the WinRT API, and .NET 4.5. Along the way, you'll pick up tips for deploying apps, including sale through the Windows Store. And, of course, you'll find the same deep and unique insights Pete provides in his Silverlight books. **About the Technology** The Windows Store provides an amazing array of productivity tools, games, and other apps directly to the millions of customers already using Windows 8.x or Surface. Windows Store apps boast new features like touch and pen input, standardized app-to-app communication, and tight integration with the web. And, you can build Windows Store apps using the tools you already know: C# and XAML. **About this Book** __Windows Store App Development__ introduces the Windows 8.x app model to readers familiar with traditional desktop development. You'll explore dozens of carefully crafted examples as you master Windows features, the Windows Runtime, and the best practices of app design. Along the way, you'll pick up tips for deploying apps, including selling through the Windows Store. This book requires some knowledge of C#. No experience with Windows 8 is needed. **What's Inside** * Designing, creating, and selling Windows Store apps * Developing touch and sensor-centric apps * Working C# examples, from feature-level techniques to complete app design * Making apps that talk to each other * Mixing in C++ for even more features **About the Author** **Pete Brown** is a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft and author of Silverlight 4 in Action and Silverlight 5 in Action. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. **Table of Contents** 1. Hello, Modern Windows 2. The Modern UI 3. The Windows Runtime and .NET 4. XAML 5. Layout 6. Panels 7. Brushes, graphics, styles, and resources 8. Displaying beautiful text 9. Controls, binding, and MVVM 10. View controls, Semantic Zoom, and navigation 11. The app bar 12. The splash screen, app tile, and notifications 13. View states 14. Contracts: playing nicely with others 15. Working with files 16. Asynchronous everywhere 17. Networking with SOAP and RESTful services 18. A chat app using sockets 19. A little UI work: user controls and Blend 20. Networking player location 21. Keyboards, mice, touch, accelerometers, and gamepads 22. App settings and suspend/resume 23. Deploying and selling your app WSAD brief contents contents preface acknowledgments about this book Audience The bits: what you need Roadmap Code conventions and downloads Author Online about the author about the cover illustration 1 Hello, Modern Windows 1.1 Setting up the development environment 1.2 Configuring the project 1.2.1 The device pane 1.2.2 Template solution items 1.3 Create the first Hello World UI 1.4 Integrating with Twitter 1.4.1 The Tweet class 1.4.2 Updated UI 1.4.3 Code-behind 1.5 Testing on different devices and resolutions 1.5.1 Debugging on the Simulator 1.5.2 Debugging on a remote device 1.6 Summary 2 The Modern UI 2.1 Design inspiration 2.1.1 Direct influences 2.1.2 Finding your way 2.2 Governing principles 2.3 Typography 2.4 The importance of the layout grid 2.5 Design for touch but not only for touch 2.6 Modern apps on Windows 8 2.6.1 Consumer and enterprise apps 2.6.2 Key Windows 8 UI elements and states 2.7 Device considerations 2.7.1 Desktop or laptop 2.7.2 Tablet and smaller devices 2.7.3 Hybrid devices 2.8 Summary 3 The Windows Runtime and .NET 3.1 Windows Store app system architecture 3.1.1 The sandbox 3.1.2 Deployment and the Windows Store 3.1.3 The driver model 3.2 COM + .NET metadata = WinRT 3.2.1 COM: back to the future 3.2.2 Metadata 3.2.3 Projections 3.3 Client technologies and languages 3.4 A brief tour of WinRT and .NET 4.5 3.5 Summary 4 XAML 4.1 Elements and namespaces 4.1.1 Objects as elements 4.1.2 Namespaces 4.2 Properties 4.2.1 Property syntax 4.2.2 Dependency properties 4.2.3 Attached properties 4.2.4 Property paths 4.3 Object trees and namescope 4.3.1 Object trees 4.3.2 Namescope 4.4 Summary 5 Layout 5.1 Multipass layout—measuring and arranging 5.1.1 The measure pass 5.1.2 The arrange pass 5.1.3 The LayoutInformation class 5.2 UIElement layout properties 5.2.1 Width and Height, plus ActualWidth and ActualHeight 5.2.2 Horizontal and vertical alignment 5.2.3 Padding 5.2.4 