saving variables wp7 - silverlight

Question

Whats the best way to save variables like userid that is stored and reachable from different pages in WP7.

Answer 1

There's the querystring method, but can be kind of a pain to implement.
When navigating, pass the parameter like a HTTP querystring.
Then, on the otherside, check if the key exists, and extract the value. The downside of this is if you need to do more than 1, you need to type it in yourself, and it only supports strings.
So to pass an integer, you'd need to convert it. (And to pass a complex object, you need to take all the pieces you need to recompile it on the other side)
NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/PanoramaPage1.xaml?selected=item2", UriKind.Relative));
protected override void OnNavigatedTo(System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationEventArgs e)
{
string selected = String.Empty;
//check to see if the selected parameter was passed.
if (NavigationContext.QueryString.ContainsKey("selected"))
{
//get the selected parameter off the query string from MainPage.
selected = NavigationContext.QueryString["selected"];
}
//did the querystring indicate we should go to item2 instead of item1?
if (selected == "item2")
{
//item2 is the second item, but 0 indexed.
myPanorama.DefaultItem = myPanorama.Items[1];
}
base.OnNavigatedTo(e);
}
Here's a sample app that uses a querystring.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/129101/Panorama_querystring.zip
A easier (and better) idea is to define a variable globally, or use a static class. In App.xaml.cs, define
using System.Collections.Generic;
public static Dictionary<string,object> PageContext = new Dictionary<string,object>;
Then, on the first page, simply do
MyComplexObject obj;
int four = 4;
...
App.PageContext.Add("mycomplexobj",obj);
App.PageContext.Add("four",four);
Then, on the new page, simply do
MyComplexObj obj = App.PageContext["mycomplexobj"] as MyComplexObj;
int four = (int)App.PageContext["four"];
To be safe, you should probably check if the object exists:
if (App.PageContext.ContainsKey("four"))
int four = (int)App.PageContext["four"];

Answer 2

You may use an App level variable (defined in App.xaml.cs) and access it from anywhere within your app. If you want to persist, shove it into Isolated Storage and read it on App launch/activate. There are helpers available to JSon serialize/deserialize your reads/writes from the Isolated Storage.
Check out Jeff's post (here) on tips to use Isolated Storage.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Well "best" is always subjective, however, I think an application service is a good candidate for this sort of thing:-
public interface IPhoneApplicationService : IApplicationService
{
string Name {get; set;}
object Deactivating();
void Activating(object state);
}
public class AuthenticationService : IPhoneApplicationService
{
public static AuthenticationService Current {get; private set; }
public void StartService(ApplicationServiceContext context)
{
Current = this;
}
public void StopService()
{
Current = null;
}
public string Name {get; set;}
public object Deactivating()
{
// Return an serialisable object such as a Dictionary if necessary.
return UserID;
}
public void Activating(object state)
{
UserID = (int)state;
}
public int UserID { get; private set; }
public void Logon(string username, string password)
{
// Code here that eventually assigns to UserID.
}
}
You place an instance of this in your App.xaml:-
<Application.ApplicationLifetimeObjects>
<!--Required object that handles lifetime events for the application-->
<shell:PhoneApplicationService
Launching="Application_Launching" Closing="Application_Closing"
Activated="Application_Activated" Deactivated="Application_Deactivated"/>
<local:AuthenticationService Name="AuthServ" />
</Application.ApplicationLifetimeObjects>
Now you do need to tweak the App.xaml.cs:-
private void Application_Activated(object sender, ActivatedEventArgs e)
{
var state = PhoneApplicationService.Current.State;
foreach (var service in ApplicationLifetimeObjects.OfType<IPhoneApplicationService>())
{
if (state.ContainsKey(service.Name))
{
service.Activating(state[service.Name]);
}
}
}
private void Application_Deactivated(object sender, DeactivatedEventArgs e)
{
var state = PhoneApplicationService.Current.State;
foreach (var service in ApplicationLifetimeObjects.OfType<IPhoneApplicationService>())
{
if (state.ContainsKey(service.Name))
{
state[service.Name] = service.Deactivating();
}
else
{
state.Add(service.Name, service.Deactivating());
}
}
}
You can now access you UserID anywhere in your app with:-
AuthenticationService.Current.UserID
This general pattern can be used to maintain seperation of key application wide services (you don't load a whole bunch of incohesive properties into your App class). It also provides the hooks for maintaining state between activations which is essential.