Dispatcher Timer vs storybord

Hi,
When i started with the silverlight coding i always used dispatcher timer for creating simple animation as it was something familiar to me. and i was always trying to sort out the difference between the two.
After some research and goggling i found my approach is wrong.
Its always better to use storyboard for creating animation and effects of all kind.
The advantages of using story board are
1.The StoryBoard is handled in separate thread.
2.The Dispatcher Timer is a lower resolution timer than the timer behind the Storyboard class, which causes loss in fidelity.
3.The Storyboard execution is more stable across the different supported OS’s and web browsers.
Regards
Balu

Resizing application to Browser size

Selct a folder in WPF

Hi
I had a requirement to select the destination folder in WPF. I couldn't find any direct method.After bit of searching i found a method in Schwartz blog.

here the way where u can select the folder using openfiledialog

OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
ofd.CheckFileExists = false;
ofd.CheckPathExists = false;
ofd.Multiselect = false;
ofd.FileName = "(Get Folder)";
ofd.Filter = "Folders only|*.FOLDER";
ofd.ShowDialog();
string destinationFolder = ofd.FileName.Substring(0, ofd.FileName.Length - 19);

hope it helps.
Regards
balu

Silverlight in php

Silverlight in PHP

My goal was to make a silverlight aplication work in a PHP page.

Silverlight content embedded into an PHP(HTML/aspx) web page is transferred to the client browser and is then displayed by the
Silverlight runtime (plugin) installed on the client computer.

The most important thing is that the web server environment can be Linux/Apache, Windows/Apache or Windows/IIS.

First i created a sample silverlight application.And i made the .xap file(SLPHPtest.xap).

Now copy this SLPHPtest.xap file to the same directory within your web site where you plan to host the Silverlight content.


Now Open and edit the page which will host the Silverlight control by adding the following code: You need to add the silverlight refernce here.
And the code to download the the plugin if plugin is not presnet

< id="SilverlightControlHost"> id="SilverlightControlHost">
< object type="application/x-silverlight-2" data="data:application/x-silverlight-2," width="500" height="300">
< param name="source" value="SLPHPtest.xap">
<t param name="minRuntimeVersion" value="2.0.31005.0">
< param name="autoUpgrade" value="true">
< a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=124807" style="text-decoration: none;" >
< img src="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=108181" alt="Get Microsoft Silverlight" style="border-style:none;" />
< /a>
< /object >
< /div >
< /div >


When you view the webpage(index.php) in a web browser the silverlight component can be viewed.Its as simple as that.
If you need to use multiple silverlight components just specify the corresponding .xap file and postion it as we need.

Numeric Up down control in WPF

This is a simple updown control done in WPF.
I had a requirement of updown control in a project.But couldnt find any in WPPF tool kit.So just made a quick updown control.

I had put timers to a up- down effects..

public partial class Window1 : Window
{
BtnClick btnClick = new BtnClick();
DispatcherTimer fadeoutTimer = new DispatcherTimer();
DispatcherTimer fadeintTimer = new DispatcherTimer();
int currentValue;

public Window1()
{
this.InitializeComponent();

fadeintTimer.Tick += new EventHandler(fadeintTimer_Tick);
fadeoutTimer.Tick += new EventHandler(fadeoutTimer_Tick);

fadeoutTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 0, 10);
fadeintTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 0, 10);
tbValue.Text = "0";
}

void fadeoutTimer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
tbValue.Opacity = tbValue.Opacity - .2;

if (tbValue.Opacity <= 0)
{
fadeoutTimer.Stop();
tbValue.Text = currentValue.ToString();
fadeintTimer.Start();
}
}

void fadeintTimer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
tbValue.Opacity = tbValue.Opacity + .2;
if (tbValue.Opacity >= 1)
{
tbValue.Opacity = 1;
fadeintTimer.Stop();
tbValue.Text = currentValue.ToString();
fadeintTimer.Stop();
}
}

private void btnUp_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
StopTimers();

btnClick = BtnClick.Up;
if (tbValue.Text != "")
{
currentValue = Convert.ToInt32(tbValue.Text);
}
else
{
currentValue = 0;
}
UpdateValue();
}

private void StopTimers()
{
fadeintTimer.Stop();
fadeoutTimer.Stop();
}

private void UpdateValue()
{
if (btnClick == BtnClick.Up)
{
currentValue = currentValue + 1;
}
else
{
currentValue = currentValue - 1;
}
fadeoutTimer.Start();

