The best approach to show/hide windows indpendently - wpf

Question

I am a student and am building a C# WPF application. It has three windows:
Sign in window
Create account window
and Main application window.
I uploaded a figure to show the type of navigation I am trying to implement:
I do not think it is correct to make a window show up/hide inside the close/load event of another window.
Can someone show me the right way to implement this navigation?
Also, is it a good practice to make the three windows private properties of the application class?
The last window has a frame control to support page navigation. Again, is it better to make the three pages private properties of MainWindow application?
I am sorry if this is so obvious or easy to do.
Thanks

Answer 1

I would not have the three windows as properties of the application. I'd instanciate a copy of the sign-in window and use that as my central point of control.
When the user logs in, hide the sign in window, show a new main window and add a hook on the main windows Closed event.
e.g
if (logonSuccess)
{
var mainWindow = new MainWindow();
mainWindow.Closed += ReshowSignupWindow;
}
I'd also have the sign-in window do the same for the create account window. Thus, I'd have the create account window return to the signup window which would either reshow itself or start the main window if an account was created.
e.g.:
// In sign-in window, handle the create window being closed
private void CreateWindowClosedHandler(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (accountCreatedOK)
{
ShowMainWindow();
}
else
{
ReshowSignupWindow();
}
}
I'd probably look at having the create account window shown as a dialog window via a call to ShowDialog().
Hope that helps...

Answer 2

Something like this code might do it (untested, I just typed it in visual studio to autoformat the code)
The XAML is for the Login Dialog. The RegistrationDialog should be similar, except for the button and handler for the registration Button.
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.LoginWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="LoginWindow">
<StackPanel>
<Button IsDefault="True" Content="Submit" Click="SubmitButton_Click"/>
<Button IsCancel="True" Content="Cancel" />
<Button Content="CreateAccount" Click="CreateAccountButton_Click"/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
//Handler of LoginWindow and RegistrationWindow
private void SubmitButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.DialogResult = true;
}
//Handler of LoginWindow only
private void CreateAccountButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.IsCreatingAccount = true;
this.DialogResult = false;
}
public partial class App : Application
{
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
bool isCanceled;
while (loginWin.ShowDialog() == false && !isCanceled)
{
if (loginWin.IsAccountCreationRequested)
{
if (registrationWin.ShowDialog())
{
isCanceled = true;
}
else
{
loginWin.IsAccountCreationRequested = false;
}
}
else
{
isCanceled = true;
}
}
if (loginWin.DialogResult) MainWindow.Show();
}
}

Answer 3

I am currently working on a Silverlight Application which is more or less similar to your application. What i feel is your can have 2 xaml controls(one for Login and other for your main application). For create account, you can use a child window which will be called from login control. And use a TabControl in your main application which will hold your other 3 xaml controls(Page1.xaml, Page2.xaml and Page3.xaml). Feel free to ask if you have any issues.
Dont forget to mark my reply as answer if it solves your problem.

Answer 4

I suggest you to follow the pattern. Your logic looks tightly binding with UI(user Interface) and logics.
The best pattern i like is for WPF or Silverlight is MVVM(Model View View Model). There are lot of Examples available in google for MVVM.
Just put a glance in anyone MVVM example you will be clear in developing WPF or Silverlight app.
some links are below,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/raj1979/simple-mvvm-pattern-in-wpf/
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/126249/MVVM-Pattern-in-WPF-A-Simple-Tutorial-for-Absolute