WPF Programmer's Reference: Windows Presentation Foundation with C# 2010 and .NET 4

Chapter 22. Navigation-Based Applications

As the Internet and the Web have grown more popular, many desktop applications have adopted features similar to those used by web applications. In particular, many have started providing Back and Next buttons that let you move through the application's navigation history.

This style of navigation is simple and intuitive, particularly for applications where the user visits a series of locations or performs a series of tasks in a particular sequence. It is also useful if the user's locations or tasks are only weakly related, as they are when browsing through web pages. The Back and Next buttons let the user explore safely while always knowing that it will be easy to get back to a previous position if necessary.

For example, recent versions of Windows Explorer, the Control Panel, and other Windows accessories include Back and Next buttons. If you press the Back button in Windows Explorer, the program moves to the directory it visited previously.

NAVIGATION FRUSTRATION

Using web-like navigation does not mean that you can't provide other means for moving around the application. The Back and Next buttons are intended to help the user get back to a place the application was before, but usually an application should provide other, faster means for moving around.

For example, Windows Explorer provides many ways to navigate through a directory hierarchy. You can double-click on a folder to open it, click on a directory in the current path (at the top of ...