Margins 5.3 Layout rounding 5.4 Performance considerations 5.4.1 Keeping the tree shallow 5.4.2 Caching 5.4.3 Virtualization 5.4.4 Sizing and positioning 5.5 Summary 6 Panels 6.1 Canvas 6.1.1 Positioning in X,Y space 6.1.2 Controlling the Z position using ZIndex 6.1.3 Sizing child elements 6.2 StackPanel and VirtualizingStackPanel 6.2.1 Setting the orientation 6.2.2 Sizing children 6.2.3 Virtualizing for performance 6.3 Grid 6.3.1 Defining rows and columns 6.3.2 Adding and positioning elements in rows and columns 6.3.3 Using alignment and margins for sizing and positioning 6.4 Creating a custom panel 6.4.1 Project setup 6.4.2 The OrbitPanel class 6.4.3 Orbits dependency property 6.4.4 Orbit attached property 6.4.5 Custom layout 6.5 Summary 7 Brushes, graphics, styles, and resources 7.1 Brushes 7.1.1 Solid-color brushes 7.1.2 Gradient brushes 7.1.3 Image brushes 7.2 Resources 7.2.1 Local and page resources 7.2.2 Application resources 7.2.3 Resource dictionaries 7.3 Styles 7.3.1 Explicit or keyed styles 7.3.2 Style inheritance 7.3.3 Implicit styles 7.4 Vector graphics 7.4.1 Line 7.4.2 Polyline 7.4.3 Paths 7.4.4 Rectangles and ellipses 7.5 Bitmap images 7.6 Summary 8 Displaying beautiful text 8.1 Text basics 8.1.1 TextBlock 8.1.2 Inlines 8.1.3 Wrapping, ellipsis, and alignment 8.1.4 Character spacing 8.1.5 Line spacing 8.2 Rich and multicolumn text 8.2.1 Rich text 8.2.2 Multicolumn and linked text 8.3 OpenType text 8.3.1 Ligatures 8.3.2 Stylistic sets 8.3.3 Font capitals 8.3.4 Fractions and numbers 8.3.5 Variants, superscript, and subscript 8.4 Embedding fonts 8.5 Summary 9 Controls, binding, and MVVM 9.1 The Model-View-ViewModel pattern 9.1.1 Using an MVVM toolkit like MVVM Light 9.1.2 The model 9.1.3 The chat data service 9.1.4 The MainViewModel and CameraViewModel classes 9.1.5 The view 9.2 Binding primer 9.2.1 The source and target 9.2.2 Binding mode 9.2.3 Change notification 9.2.4 DataContext 9.3 Entering and displaying text 9.3.1 Working with the TextBox 9.3.2 Experimenting with the PasswordBox 9.3.3 Spell checking and autocorrect 9.4 UI element binding using sliders 9.5 Working with lists 9.5.1 Observable collections 9.5.2 Items controls 9.5.3 Data templates 9.6 Making things happen with buttons and commands 9.6.1 Button and commands 9.6.2 HyperlinkButton 9.6.3 RadioButton and CheckBox 9.7 Converting data with value converters 9.8 Summary 10 View controls, Semantic Zoom, and navigation 10.1 PhotoBrowser demonstration app setup 10.1.1 Creating the project 10.1.2 Creating the Photo model class 10.1.3 Loading pictures using a service class 10.1.4 Creating the MainViewModel 10.1.5 Skeleton UI XAML and code-behind 10.2 ListView and GridView 10.2.1 Vertical lists 10.2.2 Horizontal lists and grids 10.3 Grouping with the GridView 10.3.1 Grouping in the model and viewmodel 10.3.2 Grouping at the UI layer 10.4 FlipView and navigation 10.4.1 Viewmodel 10.4.2 Category browser page 10.4.3 Updated MainPage 10.5 Semantic Zoom 10.6 Summary 11 The app bar 11.1 Project updates 11.2 Controls on the bottom app bar 11.2.1 Adding and styling buttons 11.2.2 Wiring with commands 11.2.3 Visibility and pinning 11.3 Top app bar for navigation 11.4 App bar popups and menus 11.5 Summary 12 The splash screen, app tile, and notifications 12.1 Splash screens 12.1.1 The static splash screen 12.1.2 Extended splash screens 12.2 Default tiles on the start page 12.3 Secondary or pinned tiles 12.3.1 Creating the tile 12.3.2 Activating the app with the secondary tile 12.4 Tile notifications or live tiles 12.4.1 Simple text notifications 12.4.2 Images in notifications 12.4.3 Queuing multiple tile notifications 12.5 Toast notifications 12.5.1 Creating the notification service 12.5.2 Enabling toast 12.6 Summary 13 View states 13.1 Full, filled, and snapped views 13.2 The LayoutAwarePage 13.3 The snapped view for the main page 13.4 Visual states for view management 13.5 Detail pages and app bars 13.5.1 Creating an appropriate presentation 13.5.2 Fixing up the app bar 13.6 Summary 14 Contracts: playing nicely with others 14.1 Sharing 14.1.1 Sharing your data 14.1.2 Letting others share with you 14.2 Letting others search your data 14.2.1 Declaring your intentions 14.2.2 The results page and viewmodel 14.2.3 