Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed

by Adam Nathan

Overview

Full color: Learn how to build great Windows Store apps! Figures and code appear as they do in Visual Studio.

Windows 8.1 enables you to build stunning applications that integrate with each other, Web services, and Windows itself. You can sell them in the Windows Store, with more options than ever before, for tablets such as Surface, laptops, and traditional desktop PCs! World-renowned Microsoft programming guru Adam Nathan shows you exactly how to write first-class apps for this significant update to Windows. Don’t let the minor name change fool you--Windows 8.1 contains an incredible amount of new developer opportunities compared to Windows 8.

Clear, accessible, and intensely practical, this guide teaches through concise code examples, in full color to match their appearance in Visual Studio--the same approach that made Nathan’s WPF Unleashed so popular. Writing with unprecedented depth and insight, Nathan guides you through creating advanced user interfaces with XAML and exploiting key Windows 8.1 features. Whether you’re already comfortable with Microsoft programming or relatively new to it, Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed will take you to the cutting edge of Windows 8.1 development.

Detailed information on how to...

• Use XAML to represent state-of-the-art user interfaces, even across multiple windows
• Handle touch, mouse, keyboard, and pen input, including handwriting recognition
• Use new Windows 8.1 controls for creating hubs, flyouts, better app bars, performing in-app searches, rendering PDFs, and much more
• Encode, decode, and transcode multimedia content and speech-enable your app
• Leverage rich XAML vector graphics and animation
• Interact with built-in functionality such as the Camera app, file picker, the lock screen, new contacts and appointments integration, and more
• Exploit the Windows 8.1 charms bar
• Integrate DirectX graphics seamlessly
• Work with the rich set of available sensors: accelerometer, compass, light sensor, location (with geofencing support), proximity, and more
• Control devices such as fingerprint readers, image and bar code scanners, magnetic stripe readers, and custom Bluetooth, USB, HID, or Wi-Fi Direct devices

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780133744408
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	12/09/2013
Series:	Unleashed
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	848
File size:	112 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Adam Nathan is a principal software architect for Microsoft, a best-selling technical author, and arguably the world’s most prolific developer for Windows Phone. He introduced XAML to countless developers through his books on a variety of Microsoft technologies. Currently a part of Microsoft’s Startup Business Group, Adam has previously worked on Visual Studio and the Common Language Runtime. He was the founding developer and architect of Popfly, Microsoft’s first Silverlight-based product, named by PCWorld as one of its year’s most innovative products. He is also the founder of PINVOKE.NET, the online resource for .NET developers who need to access Win32. His apps have been featured on Lifehacker, Gizmodo, ZDNet, ParentMap, and other enthusiast sites.

Adam’s books are considered required reading by many inside Microsoft and throughout the industry. Adam is the author of Windows 8 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed (Sams, 2013), 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps (Sams, 2011), Silverlight 1.0 Unleashed (Sams, 2008), WPF Unleashed (Sams, 2006), WPF 4 Unleashed (Sams, 2010), WPF 4.5 Unleashed (Sams, 2013), and .NET and COM: The Complete Interoperability Guide (Sams, 2002); a coauthor of ASP.NET: Tips, Tutorials, and Code (Sams, 2001); and a contributor to books including .NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference, Volume 2 (Addison-Wesley, 2005) and Windows Developer Power Tools (O’Reilly, 2006). You can find Adam online at www.adamnathan.net or @adamnathan on Twitter.