}

private void btnDown_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
StopTimers();
btnClick = BtnClick.Down;
if (tbValue.Text != "")
{
currentValue = Convert.ToInt32(tbValue.Text);
}
else
{
currentValue = 0;
}
UpdateValue();
}

private void tbValue_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (!IsInteger(tbValue.Text))
{

}
else
{
tbValue.Text = "0";
}
}

// Function to Test for Integers both Positive & Negative
public bool IsInteger(String strNumber)
{
//Regex objNotIntPattern = new Regex("[^0-9-]");
Regex objIntPattern = new Regex("^-[0-9]+$|^[0-9]+$");
return ! objIntPattern.IsMatch(strNumber);
}
}
public enum BtnClick
{
Up,
Down,

};

this is the xaml design...

<Window
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Class="WpfApplication4.Window1"
x:Name="Window"
Title="Window1"
Width="640" Height="480" xmlns:Microsoft_Windows_Themes="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Luna" Background="#FF6E93FF" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" mc:Ignorable="d">

<Window.Resources>
<Style x:Key="ButtonStyleup" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource ButtonFocusVisual}"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource ButtonNormalBackgroundFill}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource ButtonBorder}"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
<Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<ControlTemplate.Resources>
<Storyboard x:Key="OnMouseEnter1">
<ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames BeginTime="00:00:00" Storyboard.TargetName="border" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Panel.Background).(SolidColorBrush.Color)">
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00" Value="#FFC6291B"/>
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00.2000000" Value="#FFDC5E42"/>
</ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
<Storyboard x:Key="OnMouseLeave1">
<ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames BeginTime="00:00:00" Storyboard.TargetName="border" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Panel.Background).(SolidColorBrush.Color)">
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00" Value="#FFDC5E42"/>
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00.2000000" Value="#FFBF2A1B"/>
</ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</ControlTemplate.Resources>
<Grid Width="Auto" Height="Auto" x:Name="grid">
<Border BorderBrush="{x:Null}" BorderThickness="0.5,0.5,0.5,0.5" CornerRadius="4,4,4,4" x:Name="border" Background="#FFC6291B">
<Grid Width="Auto" Height="Auto" Margin="0,0,0,0">
<Rectangle Stroke="{x:Null}" Margin="0.211,0.552,0.375,0" RadiusY="2.247" RadiusX="2.247" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="5.448">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#CCEAD9D9" Offset="0"/>
<GradientStop Color="#19FFFFFF" Offset="1"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
<TextBlock Margin="5.833,1.507,6.584,1.665" Text="^" TextWrapping="Wrap" FontSize="16" Foreground="#FFFFF6D8"/>
</Grid>
</Border>
</Grid>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseLeave">
<BeginStoryboard Storyboard="{StaticResource OnMouseLeave1}" x:Name="OnMouseLeave1_BeginStoryboard1"/>
</EventTrigger>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseLeave"/>

