Building Windows PhoneApplications

Nguyen Tuan | Microsoft Certified Trainer

Agenda

• Page navigation

• Application Bar

• Page Orientation

• Screen Resolutions

• Localization

• Windows Phone Toolkit

• Page Transitions

Page Navigation

• Frame• Top-level container control• PhoneApplicationFrame class• Contains the page control and system

elements such as system tray and application bar

• Page• Fills entire content region of the frame• PhoneApplicationPage-derived class• Contains a title• Optionally surfaces its own application bar

Frame and Page

Page Navigation

• XAML apps on Windows Phone use a page-based navigation model

• Similar to web page model

• Each page identified by a URI

• Each page is essentially stateless

private void HyperlinkButton_Click_1(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

{NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/SecondPage.xaml", UriKind.Relative));

}

Navigating Back

• Application can provide controls to navigate back to preceding page

• The hardware Back key will also navigate back to preceding page

• No code required – built-in behaviour

private void Button_Click_1(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

{NavigationService.GoBack();

}

Overriding Back Key• May need to override Back hardware key if ‘back to previous page’ is

not logical behaviour• For example, when displaying a popup panel

• User would expect Back key to close the panel, not the page

Overriding the Back Key

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<phone:PhoneApplicationPagex:Class="PhoneApp1.MainPage"…shell:SystemTray.IsVisible="True"BackKeyPress="PhoneApplicationPage_BackKeyPress">

In code:private void PhoneApplicationPage_BackKeyPress(object sender,

System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs e){

e.Cancel = true; // Tell system we've handled it

// Hide the popup......

}

Passing Data Between Pages

• Can pass string data between pages using query strings

• on destination page

private void passParam_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e){

NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/SecondPage.xaml?msg=" + textBox1.Text, UriKind.Relative));}

protected override void OnNavigatedTo(System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationEventArgs e)

{

base.OnNavigatedTo(e);

string querystringvalue = "";

if (NavigationContext.QueryString.TryGetValue("msg", out querystringvalue))

textBlock1.Text = querystringvalue;

}

Passing Objects Between Pages

• Often, you will pass a data object from one page to another

• E.g., user selects an item in a list and navigates to a Details page

• One solution is to store your ViewModel (that is, data) in your App class

• Global to whole application

• Pass the ID of the selected item in query string

// Navigate to the new pageNavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/DetailsPage.xaml?selectedItem=" + (MainLongListSelector.SelectedItem as ItemViewModel).ID, UriKind.Relative));

Handling Non Linear Navigation

• Design your app navigation strategy carefully!

• If you navigate from ‘third page’ to ‘main page’ and your user then presses the Back key, what happens?

• User expects app to exit• App actually navigates back to Third Page

• Solution for Windows Phone 7.0 was complex code to handle back navigation correctly, or the Non-Linear Navigation Recipe library from AppHub

• Windows Phone APIs:• NavigationService.RemoveBackEntry()

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NavigationService.RemoveBackEntry()• When ‘Third Page’ navigates back to MainPage, put a marker in the query string

• In OnNavigatedTo() in MainPage, look for the marker and if present, remove the ‘ Third Page’, ‘SecondPage’ and original instance of ‘MainPage’ from the navigation history stack

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NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/MainPage.xaml?homeFromThird=true", UriKind.Relative));

protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e){

if (e.NavigationMode == System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationMode.New&& NavigationContext.QueryString.ContainsKey("homeFromThird"))

{ NavigationService.RemoveBackEntry(); // Remove ThirdPageNavigationService.RemoveBackEntry(); // Remove SecondPageNavigationService.RemoveBackEntry(); // Remove original MainPage

}base.OnNavigatedTo(e);

}

Demo NavigationApp

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ApplicationBar

Application Chrome System Tray and Application Bar

Don’t fill all 4 slots if not needed

Use the ApplicationBar instead of creating your own menu system

Up to 4 buttons plus optional menuSwipe up the bar to bring up the menu

Swipe up the bar to bring up the menu

ApplicationBar

ApplicationBar in Xaml

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<phone:PhoneApplicationPagex:Class="CRMapp.MainPage“…>

<phone:PhoneApplicationPage.ApplicationBar><shell:ApplicationBar x:Name="AppBar" Opacity="1.0" IsMenuEnabled="True">

<shell:ApplicationBar.Buttons><shell:ApplicationBarIconButton x:Name="NewContactButton" IconUri="Images/appbar.new.rest.png"

Text="New" Click="NewContactButton_Click"/><shell:ApplicationBarIconButton x:Name="SearchButton" IconUri="Images/appbar.feature.search.rest.png"

Text="Find" Click="SearchButton_Click"/></shell:ApplicationBar.Buttons><shell:ApplicationBar.MenuItems>

<shell:ApplicationBarMenuItem x:Name="GenerateMenuItem" Text="Generate Data"Click="GenerateMenuItem_Click" />

<shell:ApplicationBarMenuItem x:Name="ClearMenuItem" Text="Clear Data"Click="ClearMenuItem_Click" />

</shell:ApplicationBar.MenuItems></shell:ApplicationBar>

</phone:PhoneApplicationPage.ApplicationBar>

</phone:PhoneApplicationPage>

ApplicationBar and Landscape

ApplicationBar paints on side of screen in landscape

Has built-in animation when page switches orientation

If Application Bar opacity is less than 1, displayed page will be the size of the screen Application Bar overlays screen content

If Opacity is 1, displayed page is resized to the area of the screen not covered by the Application Bar

ApplicationBar Opacity

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ApplicationBar Design in Blend – and now in VS Too!

