A Simple Silverlight Application Implementing MVVM

MVVM

In simple words, View knows ViewModel, ViewModel knows Model, but not vice versa.

Why MVVM
    Easy to unit test.
    No need to change model to support changes in View.
    Very minor changes required in ViewModel to support changes in View.
    Separates UX designer and developer i.e the development team can focus on creating ViewModel classes, and the design team can focus on making user-friendly Views.

Simple Silverlight application using MVVM

Here I am just going to get a student name and age from the user and display the details in a GridView as in the figure.

The important areas covered are MVVM, using Relay Command and IValueConverter.

Creating a Student class

I created student class with the following properties, Name, Age, JoiningDate.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Ink;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;

namespace MVVMDemoinSL
{
    public class Student
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Age { get; set; }
        public DateTime JoiningDate { get; set; }
    }
}

Creating ViewModelBase and ViewModel class

It's always a good idea to have a ViewModelBase class and inherit all the ViewModels from that. Hence we can reuse the code for implementing INotifyPropertyChanged.

The main purpose of using INotifyPropertyChanged is to get notification whenever the property value is changed.
I created a ViewModelBase as below.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Ink;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace MVVMDemoinSL
{
    public class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
        protected void NotifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
            {
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }
    }
}

I also created a ViewModel class which inherits from ViewModelBase.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Ink;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;

namespace MVVMDemoinSL
{
    public class ViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
        private Student _student;
        private ObservableCollection<Student> _students;
        private ICommand _SubmitCommand;
        public Student Student
        {
            get
            {
                return _student;
            }
            set
            {
                _student = value;
                NotifyPropertyChanged("Student");
            }
        }

        public ObservableCollection<Student> Students
        {
            get
            {
                return _students;
            }
            set
            {
                _students = value;
                NotifyPropertyChanged("Students");
            }
        }

        public ICommand SubmitCommand
        {
            get
            {
                if (_SubmitCommand == null)
                {
                    _SubmitCommand = new RelayCommand(Submit);
                }
                return _SubmitCommand;
            }
        }

        public ViewModel()
        {
            Student = new Student();
            Students = new ObservableCollection<Student>();
            Students.CollectionChanged += new System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler(Students_CollectionChanged);
        }
        //Whenever new item is added to the collection, am explicitly calling notify property changed

        void Students_CollectionChanged(object sender, System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            NotifyPropertyChanged("Students");
        }

        private void Submit()
        {
            Student.JoiningDate = DateTime.Today.Date;
            Students.Add(Student);
            Student = new Student();
        }
    }
}

RelayCommand
Since we are following the MVVM pattern, instead of having a Button click event in code behind, we are going to use the Command Property of the button. The RelayCommand allows you to inject the command's logic via delegates ed into its constructor. This approach allows for terse, concise command implementation in ViewModel classes. RelayCommand is a simplified variation of the DelegateCommand. RelayCommand implementation using CommandManager is not possible using Silverlight.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Ink;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;

namespace MVVMDemoinSL
{
    public class RelayCommand : ICommand
    {
        private Func<bool> canExecute;
        private Action executeAction;
        public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;

        public RelayCommand(Action executeAction,
            Func<bool> canExecute)
        {
            this.executeAction = executeAction;
            this.canExecute = canExecute;
        }

        public RelayCommand(Action executeAction)
|        {
           this.executeAction = executeAction;
            this.canExecute = () => true;
        }

        public void RaiseCanExecuteChanged()
       {
            if (CanExecuteChanged != null)
            {
                CanExecuteChanged(this, EventArgs.Empty);
            }
        }

        public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
         {
           return canExecute == null ? true : canExecute();
        }

        public void Execute(object parameter)
        {
            executeAction();
        }
    }
}

View

Now we have to create a view and bind it with ViewModel properties. The code for the view can be found below. I have used a window, Grid, Textbox, TextBlock, Button and GridView.
<UserControl x:Class="MVVMDemoinSL.MainPage"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
              xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/sdk"
             xmlns:viewmodel="clr-namespace:MVVMDemoinSL"
    mc:Ignorable="d"
    d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400">
    <UserControl.Resources>
        <viewmodel:ViewModel x:Key="ViewModel"/>
        <viewmodel:DatetimeToDateConverter x:Key="MyConverter"/>
    </UserControl.Resources>

    <Grid DataContext="{Binding Source={StaticResource ViewModel}}">
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>

            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Text="Name" HorizontalAlignment="Center"/>
        <TextBox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Width="100" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="{Binding Student.Name, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Text="Age" HorizontalAlignment="Center"/>
        <TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Width="100" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="{Binding Student.Age, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
        <Button Content="Submit" Command="{Binding SubmitCommand}" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0"/>
        <sdk:DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Students}" Grid.Row="3" Grid.Column="0" Width="200" AutoGenerateColumns="False">
            <sdk:DataGrid.Columns>
                <sdk:DataGridTextColumn Header="Name"  Binding="{Binding Name}" Width="60"/>
                <sdk:DataGridTextColumn  Header="Age" Binding="{Binding Age}" Width="60"/>
                <sdk:DataGridTextColumn Header="Joining Date" Binding="{Binding JoiningDate, Converter={StaticResource MyConverter}}" Width="80" />
            </sdk:DataGrid.Columns>
        </sdk:DataGrid>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

If you see the above XAML code, you can see I am using Windows resources in my view. In resources, I am adding a reference to my ViewModel and DateTimeToDateConverter.