<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseEnter">
<BeginStoryboard x:Name="OnMouseLeave1_BeginStoryboard" Storyboard="{StaticResource OnMouseEnter1}"/>
</EventTrigger>
<Trigger Property="IsKeyboardFocused" Value="true"/>
<Trigger Property="ToggleButton.IsChecked" Value="true"/>
<Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.GrayTextBrushKey}}"/>
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
<Style x:Key="ButtonStyleDown" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource ButtonFocusVisual}"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource ButtonNormalBackgroundFill}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource ButtonBorder}"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
<Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<ControlTemplate.Resources>
<Storyboard x:Key="OnMouseEnter1">
<ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames BeginTime="00:00:00" Storyboard.TargetName="border" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Panel.Background).(SolidColorBrush.Color)">
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00" Value="#FFC6291B"/>
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00.2000000" Value="#FFDC5E42"/>
</ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
<Storyboard x:Key="OnMouseLeave1">
<ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames BeginTime="00:00:00" Storyboard.TargetName="border" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Panel.Background).(SolidColorBrush.Color)">
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00" Value="#FFDC5E42"/>
<SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="00:00:00.2000000" Value="#FFBF2A1B"/>
</ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</ControlTemplate.Resources>
<Grid Width="Auto" Height="Auto" x:Name="grid">
<Border BorderBrush="{x:Null}" BorderThickness="0.5,0.5,0.5,0.5" CornerRadius="4,4,4,4" x:Name="border" Background="#FFC6291B">
<Grid Width="Auto" Height="Auto" Margin="0,0,0,0">
<Rectangle Stroke="{x:Null}" Margin="0.211,0.552,0.375,0" RadiusY="2.247" RadiusX="2.247" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="5.448">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#CCEAD9D9" Offset="0"/>
<GradientStop Color="#19FFFFFF" Offset="1"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
<TextBlock Margin="6.135,-2.326,6.282,7.079" Text="^" TextWrapping="Wrap" FontSize="16" RenderTransformOrigin="0.5,0.5" d:LayoutOverrides="VerticalAlignment" Foreground="#FFFFF6D8">
<TextBlock.RenderTransform>
<TransformGroup>
<ScaleTransform ScaleX="1" ScaleY="1"/>
<SkewTransform AngleX="0" AngleY="0"/>
<RotateTransform Angle="180.657"/>
<TranslateTransform X="0" Y="0"/>
</TransformGroup>
</TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</Border>
</Grid>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseLeave">
<BeginStoryboard Storyboard="{StaticResource OnMouseLeave1}" x:Name="OnMouseLeave1_BeginStoryboard1"/>
</EventTrigger>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseLeave"/>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Mouse.MouseEnter">
<BeginStoryboard x:Name="OnMouseLeave1_BeginStoryboard" Storyboard="{StaticResource OnMouseEnter1}"/>
</EventTrigger>
<Trigger Property="IsKeyboardFocused" Value="true"/>
<Trigger Property="ToggleButton.IsChecked" Value="true"/>
<Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.GrayTextBrushKey}}"/>
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Window.Resources>