DemoApplicationBar

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Handling Screen Orientation Changes

Phone UI Design – Orientation

• This application does not work in landscape mode at the moment

• Not all applications do, or need to

• You can configure applications to support portrait or landscape

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New Device Tab in Visual Studio 2012

• View Designer in Portrait or Landscape

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Selecting Orientations

• A XAML property for the phone application page lets you select the orientation options available

• Your application can bind to an event which is fired when the orientation changes

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SupportedOrientations="Portrait"

SupportedOrientations="PortraitOrLandscape"

Layout May Need Altering

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Layout unaltered

Layout optimised for landscape

Using a Grid to Aid Landscape Layout

• In the Grid, the second column is unused in Portrait

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<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe"><Grid><Grid.ColumnDefinitions><ColumnDefinition Width="*"/><ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>

</Grid.ColumnDefinitions><Grid.RowDefinitions><RowDefinition Height="Auto"/><RowDefinition Height="240"/><RowDefinition Height="*"/><RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>...

</Grid>

Row 0

Row 1

Row 2

Row 3

Column 0

Move Elements in Landscape Layout

• In Landscape, the recipe description moves into the second row and the second column and the third row of the grid is now unused. Since that row’s Height is “*”, it shrinks to zero.

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<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe"><Grid><Grid.ColumnDefinitions><ColumnDefinition Width="*"/><ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>

</Grid.ColumnDefinitions><Grid.RowDefinitions><RowDefinition Height="Auto"/><RowDefinition Height="240"/><RowDefinition Height="*"/><RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>...

</Grid>

Row 0

Row 1

Row 2

Row 3

Column 0 Column 1

Moving Elements

private void PhoneApplicationPage_OrientationChanged(object sender, OrientationChangedEventArgs e) {

if (this.Orientation == PageOrientation.LandscapeLeft || this.Orientation == PageOrientation.LandscapeRight)

{DirectionsScrollViewer.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 1);DirectionsScrollViewer.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 1);

}else{

DirectionsScrollViewer.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 2);DirectionsScrollViewer.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);

}}

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DemoLandScape Orietation

Supporting Multiple Screen Resolutions

Multiple Resolutions

Multiple Resolutions – Scaling & Touch

720p

720x1280

WVGA

480x800

• Well, No…

• As developers, we work with device independent pixels• OS applies a scale factor to the actual resolution

So I Have to Do Three Different UIs?

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Resolution Aspect ratio Scale Factor Scaled resolution

WVGA 800 x 480 15:9 1.0x scale 800 x 480

WXGA 1280 x 768 15:9 1.6x scale 800 x 480

720p 1280 x 720 16:91.5x scale, 80 pixels taller (53 pixels, before scaling)

853 x 480

Scaled Resolutions

WVGA WXGA 720p

80

0

80

0 85

3

480480

480

• Set Grid Row Height to “Auto” to size according to the controls placed within it

• Set Grid Row Height to “*” to take up all the rest of the space

• If you size multiple rows using “*”, available space is divided up evenly between them

Use “Auto” and “*” on Grid Rows To Ensure Good Layout

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<Grid><Grid.RowDefinitions><RowDefinition Height="240"/><RowDefinition Height="*"/><RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>...</Grid>

Adaptive Layout Using Grid

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WVGA 720p

Image height sized explicitly at 240px

Bottom row is “Auto” so sized to hold a TextBlock

Directions row is “*” so gets everything that’s left – ends

up taller on 720p

• In most cases, you should supply images targeting the WXGA (1280 x 768) screen

• WXGA assets are of the highest quality• Will automatically scale down on WVGA phones• Still look great on 720p (1280 x 720)

• If you want, you can include images at each of the three resolutions in your project

• E.g. MyImage.wvga.png, MyImage.wxga.png and MyImage.720p.png• At runtime, get Application.Current.Host.Content.ScaleFactor to determine the resolution

of the screen on the current phone, returns 100 for WVGA, 160 for WXGA and 150 for 720p• Write code to load image at runtime appropriate for the current screen resolution

Images

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• To add a splash screen to your project suitable for all resolutions, add a file as content called SplashScreenImage.jpg at 768 x 1280 resolution

• The framework automatically scales it to the correct size on different resolution screens

• If you want to provide pixel-perfect splash screens for all resolutions, add images with the following names:

• SplashScreenImage.Screen-WVGA.jpg• SplashScreenImage.Screen-WXGA.jpg• SplashScreenImage.Screen-720p.jpg

• In addition to these images, you must still include the default SplashScreenImage.jpg file

Splash Screens

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• You must supply app icon and tile images sized for WXGA