ValueConverter

We might often get some values from the property but we have to display some other value in the View. Say for example in my project, the Joining date is a date time value but I need to display only date. I can do this either by String format in binding or else ValueConverter. I just want to go with the latter one, since you can understand ValueConverter also.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Ink;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Globalization;

namespace MVVMDemoinSL
{
    public class DatetimeToDateConverter : IValueConverter
    {
        public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            DateTime date = (DateTime)value;
            return date.ToString("MM/d/yyyy");
        }

        public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            return value;
        }
    }
}

For implementing MVVM in WPF, please go through the following article.

Pop Up Control is a Visual Prompt Control provided in Silverlight. There are certain times when you need to really grab the user's attention. Maybe you need to display details about a critical error. Then you can just use this control. This visual prompt is designed to simulate a dialog box.
In our Sample Application we will just demonstrate how to use it.

Create a Silverlight Project

Figure 1.1 Creating Silverlight Project

Designing the Application
Here is an idea, we will add three images (ImageControls) to our application and on theirs LeftMouseButtonDown Event we will display the PopUp. So I have taken the help of Blend 3 to design the application. It will have 3 Images as Home, Search and Reports. The following figure displays our application.

Figure 1.2 Designing our Application

Adding a PopUp Control
This is actually disturbing; you can't find the control in the toolbox. But if you start typing the control name it will satisfy you. So I have added some controls like Border, StackPanel and Displaying Text and Button to close the PupUp.
    <Popup x:Name="myPopup" Margin="-34,0,-31,0" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" Height="78" VerticalAlignment="Bottom"  >    <Border CornerRadius="10" Background="Silver" BorderThickness="2" BorderBrush="Black">  
        <StackPanel Margin="10">  
                    <TextBlock x:Name="PopUpText"/>  
                    <Button x:Name="PopUpButton" Height="30" Width="90" Content="Close" Click="PopUpButton_Click" />  
        </StackPanel>  
        </Border>  
    </Popup>  

PopUp Control has a unique property called IsOpen which returns a boolean value of either true or false. The default value is always false. With this concept in mind let's add some events and use this property to control the show of the PopUp.

Calling the PopUp Control
As we discussed earlier we can handle the display of the PopUp by using the property IsOpen. Now we will see how we have used in our sample application.
    private void PopUpButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)  
    {  
          myPopup.IsOpen = false;  
    }  
      
    private void Home_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Home";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  
      
    private void Search_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Search";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  
      
    private void Reports_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Reports";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  

Running the Application
When you click different images you will be notified by the PopUp Control.

Figure 1.3 PopUp is displayed

That's it, we have successfully used the PopUp Control. Enjoy Coding.

The control that you just like drag or move with the mouse is embedded among a Border control then handle the mouse down, up and move events to create the object move among your layout panel.

See sample .xaml code:
<Canvas x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">
<Border x:Name="border1"
Canvas.Top="100"
Canvas.Left="10"
MouseLeftButtonDown="border1_MouseLeftButtonDown"
MouseLeftButtonUp="border1_MouseLeftButtonUp"
MouseMove="border1_MouseMove"> 
<Image x:Name="MyImage" Source="images/Basket.png" Stretch="Uniform" ></Image>           
</Border>
</Canvas>

In the above code, a Border control is placed within the Canvas. The foremost necessary code to notice is:
MouseLeftButtonDown="border1_MouseLeftButtonDown"
MouseLeftButtonUp="border1_MouseLeftButtonUp"
MouseMove="border1_MouseMove"

The above lines outline 3 events that we tend to like to handle. because the name indicates, we are handling the mouse button down, mouse button up and mouse move events for the left mouse.