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<StackPanel Margin="224.039,96,44,76">
<Border x:Name="myImage" Width="267" Height="145" CornerRadius="5,5,5,5">
<Border.Background>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FFFB9D9D" Offset="0.013"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FF220A0A" Offset="1"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Border.Background>
<Canvas Width="267" Height="145" Background="{x:Null}">
<UserControl Width="82.667" Height="46.333" x:Name="USNumericUpDown" Canvas.Left="176.333" Canvas.Top="90.667">
<Border Width="72.5" Height="39.334" BorderThickness="1,1,1,1" CornerRadius="4,4,4,4">
<Border.BitmapEffect>
<DropShadowBitmapEffect Color="#FFF5D9D9"/>
</Border.BitmapEffect>
<Border.Background>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FF0A0503" Offset="0.513"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFA73838" Offset="1"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFA73131" Offset="0.013"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Border.Background>
<Border.BorderBrush>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FF7BE603" Offset="0.009"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFAAE80F" Offset="0.982"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="0.554"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Border.BorderBrush>
<StackPanel Width="70.5" Height="37.833" Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBox Margin="3,5,0,5" TextChanged="tbValue_TextChanged" Width="41.334" x:Name="tbValue" Height="22" Background="#C5E98B8B" FontFamily="Times New Roman" FontSize="14" Foreground="#FFFDFDFD" HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" Opacity="1" Text="9999" TextWrapping="Wrap" FontWeight="Normal" FontStyle="Normal">
<TextBox.BorderBrush>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="0"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="1"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FF111111" Offset="0.513"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</TextBox.BorderBrush>
<TextBox.BitmapEffect>
<BitmapEffectGroup/>
</TextBox.BitmapEffect>
<TextBox.BitmapEffectInput>
<BitmapEffectInput/>
</TextBox.BitmapEffectInput>
</TextBox>
<StackPanel Margin="0,0,0,2" Width="25.667" Height="35.833">
<Button x:Name="btnUp" Click="btnUp_Click" Style="{DynamicResource ButtonStyleup}" Width="25" Height="18" Content="X" BorderThickness="0,0,0,0">
<Button.Background>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="0"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FFF0EDEA" Offset="0.9"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Button.Background>
</Button>
<Button x:Name="btnDown" Click="btnDown_Click" Style="{DynamicResource ButtonStyleDown}" Width="25" Height="18" Content="Button" BorderThickness="0,0,0,0"/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Border>
</UserControl>
<TextBlock Width="156" Height="29.5" Text="Numeric up down" TextWrapping="Wrap" FontFamily="Tekton Pro" FontSize="22" Canvas.Top="100.5" Foreground="#FFF0F0F0" Canvas.Left="10"/>
</Canvas>
</Border>
<Border Width="260" BorderThickness="1,1,1,1" CornerRadius="2,2,2,2" Opacity="1" Height="145" Margin="0,1,0,0" RenderTransformOrigin="0.5,0.7">
<Border.Background>
<VisualBrush Visual="{Binding ElementName=myImage}" Stretch="Fill" TileMode="None">
<VisualBrush.Transform>
<ScaleTransform ScaleX="1" ScaleY="-1" CenterX="50" CenterY="73"/>
</VisualBrush.Transform>
</VisualBrush>
</Border.Background>
<Border.OpacityMask>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<GradientStop Offset="0" Color="#7B000000"/>
<GradientStop Offset="0.357" Color="Transparent"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Border.OpacityMask>
<Border.RenderTransform>
<TransformGroup>
<ScaleTransform ScaleX="1" ScaleY="1"/>
<SkewTransform AngleX="10" AngleY="0"/>
<RotateTransform Angle="0"/>
<TranslateTransform X="19.426316451256383" Y="0"/>
</TransformGroup>
</Border.RenderTransform>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>

Dynamically load a xaml in WPF

i was looking for a way to load the xaml file on the fly.This will help the user to change the text color etc without building the application again.However Please note that loading XAML dynamically is not as efficient as compiling it. However, sometimes, it is necessary to load it dynamically at runtime.

Here i have a window - with 2 radiobutton.. checking will load respective pages.

here is the C# part
public partial class Window1 : Window
{
Button buttoninXAML;
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();

}

private void radioButton1_Checked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
StreamReader mysr = new StreamReader(@"C:\test1.xaml");
DependencyObject rootObject = XamlReader.Load(mysr.BaseStream) as DependencyObject;
buttoninXAML = LogicalTreeHelper.FindLogicalNode(rootObject, "button1") as Button;
buttoninXAML.Click += new RoutedEventHandler(Button_Click);
myContainerframe.Content = rootObject;
}
catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
}
}

private void radioButton2_Checked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
StreamReader mysr = new StreamReader(@"C:\test.xaml");
DependencyObject rootObject = XamlReader.Load(mysr.BaseStream) as DependencyObject;
buttoninXAML = LogicalTreeHelper.FindLogicalNode(rootObject, "btntest") as Button;
buttoninXAML.Click += new RoutedEventHandler(Button_Click);
myContainerframe.Content = rootObject;
}
catch (FileNotFoundException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
}
}

public void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Click of dynamically loaded btn");
}
}

Here is the xaml part of window

<stackpanel height="39" margin="12,12,12,0" name="stackPanel1" verticalalignment="Top" >
<radiobutton height="20" name="radioButton1" width="86" checked="radioButton1_Checked">SimplePage</radiobutton>
<radiobutton height="19" name="radioButton2" width="87" checked="radioButton2_Checked">Complexpage</radiobutton>
</stackpanel>


Regards
Balu