03.Controls in Windows Phone

Building Windows Phone
Applications
Nguyen Tuan | Microsoft Certified Trainer

Agenda
• Page navigation
• Application Bar
• Page Orientation
• Screen Resolutions
• Localization
• Windows Phone Toolkit
• Page Transitions

• 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
8
<phone:PhoneApplicationPage
x: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 page
NavigationService.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()
11

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
12
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 ThirdPage
NavigationService.RemoveBackEntry(); // Remove SecondPage
NavigationService.RemoveBackEntry(); // Remove original MainPage
}
base.OnNavigatedTo(e);
}

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 menu
Swipe up the bar to bring up the menu
Swipe up the bar to bring up the menu
ApplicationBar

ApplicationBar in Xaml
17
<phone:PhoneApplicationPage
x: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
19

ApplicationBar Design in Blend – and now in VS Too!

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
23

New Device Tab in Visual Studio 2012
• View Designer in Portrait or Landscape
8/16/2014 24

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
25
SupportedOrientations="Portrait"
SupportedOrientations="PortraitOrLandscape"

Layout May Need Altering
8/16/2014 26
Layout unaltered
Layout optimised for
landscape

Using a Grid to Aid Landscape Layout
• In the Grid, the second column is unused in Portrait
27
<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="240"/>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</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.
28
<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
...
</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);
}
}
8/16/2014 29

Supporting Multiple
Screen 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?
8/16/2014 34
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 16:9
1.5x scale, 80 pixels taller
(53 pixels, before scaling)
853 x 480

Scaled Resolutions
WVGA WXGA 720p
800
800
853
480
480
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
8/16/2014 36
<Grid>
...
</Grid>

Adaptive Layout Using Grid
8/16/2014 37
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
8/16/2014 38

• 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
8/16/2014 39

• 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
8/16/2014 40
Tile size WXGA
Application Icon 100 × 100
Small 159 × 159
Medium 336 × 336
Large 691 × 336

• 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:
ResourcesAppResources.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
8/16/2014 44

• 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
8/16/2014 45

• 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
8/16/2014 46

• Double-click WMAppManifest.xml to open the manifest editor
• On the Packaging tab
• Set the Default Language
to 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
8/16/2014 47

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
50

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 as
the Windows Phone Toolkit to projects

Controls in the Windows Phone Toolkit

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
8/16/2014 59

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

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

03.Controls in Windows Phone

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