Professional C# 2012 and .NET 4.5

Chapter 29

Core XAML

WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• XAML syntax
• Dependency properties
• Attached properties
• Markup extensions
• Loading XAML dynamically

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

The wrox.com code downloads for this chapter are found at http://www.wrox.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=1118314425 on the Download Code tab. The code for this chapter is divided into the following major examples:

• Code Intro
• XAML Intro
• XAML Syntax
• Dependency Objects
• Bubble Demo
• Attached Properties
• Markup Extensions

USES OF XAML

When writing a .NET application, usually C# is not the only syntax you need to know. If you write Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications, use Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), create XPS documents, or write Silverlight or Windows 8 applications, you also need XAML. XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language) is a declarative XML syntax that’s usually needed with these applications. This chapter describes the syntax of XAML and the extensibility mechanisms that are available with this markup language.

XAML FOUNDATION

XAML code is declared using textual XML. You can use designers to create XAML code or write XAML code by hand. Visual Studio contains designers to write XAML code for WPF, Silverlight, WF, or Windows 8 apps. Other tools are also available to create XAML, such as Microsoft Expression Design and Microsoft Expression Blend.

XAML is used with several technologies, but there are differences among the various technologies. With the XML namespace http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation ...