Windows 8 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed

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 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps (Sams, 2011), Silverlight 1.0 Unleashed (Sams, 2008), WPF Unleashed (Sams, 2006), WPF 4 Unleashed (Sams, 2010), 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.

Introduction   1
Who Should Read This Book?    3
Software Requirements   3
Code Examples   3
How This Book Is Organized   3
Conventions Used in This Book   5

Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: Anatomy of a Windows Store App   7
Launching a New App   8
The Package Manifest   9
The Main Page   19
The Application Definition   21
Summary   25
Chapter 2: Mastering XAML   27
Elements and Attributes   28
Namespaces   29
Property Elements   31
Type Converters   33
Markup Extensions   34
Children of Object Elements   36
Mixing XAML with Procedural Code   40
XAML Keywords   44
Summary   45

Part II: Building an App
Chapter 3: Sizing, Positioning, and Transforming Elements   47
Controlling Size   48
Controlling Position   52
Applying 2D Transforms   55
Applying 3D Transforms   62
Summary   64
Chapter 4: Layout   65
Discovering the Current Dimensions   66
Discovering the Current View State   67
Discovering the Current Orientation   70
Panels   71
Handling Content Overflow   87
Summary   99
Chapter 5: Interactivity   101
Dependency Properties   101
Routed Events   108
Commands   113
Summary   114
Chapter 6: Handling Input: Touch, Mouse, Pen, and Keyboard   115
Touch Input   116
Mouse Input   138
Pen Input   140
Keyboard Input   142
Summary   147
Chapter 7: App Model   149
Understanding the App Lifecycle   150
Programmatically Launching Apps   163
Interacting with the Windows Store   166
Leveraging Navigation   174
Summary   182

Part III: Understanding Controls
Chapter 8: Content Controls   185
Button   188
HyperlinkButton   189
RepeatButton   191
ToggleButton   191
CheckBox   192
RadioButton   192
ToolTip   194
AppBar   196
Summary   205
Chapter 9: Items Controls   207
Items in the Control   208
Items Panels   210
ComboBox   213
ListBox   214
ListView   216
GridView   219
FlipView   221
SemanticZoom   223
Summary   226
Chapter 10: Text   227
TextBlock   227
RichTextBlock   235
TextBox   240
RichEditBox   248
PasswordBox   251
Summary   252
Chapter 11: Images   253
The Image Element   253
Multiple Files for Multiple Environments   263
Decoding Images   267
Encoding Images   276
Summary   284
Chapter 12: Audio and Video   285
Playback   286
Capture   294
Transcoding   305
Summary   311
Chapter 13: Other Controls   313
Range Controls   313
Popup Controls   316
A Few More Controls   325
Summary   330

Part IV: Leveraging the Richness of XAML
Chapter 14: Vector Graphics   333
Shapes   334
Geometries   340
Brushes   348
Summary   363
Chapter 15: Animation   365
Theme Transitions   366
Theme Animations   376
Custom Animations   382
Custom Keyframe Animations   395
Easing Functions   400
Manual Animations   404
Summary   406
Chapter 16: Styles, Templates, and Visual States   409
Styles   410
Templates   418
Visual States   428
Summary   438

Part V: Exploiting Windows 8
Chapter 17: Data Binding   439
Introducing Binding   439
Controlling Rendering   447
Customizing the View of a Collection   455
Summary   459
Chapter 18: Data   461
App Data   461
User Data   466
Networking   469
Summary   474
Chapter 19: Charms   477
Search   477
Share   486
Devices   492
Settings   503
Summary   508
Chapter 20: Extensions   509
Account Picture Provider   509
AutoPlay Content and AutoPlay Device   512
Contact Picker   514
File Type Associations   516
Protocol   518
Background Tasks   519
Summary   527
Chapter 21: Sensors and Other Devices   529
Accelerometer   529
Gyrometer   532
Inclinometer   532
Compass   533
Light Sensor   533
Orientation   533
Location   534
Proximity   535
Summary   538

Part VI: Advanced Topics
Chapter 22: Thinking Outside the App: Live Tiles, Toast Notifications, and the Lock Screen   539
Live Tiles   539
Toast Notifications   552
The Lock Screen   556
Summary   557
Index   559