Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed

Windows 8.1 is the latest consumer operating system from Microsoft, with several enhancements for both users and developers. Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed is a practical approach to learning these enhancements. This tutorial and reference book doesn't limit the discussions to what the SDK makes easy, but includes what it takes to build the kind of apps you want to build. Adam Nathan brings his expertise as a principal software architect at Microsoft to this book, freshly updated for the new features added to Windows 8.1. Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed will teach the pros as well as the hobbyists tips and tricks for developing modern apps for Windows, using the new Windows 8.1.

List 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

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.

Summary

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

• Authors: Adam Nathan
• Publisher: Pearson Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2013
• EAN: 9780672337086
• ISBN: 978-0-672-33708-6
• No. of pages: 848
• Dimensions: 179 mm x 233 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 1086 g
• Series: Sams; Sams
• Subject: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > IT, data processing > Programming languages