Responding to in-app search requests 14.2.4 Responding to external search requests 14.3 Summary 15 Working with files 15.1 Loading files programmatically 15.1.1 New demonstration project 15.1.2 File access permissions 15.1.3 Storage files and folders 15.1.4 Using a data template selector 15.1.5 Using file queries 15.1.6 Creating files and folders 15.2 URI formats 15.3 Working with file pickers 15.3.1 Using the file open picker 15.3.2 Implementing the file picker source contract 15.4 Summary 16 Asynchronous everywhere 16.1 Why asynchronous is important 16.2 Working with IAsync* WinRT methods 16.2.1 async and await: the simplest approach 16.2.2 Long-form asynchronous operations 16.2.3 Getting progress updates 16.2.4 Canceling the operation 16.3 Working with tasks 16.3.1 Basic task operations 16.3.2 Canceling the task 16.3.3 Converting between WinRT IAsync* and Tasks 16.4 Summary 17 Networking with SOAP and RESTful services 17.1 Networking basics 17.1.1 Solution setup 17.1.2 Downloading a file with HttpClient 17.2 Sharing your model 17.2.1 Create the source class library 17.2.2 Create the Modern app–compatible class library 17.3 Consuming SOAP services 17.3.1 Creating the service 17.3.2 Referencing and using the service 17.4 Structuring your client code using MVVM 17.4.1 Creating the viewmodel 17.4.2 Creating and wiring up the user interface 17.5 Consuming data from RESTful services 17.5.1 Creating the RESTful service 17.5.2 Getting data from the service using the viewmodel 17.5.3 Specifying the acceptable data type 17.6 Deserializing JSON and XML data 17.6.1 XML deserialization using XmlSerializer 17.6.2 JSON deserialization 17.7 Updating data using PUT, POST, DELETE, and more 17.8 Summary 18 A chat app using sockets 18.1 Chat app viewmodel 18.1.1 The MainViewModel class 18.1.2 ChatMessage model class 18.2 The user interface 18.2.1 XAML skeleton 18.2.2 Styles and resources 18.2.3 App bar buttons 18.2.4 Chat app content 18.3 Listening for connections 18.4 Connecting to the server and sending data 18.4.1 Connecting to an endpoint 18.4.2 Sending data 18.5 Refactoring for better structure and flexibility 18.5.1 The updated ChatMessage class 18.5.2 The IMessageService interface 18.5.3 The TcpStreamMessageService class 18.5.4 Updated MainViewModel 18.6 Trying out UDP sockets 18.6.1 Creating the UdpMessageService class 18.6.2 Listening for connections 18.6.3 Connecting to another machine 18.6.4 Receiving and parsing messages 18.7 Summary 19 A little UI work: user controls and Blend 19.1 Updated game UI 19.1.1 Basic changes 19.1.2 Play field area 19.1.3 Orientation and view states 19.2 Designing the ship UI 19.2.1 Creating the UserControl 19.2.2 Creating the ship shape in Blend 19.2.3 Adding a label 19.3 Building out the ship user control properties 19.3.1 Enabling rotation 19.3.2 Setting the color 19.3.3 Temporarily testing the Ship control 19.4 Summary 20 Networking player location 20.1 Updating the Player model 20.1.1 The PlayerLocation class 20.1.2 The updated Player class 20.2 The collection of players 20.2.1 Initializing the collection 20.2.2 Displaying players with an ItemsControl 20.2.3 Testing the collection 20.2.4 Wiring up the collection to service events 20.3 Updating the TCP stream message service 20.3.1 Updated message service interface 20.3.2 Sending location information 20.3.3 Reading location information 20.4 Testing everything 20.5 Summary 21 Keyboards, mice, touch, accelerometers, and gamepads 21.1 Making input generic 21.1.1 The IInputService interface 21.1.2 A little math help 21.1.3 Wiring up the viewmodel 21.2 Keyboard input 21.2.1 The KeyboardInputService 21.2.2 Virtual keys 21.2.3 Adding from the code-behind 21.3 Pointer input: mouse, touch, and pen 21.3.1 Some more math 21.3.2 A minor modification to the ship user control 21.3.3 The PointerInputService class 21.3.4 Adding from the code-behind 21.4 Accelerometer input 21.4.1 Making sense of the input 21.4.2 Implementing the AccelerometerInputService 21.4.3 Adding from the code-behind 21.4.4 Accelerometer events 21.4.5 Dealing with screen autorotation 21.5 Xbox 360 gamepad input and a little C++ 21.5.1 Creating the C++ project 21.5.2 Implementing the Controller class 21.5.3 Creating the IInputService wrapper 21.5.4 