Table of Contents

Introduction     1

Part I: Getting Started

Chapter 1: Hello, Real World!     9

Creating, Deploying, and Profiling an App     9

Understanding the App Package     12

Updating XAML and C# Code     22

Making the App World-Ready     30

Making the App Accessible     36

Submitting to the Windows Store     40

Summary     42

Chapter 2: Mastering XAML     43

Elements and Attributes     44

Namespaces     45

Property Elements     47

Type Converters     48

Markup Extensions     49

Children of Object Elements     51

Mixing XAML with Procedural Code     56

XAML Keywords     59

Summary     61

Part II: Building an App

Chapter 3: Sizing, Positioning, and Transforming Elements     63

Controlling Size     64

Controlling Position     68

Applying 2D Transforms     71

Applying 3D Transforms     79

Summary     82

Chapter 4: Layout     83

Discovering Your Window Size and Location     84

Panels     89

Handling Content Overflow     105

Summary     116

Chapter 5: Interactivity     117

Dependency Properties     117

Routed Events     124

Commands     129

Summary     131

Chapter 6: Handling Input: Touch, Mouse, Pen, and Keyboard     133

Touch Input     134

Mouse Input     156

Pen Input     159

Keyboard Input     168

Summary     174

Part III: Working with the App Model

Chapter 7: App Lifecycle     175

Killing     177

Suspending     178

Resuming     181

Terminating     181

Launching     182

Activating     185

Managing Session State with SuspensionManager     187

Programmatically Launching Apps     190

Summary     193

Chapter 8: Threading, Windows, and Pages     195

Understanding the Threading Model for Windows Store Apps     195

Displaying Multiple Windows     200

Navigating Between Pages     204

Summary     211

Chapter 9: The Many Ways to Earn Money     213

Adding Advertisements to Your App     214

Supporting a Free Trial     220

Supporting In-App Purchases     224

Validating Windows Store Receipts     232

Testing Windows Store Features     235

Summary     240

Part IV: Understanding Controls

Chapter 10: Content Controls     241

Button     244

AppBarButton     247

HyperlinkButton     254

RepeatButton     256

ToggleButton     256

AppBarToggleButton     256

CheckBox     257

RadioButton     258

ToolTip     259

App Bars     262

Summary     269

Chapter 11: Items Controls     271

Items in the Control     272

Items Panels     274

ComboBox     277

ListBox     279

ListView     281

GridView     285

FlipView     287

SemanticZoom     289

MenuFlyout     292

Summary     293

Chapter 12: Text     295

TextBlock     295

RichTextBlock     308

TextBox     313

RichEditBox     321

PasswordBox     324

Summary     326

Chapter 13: Images     327

The Image Element     328

Multiple Files for Multiple Environments     337

Decoding Images     342

Encoding Images     351

Rendering PDF Content as an Image     359

Summary     365

Chapter 14: Audio, Video, and Speech     367

Playback     368

Capture     380

Transcoding     392

Speech Synthesis     397

Summary     399

Chapter 15: Other Controls     401

Range Controls     401

SearchBox     404

Popup Controls     411

Hub     421

Date and Time Controls     426

ProgressRing     429

ToggleSwitch     429

WebView     430

Summary     436

Part V: Leveraging the Richness of XAML

Chapter 16: Vector Graphics     437

Shapes     438

Geometries     444

Brushes     452

Summary     466

Chapter 17: Animation     469

Theme Transitions     470

Theme Animations     481

Custom Animations     486

Custom Keyframe Animations     500

Easing Functions     505

Manual Animations     509

Summary     511

Chapter 18: Styles, Templates, and Visual States     513

Styles     514

Templates     524

Visual States     533

Summary     543

Chapter 19: Data Binding     545

Introducing Binding     545

Controlling Rendering     554

Customizing the View of a Collection     562

High-Performance Rendering with ListView and GridView     566

Summary     569

Part VI: Exploiting Windows 8.1

Chapter 20: Working with Data     571

An Overview of Files and Folders     571

App Data     573

User Data     579

Networking     584

Summary     595

Chapter 21: Supporting Charms     597

The Search Charm     597

The Share Charm     603

The Devices Charm     611

The Settings Charm     620

Summary     625

Chapter 22: Leveraging Contracts     627

Account Picture Provider     629

AutoPlay Content and

AutoPlay Device     631

File Type Associations     634

Protocol     636

File Open Picker     637

File Save Picker     641

Contact Picker     642

The New Contact Contract     644

The New Appointments Provider Contract     648

Background Tasks     650

Summary     659

Chapter 23: Reading from Sensors     661

Accelerometer     661

Gyrometer     665

Inclinometer     665

Compass     665

Light Sensor     665

Orientation     666

Location     666

Proximity     674

Summary     677

Chapter 24: Controlling Devices     679

Fingerprint Readers     679

Image Scanners     680

Barcode Scanners     684

Magnetic Stripe Readers     687

Custom Bluetooth Devices     689

Custom Bluetooth Smart Devices     692

Custom USB Devices     695

Custom HID Devices     698

Custom Wi-Fi Direct Devices     700

Summary     702

Chapter 25: Thinking Outside the App: Live Tiles, Notifications, and the Lock Screen     703

Live Tiles     703

Badges     718

Secondary Tiles     720

Toast Notifications     722

Setting Up Push Notifications     728

The Lock Screen     736

Summary     738

Part VII: Advanced Features

Chapter 26: Integrating DirectX     739

Integrating as an Image Source     740

Integrating the Swap Chain     747

Summary     752

Chapter 27: Custom Controls and Components     755

Creating a User Control     756

Creating a More Complex

Control     759

Creating a Templated Control     771

Creating a Windows Runtime Component     776

Summary     779

Chapter 28: Layout with Custom Panels     781

Communication Between Parents and Children     782

Creating a SimpleCanvas     785

Creating a SimpleStackPanel     789

Creating a UniformGrid     792

Summary     798

Index     799