flickdotnet.de » 2007 » November

Expression Blend: Design-time support for ECO objects

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:11:00 +0000

The easiest way to bind to CLR objects with WPF (or Blend) is to derive a list from ObservableCollection. Furthermore, in order to get design-time support, you need to implement a constructor that fills up the list with “dummy” data that can be displayed by Blend.

Thus, I added this class to my CD cover example:

I create an ECO space, open it and retrieve 10 objects from the database. Finally, I add them to the list.

You can now easily bind to CoverDummyCollection in Blend and design your listbox or any other control having a real design-time view that gives you a clear impression of what everything will look like during run-time.

WPF, ECO and Expression Blend … it works!

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:27:00 +0000

After a weekend of reading, more reading, and listening to conference sessions about WPF I finally had the guts to try writing an ECO application with WPF. And wow … it worked. I have still some things to work out and I will do my best to pitch some ideas to the ECO development team what I would like to see in the future with regard to WPF… but writing applications is possible already. The ECO space has design time support and you can use XAML to bind to ECO objects. As I am still a beginner regarding XAML, I use Blend for a lot of things. I also would like to be able to bind to ECO domain objects instead of “regular” .NET objects using a IValueConverter, but I have still some learning to do before I will be able to set that up.

My estimate was right that the learning curve is pretty high to get started with WPF. However, it really pays off in the end. The possibilities are endless with regard to component design and behavior. Blend gives you the power to buil your own custom component set without having to be a component devleoper per se.

Finally, I want to show you a screenshot of a 10 line app that uses WPF to display the album covers of my CD collection model. I actually really used the ECO package that I created using Delphi for .NET. The XAML was completely generated by Blend and has not been modified manually.

Click on the picture to see some “surrounding” bits taken from Blend. Note that the cover items in the listbox have shadows added to them using the shadow bitmap effect of WPF.

LINQ: Another technology to look at

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:27:00 +0000

I am still busy enough with catching up on WPF, however, Stefan Cruysberghs (hope I spelled it correctly) published a three part article series on his web page that gets you familiar with all the things you can do with Linq. Personally, I still prefer ECO as I am familiar with it and need to look at WPF and WCF first. Still, it is always good to at least know what capabilities Linq offers and thus I refer to Stefan’s great article series. Part 1 is at http://scip.be/index.php?Page=ArticlesNET02&Lang=EN.

WPF in VS2008: On more good content to get started & on Blend/VS2008 compatibility

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:07:00 +0000

It is Saturday and I am filled up with lots and lots of information. I have been reading “Essential Windows Presentation Foundation” by Chris Anderson. In addition to that, I have been watching the bootcamp courses I blogged about yesterday. However, what is really difficult, is to find information that is still valid in the RTM version of VS 2008. MS changed quite a lot of things in the process from releasing technology previews and the final version. The worst thing is that the current, released version of Expression Blend does not match VS 2008 compatibility-wise. One has to use a technology preview, which is available for download as well though. Still, it is tough to find the right combination of tools before one really gets started.

I found another list of well-done tutorials I would like to share with you, produced by ContentPresenter.com. Highlights - for me - are the tutorial on how to build custom components and how to bind CLR collections to the GUI. It is really amazing how intuitively one can build custom components now. Delphi found a very cool way to do it in code. Now think that you can do it using a tool like Photoshop with Animation extensions and without writing a single line of code. Then you have the power of Expression Blend.

Still, I can only stress the fact that there is not a released version of Expression Blend that can be used with VS 2008. For me it is fine, but for some big companies it might be a problem using non-released products. In addition to that, the VS 2008 WPF designer really needs more work compared to Blend. There are some XAML markups the designer in VS is simply not able to display. You will end up with an empty, white frame. Hopefully, the products will be available soon as this situation is somewhat strange. However, it has also to be said that the official release for non-MSDN subscribers will be much later. I guess MS will have the products ready then and allows the partners to get an earlier look at everything.

Looking at Windows Presentation Foundation

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:43:00 +0000

Yes, of course, as a .NET guy, I also use VS. Due to my new job I also have to use it frequently. I was very much interested in WPF in the first place. I already bought a book about it about six months ago, however, the beta releases and previews never allowed me to have a proper look at it. But since Tuesday, when Microsoft released VS 2008, that all changed. I truly have to say that after getting into ECO, this is definitely technology that has me amazingly excited for hours and hours. It is just cool how quickly you can build fancy looking interfaces without having to break any sweat - that’s what marketing says. It is not easy and you will stumble at first, that needs to be said. You have to get yourself acquainted with things like XAML, a XML-based language, and a big chunk of new classes [...]. Furthermore, there is not only VS involved. You also need to look at things like Expression Blend and Expression Design in order to design your applications properly. You can do it in VS, but the designer is still not as comfortable to use compared to Expression Blend. But from what I have seen so far, the high learning curve will be worth it. I successfully wrote examples that use data binding, even converter classes that transform values (more precise: objects) before they are shown…

The reason for this blog entry is to change this wonderful page with you that will get you started with WPF. It is called “WPF Bootcamp” and contains quite a lot of - free - sessions about WPF. You can find it at http://www.visitmix.com/university/wpf/wpfbootcamp.htm.

I can hardly wait for CapableObjects to announce an ECO version that has templates for WPF applications. Yes, I forgot to blog about it, but the VS beta for ECO is open. You may apply for a beta license key and a link to download the software at http://www.capableobjects.com.

Well, back to the bootcamp…

IP*Works! Version 8.0 released for .NET and Java

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:28:00 +0000

I got a newsletter from nSoftware that they released version 8.0 of their excellent Internet communication components for .NET and for Java. However, what really made me blog about this is that they have support for Mono. That means you can write apps with IP*Works! for Linux, Solaris, Mac OSX and Unix. Great!

Their newsletter also says that there are beta versions of their SSL suites. Definitely something to look out for!

Looking back to EKON 11…or the very special pre-conference in Oberfranken

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:40:00 +0000

EKON 11 was - as any other of the EKON conferences - a wonderful experience. Every September I drive to Frankfurt in order to meet Delphi folks I chat, email and talk on the phone to almost every day. It is always something very special. This year was extraordinary though. Olaf Monien kindly invited me to his house in Bamberg. I arrived on Sunday morning, the conference in Frankfurt started on Tuesday. Sunday and Monday were very exciting days. Especially, because Olaf and his family spent a lot of time with me showing me the surroundings (thanks again to Jutta, Julia and Olaf!). I am not a big fan of beer in the Ruhrgebiet, the area of Germany where I come from. The beer in Oberfranken is something different though…. Let’s just say, I slept very good and no earthquake in this world could have woken me up, due to the amount of beer I drank being there. “Brotzeit” is something you should experience when coming to the south of Germany.

Attached to this post is a picture of me, sitting in a very famous location in Bamberg. The black beer there is known all around the world as it is smoked and tastes a bit like fluid meat. Sounds iggy, but it is very tasty indeed. Please do ignore the fact that this picture was taken around 2 pm in the afternoon …. there is never a bad time to enjoy a beer in Oberfranken.