• The framework automatically scales to the correct size for WVGA and 720p

App Icon and Tiles

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Tile size WXGA

Application Icon 100 × 100

Small 159 × 159

Medium 336 × 336

Large 691 × 336

Introduction to Localization

• Windows Phone 8 supports 50 display languages (shipped with the phone depending on market and country/region) and selectable by the user on the language+region section of the Settings page

• Windows Phone 7.1 supported only 24

• Windows Phone 8 allows you to build apps that read from right to left

Language Support

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-

us/library/windowsphone/develop/ff637520(v=vs.105).aspx

• Every new project you create in Visual Studio 2012 has a class included called LocalizedStrings

• Simply provides programmatic access to resources• An instance of this is create in App.xaml in the Application Resources with the key

LocalizedStrings

• Every new project also includes a resources file: Resources\AppResources.resx

• Some strings already defined in here

• Create all your string literals in here to support localization

• All new projects also included commented-out code in MainPage.xaml.cs to setup a localized Application Bar

New Project Templates Have Localization Support Built In

8/16/2014

• Databind the Text property of your TextBlock and other controls to the StaticResource with a key of LocalizedStrings

• That is an instance of the LocalizedStrings class

• It provides access to string resources

Accessing String Resources from XAML

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• Double-click project properties to open the Properties editor

• On the Application tab• Check each of the

languages your app will support

• Save the Project Properties• Visual Studio creates new

AppResources files for each selected language/culture

Add Support for Additional Languages

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• Visual Studio adds a resource file for each additional language that the app will support. Each resource file is named using the correct culture/language name, as described in Culture and language support for Windows Phone in the documentation

• For example: • For the culture Spanish (Spain), file is AppResources.es-ES.resx.

• For the culture German (Germany), file is AppResources.de-DE.resx.

• Supply appropriate translations in each resource file

Translate the Additional Languages Resource Files

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• Double-click WMAppManifest.xml to open the manifest editor• On the Packaging tab

• Set the Default Languageto the language of your

default resources• This identifies the language of the

strings in the default resources file. For example, if the strings in the default resources file are English (United Kingdom) language strings, you would select English (United Kingdom)

as the Neutral Language for the project

Define the Default Language

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Demo AnimalSound

The Windows Phone Toolkit

WPToolkit

• A product of the Microsoft Windows Phone team

• Formerly known as the ‘Silverlight Toolkit’

• The Windows Phone Toolkit adds new functionality ‘out of band’ from the official product control set

• Includes full open source code, samples, documentation, and design-time support for controls for Windows Phone

• Refresh every three months or so• Bug fixes• New controls

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How to Get the Toolkit

• http://phone.codeplex.com

• Get source code, including the sample application

• No MSI! – Install binaries from NuGet only

NuGet

• Package management system for .NET

• Simplifies incorporating third-party libraries

• Developer focused

• Free, open source

• NuGet client is included in Visual Studio 2012 – including Express Editions!

• Use NuGet to add libraries such asthe Windows Phone Toolkit to projects

Controls in the Windows Phone Toolkit

ContextMenu

DatePicker and TimePicker

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ToggleSwitch

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WrapPanel

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ListPicker

• WP7 ComboBox

• Dropdown list for small number of items

• Full screen selector for longer lists

…And Many More

• Custom MessageBox

• Rating control

• AutoCompleteBox

• ExpanderView

• HubTile

• …more…

• Download the source from http://Silverlight.codeplex.com, build the sample application and deploy to emulator or device

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Page Transitions and TiltEffect

Page Transitions

• Easy way to add page transitions to your app similar to those in the built-in apps

• Different transitions are included• Roll, Swivel, Rotate, Slide and Turnstile

• Start by using the TransitionFrame control from the Windows Phone Toolkit instead of the default PhoneApplicationFrame

• Set in InitializePhoneApplication() method in App.Xaml.cs:

Enabling Transitions on a Page

• Declare namespace for Windows Phone Toolkit assembly

• Under <phone:PhoneApplicationPage> root element, add transition you want

TiltEffect

• Add additional visual feedback for control interaction

• Instead of simple states such as Pressed or Unpressed, controls with TiltEffect enabled provide motion during manipulation

• For example, Button has a subtle 3D effect and appears to move into the page when pressed and bounce back again when released

• Easy to enable TiltEffect for all controls on a page

• Also can apply to individual controls

DemoPhoneToolkitSample

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Review• Navigation to pages is performed on the basis of a URI (Uniform Resource Indicator) values

• The back button normally navigates back to the previous page, but this can be overridden

• The URI can contain a query string to pass contextual string data

• Support for Localization is incorporated into the project templates

• Supporting different screen resolutions is simplified because they are scaled to a near-identical effective resolution.

• Supply images scaled for WXGA and they will be scaled down automatically for lower screen resolutions.

• The Windows Phone Toolkit is an out of band method for Microsoft to release additional tools and libraries outside of Visual Studio release cycles

• http://silverlight.codeplex.com

• The toolkit includes Page transitions and TiltEffect with which you can add common animations to your applications