Adding from the code-behind 21.5.5 Compiling and deploying 21.6 Summary 22 App settings and suspend/resume 22.1 App settings UI and architecture 22.1.1 Creating the settings infrastructure 22.1.2 Creating a settings UI 22.2 Persisting and using settings 22.2.1 Loading and saving settings values 22.2.2 Acting on the options 22.3 Suspend and resume 22.3.1 Suspending your app 22.3.2 Resuming activity 22.4 Summary 23 Deploying and selling your app 23.1 Testing for certification 23.2 Sideloading for testing purposes 23.2.1 Packaging an app for sideloading 23.2.2 Getting a developer license without Visual Studio 23.2.3 Installing the sideload app package 23.3 Enabling trial mode 23.3.1 Creating the mock license data for testing 23.3.2 Checking the license state 23.4 Listing your app in the Windows Store 23.4.1 Getting a Windows Store account 23.4.2 Reserving an app name 23.4.3 Submitting the app for review and approval 23.5 Summary index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z WSAD-back Annotation SummaryWindows Store App Development introduces C♯ developers to working with Windows Store apps. It provides full coverage of XAML, and addresses both app design and development. Following numerous carefully crafted examples, you'll learn about new Windows 8 features, the WinRT API, and .NET 4.5. Along the way, you'll pick up tips for deploying apps, including sale through the Windows Store. And, of course, you'll find the same deep and unique insights Pete provides in his Silverlight books. About the TechnologyThe Windows Store provides an amazing array of productivity tools, games, and other apps directly to the millions of customers already using Windows 8.x or Surface. Windows Store apps boast new features like touch and pen input, standardized app-to-app communication, and tight integration with the web. And, you can build Windows Store apps using the tools you already know: C♯ and XAML. About this BookWindows Store App Development introduces the Windows 8.x app model to readers familiar with traditional desktop development. You'll explore dozens of carefully crafted examples as you master Windows features, the Windows Runtime, and the best practices of app design. Along the way, you'll pick up tips for deploying apps, including selling through the Windows Store. This book requires some knowledge of C♯. No experience with Windows 8 is needed. What's InsideDesigning, creating, and selling Windows Store appsDeveloping touch and sensor-centric appsWorking C♯ examples, from feature-level techniques to complete app designMaking apps that talk to each otherMixing in C++ for even more featuresAbout the AuthorPete Brown is a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft and author of Silverlight 4 in Action and Silverlight 5 in Action. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. Table of ContentsHello, Modern WindowsThe Modern UIThe Windows Runtime and .NETXAMLLayoutPanelsBrushes, graphics, styles, and resourcesDisplaying beautiful textControls, binding, and MVVMView controls, Semantic Zoom, and navigationThe app barThe splash screen, app tile, and notificationsView statesContracts: playing nicely with othersWorking with filesAsynchronous everywhereNetworking with SOAP and RESTful servicesA chat app using socketsA little UI work: user controls and BlendNetworking player locationKeyboards, mice, touch, accelerometers, and gamepadsApp settings and suspend/resumeDeploying and selling your app

The Windows 8 App Store and Metro usher in an exciting new era of opportunity for Windows developers. The Windows 8 Metro interface transforms the PC into a visually-striking container for apps of all types.

Windows 8 XAML in Action introduces C# developers to Metro style app development. It provides full coverage of XAML, and addresses both the design and development of Metro style apps. Following numerous carefully-crafted examples, readers will learn about new Windows 8 features, the WinRT API, and .NET 4.5. They will also pick up tips for deploying Metro style apps, including sale through the Windows Store. And, of course, they will find the same deep, unique insights Pete provides in his Silverlight books.

Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.