A Lap Around Windows Presentation Foundation ( WPF) 4.5

1. DEV335 A Lap Around Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) 4.5 Pete Brown | pete.brown@microsoft.com XAML and Gadget Guy Microsoft Corporation

2. XAML UI is Everywhere Not identical, as you know, but closer than any two other technologies. • Share talent / skill • Share patterns • Share code • Share the love

3. 4.0 WPF 4.0 Looking back at the current release • Very strong release • Huge performance improvements • Huge text rendering improvements • Visual Studio Shell first rewritten in WPF 4.0 • Controls • DataGrid, Calendar, Datepicker • Improvements from Silverlight land • Visual State Manager • Easing Functions

4. 4.5 WPF and .NET 4.5 Releases Go-Live License Included

5. 4.5 Supported Platforms • Desktop WPF 4.5 development • Requires Visual Studio 2012 • Windows 7 and Windows 8 (x86 and x64) • Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) • Windows Server 2012 (x64) • Runtime support • Windows 7 and Windows 8 (x86 and x64) • Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) • Windows Server 2012 (x64)

6. 4.5 Drivers for Creating WPF 4.5 • Customer feature feedback • UserVoice • Large ISV customers • Targeted updates and features • Stability, smoothing, performance • Windows 8 Metro also uses .NET 4.5 • Internal customers • Visual Studio 11 shell written in WPF • Expression Blend, Powershell, more

7. 4.5

8. 4.5 Primary WPF 4.5 Features • New async and await and Task<T> support • Built-in Ribbon control and Ribbon window • Data binding update delay (for sliders etc.) • Static property binding/change notification • Event weak references • Binding expression information • INotifyDataErrorInfo • ICustomTypeProvider • Accessing collections on non-UI threads • Live shaping of collections • Bug fixes, performance improvements, more • Full list: http://bit.ly/wpf45dp

9. 4.5 Feature: Ribbon • Mature control, delivered as part of the product • No longer a separate download • Ribbon is important on Windows 7 and Windows 8 desktop • System.Windows.Controls.Ribbon • Ribbon, RibbonWindow, RibbonTab, RibbonButton etc. enhanced

10. Ribbon

11. 4.5 Feature: Async and Await Support • Greatly simplify asynchronous code • Especially suitable for networking operations • Relies on • New C# language feature • Task<T> and the Task Parallel Library • Helps make your code more easily portable to Windows 8 Metro style apps • Compatible with WPF 4.5, Metro C# and WinRT, Silverlight 5 on VS2012 new

12. async and await

13. 4.5 Feature: Binding Delay • Configurable delay until target is updated • Restarts with each property change • Reduce load on binding system and UI • Updates and related events can be expensive • Helps control the quantity of events and binding updates • Apply it to the correct control • Must be applied to the source control when element binding new

14. Binding Delay • <Slider x:Name="ValueSlider" Minimum="0" Maximum="100" • Margin="20" Height="25" • Value="{Binding ElementName=ValueText, • Delay=500, Path=Text, Mode=TwoWay}" /> • <TextBoxx:Name="ValueText"Text="50" • Width="100" Height="50" • FontSize="20" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />

15. Binding Delay

16. 4.5 Feature: BindingExpression APIs • New APIs for accessing binding expression information • ResolvedSource (source object) • ResolvedSourcePropertyName (property) • Target (target object) • TargetProperty (target property) • more enhanced

17. 4.5 Binding to Static Properties • Another customer request • However, not necessarily the best pattern, but useful at times • Consider singletons or IoC / injection as alternatives • Lifetime difficult to control • When you need it, you need it new

18. Static Binding • Property="{Binding Path=(namespace:class.property)}" • public static event • EventHandler<PropertyChangedEventArgs> • StaticPropertyChanged;

19. Binding to Static Properties

20. 4.5 Feature: Weak Events • Built-in Support for the Weak Event Pattern • Use when listener doesn’t know when to unhook event handler • Helps avoid memory leaks • Generic WeakEventManager • Uses reflection • Flexible, but not as efficient • Derive your own for more runtime efficiency enhanced

21. Event Weak References

22. 4.5 Feature: Virtualization Improvements • Virtualizating panels like VirtualizingStackPanel can now specify scroll units • Pixel : Partial items are displayed • Item : Only whole items are displayed • Set cache size • CacheLengthUnit : Page, Item, Pixel • CacheLength: Separate values for above and below • Grouping support • IsVirtualizingWhenGrouping enhanced

23. 4.5 Feature: Cross-Thread AccessCollection synchronization • Before • Collections could not be modified except on the thread which created them • Lots of ugly dispatcher calls • Now • Get a lock for the collection • Enable synchronization • Update it from any thread new

24. Collection Synchronization • public ObservableCollection<Stock> Stocks • { get; private set; } • private object _stocksLock = new object(); • public MainViewModel() • { • Stocks = new ObservableCollection<Stock>(); • BindingOperations.EnableCollectionSynchronization • (Stocks, _stocksLock); • }

25. Virtualization and Cross-Thread Access

26. 4.5 Feature: ICustomTypeProvider • A way to create class properties on the fly • Useful for data-driven systems • You control definition and storage of values at runtime • Silverlight 5 compatible • Similar to ICustomTypeDescriptor • But without recreating all the reflection calls • See Silverlight 5 examples new

27. 4.5 Feature: INotifyDataErrorInfo • Initially added to Silverlight 4 and WCF RIA Services 1.0 • Compatible version in WPF 4.5 • Supports asynchronous validation • Typically a server-based validation call • Lots of Silverlight example code which applies here new

28. 4.5 Feature: Live Shaping • Sorted collection changes intelligently applied to DataGrid • Including property changes for elements in the collection • Requires a CollectionView • Set sort/filter/group descriptions • Tell it which fields to watch • Tell it you want to live sort/filter/group • Keep performance in mind new

29. Shaping

30. Related Content • DEV353 Building Metro style Apps with XAML (Tim Heuer) • DEV216 MVVM in XAML: Simple and Easy (Paul Sheriff) • DEV369 Creating LOB Metro style Apps in XAML (Jeffrey Ferman) blog: http://10rem.net | twitter: @pete_brown | pete.brown@microsoft.com Find me right after this session at bookstore for SL5 in Action book signing

31. DEV Track Resources • Visual Studio Home Page :: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us • Somasegar’s Blog :: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/somasegar/ • Jason Zander’s Blog :: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jasonz/ • Facebook :: http://www.facebook.com/visualstudio • Twitter :: http://twitter.com/#!/visualstudio

32. Resources Learning TechNet • Connect. Share. Discuss. • Microsoft Certification & Training Resources http://northamerica.msteched.com www.microsoft.com/learning • Resources for IT Professionals • Resources for Developers • http://microsoft.com/technet http://microsoft.com/msdn

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