I'm trying to figure out how to make a customizable stock trading platform with Prism and MVVM.
Trading platforms normally look something like this:
http://www.shareupdate.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Best-online-share-trading-software..jpeg
This kind of layout allows you to select which windows to display in MDI region. I'm not sure how to build this with Prism and Silverlight. I suppose I have to use childwindows, but Prism seems kinda rigid for this kind of design. Correct me if I'm wrong :)
Any help is greatly appreciated
I'm not sure how well MDI would work in terms of usability in a Sivlerlight app. You might find that the blacklight dragdrop panel dashboard (under interactive controls) would be much more suitable for a silverlight app. It should give you some MDI style features, you could also have multiple tabs with the dashboards in.
I think this link might provide some help here.
Telerik provide the mechanism for a dockable window system in Silverlight.
Related
How do I use multiple windows in an WPF MVVM app?
I have a Main Window with a menu control that needs to open up new instances of the window each time the item it is selected. I need to be able to show windows next to each other, it is a requirement and not page or usercontrol navigation.
Does anyone have an example of doing this?
I've read it is not recommended UI design but it is the requirement I have to implement.
Actually I have this working by using the WindowManager from Caliburn.Micro which seems like an very excellent framework for this type of application. I did look into prism but it seems over complicated and Caliburn is very easy to understand which did meet the requirements. I looked into MVVM Light but the documentation is horrible and lacks examples and I don't have time to figure it out.
I am in the early stages of designing a WPF MVVM application. I will have several modules in my application and will be adding more in the future. I want the home screen to feel almost like that of a tablet with the modules displayed as icons similar to apps on a tablet. I was looking for some advise on what WPF control would best help me get this desired look and feel. I would some advice on this and if anyone has a link to an example where some else has implemented something similar
I would suggest first you go and see how Prism framework works for a modular wpf application (one of the best architectures)
Secondly, your UI should be a hardcoded main screen with the tile icons for each module or wrappanel in itemscontrol with datatemplate defined as a tile. Also you can check this sample oriented in WinRT lookalike GUI.
I apologize for my newbie question by why do WPF apps look like web pages?
I am new to gui and still shopping for a book to learn gui programming. The push seems to be in the direction of WPF but all the screenshots of WPF applications that I've seen look like cheap web pages. Frankly I'd be ashamed to sell an app that looked like a web page.
I realize that WPF is built on XML technology but can you not build normal looking WPF apps in Visual Studio (via button("widget")) drag-n-drop? In other words an app that does not look like a web page?
How can WPF be a replacement for WinForms or the like when it doesn't provide the same standard application look?
The default look of WPF applications is admittedly rather simple, but WPF allows unprecedented control over how your application looks.
Here are some examples, all of them WPF applications.
If you are to deveop an application under .net and are able to target .net 3.5 or above, you will want to use wpf. If you don't know much about ui technology and want to work with .net, understanding windows forms is useful but not necessary. You should learn wpf regardless.
2 perks that I have found while using the framework:
- it is very easy to inject branding and custom interactivity into your app. It is then very easy to change these when your sales guy decides the want it blue, not red.
- the way components are organized on screen is relational like a webpage, not coordinate based like windows forms. This is ideal for scenarios when translated strings will change length (English to German for example). Under usual circumstances the ui will resize itself automatically at runtime to make it all fit.
If you just throw in controls and don't change the style of anything, your first wpf applications will look almost identical to native win32 applications. It is very easy to change this, but you will achieve great results regardless of the "look" you choose. Microsoft also provide the tools to create new ui components that look like native buttons. There are a host of other features that will make you grin while learning!
This is not a technical note, but at the moment wpf is a highly sellable skill and looks great on a cv! Companies want great branding in their apps. Wpf helps that happen.
WPF does provide the same appication look wich is the default look. When you drag and drop your controls onto the design surface (just like in windows forms, MFC ...) the controls look as you would expect them to look under the current theme. Chances are that you have seen quite some WPF applications without noticing. Just because they look like any other app.
The reason you might see more WPF based applications that have some sort of custom look and feel to them is simple because it is so much easier to do what ever you like to your GUI than in any other GUI framework on any platform. This is both blessing and curse. While you being absolutely flexible it is easy to do absolutely horrible stuff.
user440267, I believe that the most application in WPF are built using normal Windows. But there is an option which we don't create a window, instead we create a page, which behave like you think.
I am developing a WPF desktop app for a small business. It will have a dashboard with 4 buttons that should show a corresponding window/form.
Examples -
Manage Entries
Admin
Reports
Help
Each of these has a separate form with lots of controls and stuff.
Is it best to have each of these as a separate window (including dashboard) and show them when a button is clicked in the dashboard?
Or is it possible to have just one window with these 4 buttons on top, and swap the contents below depending on the button?
I am kind of new to WPF apps so I don't know whats possible and what is the best-practice.
What you will find with WPF is nearly anything is possible from a UI perspective.
It is definitely possible having one window and swapping the contents below depending on the button. A pattern I like is PRISM which has some interesting patterns and best practices on achieving composite windows in both WPF and Silverlight.
You could also look at the MVVM pattern, which is becoming really popular with WPF. Josh Smith has many great articles for this.
Also, if you are really new, have a look as User Controls, as this allows you to easily modularize certain sections.
What I found with myself was with my first few WPF applications, I approached it from a Winform's mindset - but then after really getting a second look at Binding, these other patterns really began to shine.
One best-practice approach is to use Composite Application Guidance. Basically it is an application design approach which contains a shell and multiple views which are arranged inside it. Microsoft has released a CAG library called Prism through CodePlex, and has provided tutorials and documentation for it on MSDN.
CodePlex Link: Composite WPF and Silverlight
MSDN Link: Composite Client Application Guidance
Do you know any good WPF control library (even commercial) and what experiences have you made with them?
Telerik has a commercial line of WPF controls, as well as WinForms, and Silverlight. They are very high quality, and on the high end in terms of $$$, but they're worth their weight in gold if you're going to utilize them.
I've used their web products and they are well made. They even have sample code on their site and demos so you can get started easily.
Odyssey is a nice set of controls with a Ribbon menu control and Outlook-style bars.
You may have problems using them in XBAP applications though.
DevExpress have a rich set as well.
Infragistics has some excellent WPF and WinForm controls (commercial). I'll admit I have only used their WinForm controls, but if their WPF controls are anything similar, they will be great.