In the code behind, once the left button is pressed, we are going to set a global variable to point that user has started moving. within the mouse move event, we are going to get the current location of the mouse pointer and then set the new position for the border control. once the left mouse button is discharged, we are going to reset the global variable in order that we are going to not move the item from now on.
See the code for the code behind class:
public partial class Page : UserControl
{
// Global variable to indicate if user has clicked border
// and started/stopped moving.
private bool moving = false;
private double offSetX;
private double offSetY;
public Page()
{
InitializeComponent();
}

private void border1_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
// Left mouse button clicked within border. start moving.
moving = true;

Point offset = e.GetPosition(border1);
offSetX = offset.X;
offSetY = offset.Y;
}

private void border1_MouseLeftButtonUp(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
// Left mouse button release. Stop moving.
moving = false;
}

private void border1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (moving)
{
    // Get the new mouse pointer position
    Canvas parent = (Canvas)this.border1.Parent;
    Point p = e.GetPosition(parent);
    double x = p.X - offSetX;
    double y = p.Y - offSetY;
    // Set the new position for the border control.
    this.border1.SetValue(Canvas.LeftProperty, x);
    this.border1.SetValue(Canvas.TopProperty, y);
}
}
}

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Hi, I want to download a pdf file form silverlight application , the pdf file is in a folder in my solution , i want to give the path of the pdf to the method and it should download the pdf to the local system. i am happy to say that i achieved it with the following code:
SaveFileDialog dialog = new SaveFileDialog();
                dialog.Filter = "pdf Files|*.pdf";
                dialog.DefaultFileName = "BeneficiaryDesignation.pdf";
                if (dialog.ShowDialog() ?? false)
                {


                    WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
                    webClient.OpenReadCompleted += (s, e2) =>
                    {
                        try
                        {
                            using (Stream fs = (Stream)dialog.OpenFile())
                            {
                                e2.Result.CopyTo(fs);
                                fs.Flush();
                                fs.Close();
                            }
                           
                        }
                        catch (Exception ex)
                        {
                            MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
                        }
                    };
                    string str = App.Current.Host.Source.AbsoluteUri;
                    string path = App.appConfiguration.GetPDFPath("BeneficiaryDesignation.pdf");
                    str = str.Replace("/ClientBin/ProjectDemo.xap", path);                    
                   
                    webClient.OpenReadAsync(new Uri(str), UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
                }

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HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.

How we can print the document in a Silverlight application.

Step 1
We have the PrintDocument Class which defines a reusable object that sends output to a printer.
    PrintDocument
    The PrintDocument object encapsulates all the information needed to print a page. They associate with the control which content can be print. They handle the events and operations of printing.
    Namespace - System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument

    [C#]

    public class PrintDocument : Component
    
We can create an instance of the PrintDocument class, set the properties that describe how to print, and call the Print method to start the printing process. Handle the PrintPage event where you specify the output to print, by using the Graphics included in the PrintPageEventArgs.
    Associate control to Print document
        private void printDoc_PrintPage(object sender, PrintPageEventArgs e) { 
            // print current page 
            e.PageVisual = printPage; 
        } 

Step 2
Create one user control page name as PrintPage.Xaml and design header and footer in this user control page like as following.
    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White"> 
        <Grid.RowDefinitions> 
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 
            <RowDefinition /> 
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 
        </Grid.RowDefinitions> 
        <!--Header--> 
        <Grid> 
            <TextBlock Text="HEADER" /> 
        </Grid> 
        <!--Body--> 
        <ItemsControl Name="BodyItemsControl" Grid.Row="1" Margin="0,24" /> 
        <ItemsControl Name="TemplateItemsControl"> 
            <ItemsControl.ItemTemplate> 
                <DataTemplate> 
                    <Grid> 
                        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 
                            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" /> 
                            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" /> 
                            <ColumnDefinition Width="*" /> 
                        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 
                        <TextBlock Text="{Binding ID}" Margin="2" /> 
                        <TextBlock Text=" - " Grid.Column="1" Margin="2" /> 
                        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}" Grid.Column="2" TextWrapping="Wrap" MaxWidth="500" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="2" /> 
                    </Grid> 
                </DataTemplate> 
            </ItemsControl.ItemTemplate> 
        </ItemsControl> 
        <Grid Grid.Row="2"> 
            <TextBlock Text="FOOTER" /> 
        </Grid> 

Step 3
In MainPage.Xaml create an instance of PrintDocument like as following.
    public MainPage() { 
        InitializeComponent(); 
        this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(MainPage_Loaded); 
    } 
    void MainPage_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { 
        GetItems(); 
        printDoc.PrintPage += newEventHandler < PrintPageEventArgs > (printDoc_PrintPage); 
    } 
    //following items for printing. 
    privatevoid GetItems() { 
        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) { 
            items.Add(newItem() { 
                ID = i, 
                    Description = "This is Print Document " + i 
            }); 
        } 
    } 
    //Handling the event when we're printing: 
    private void printDoc_PrintPage(object sender, PrintPageEventArgs e) { 
        PrintPage printPage = new PrintPage(); 
        // print current page 
        e.PageVisual = printPage; 
        e.HasMorePages = true; 
        break; 
    }  

Step 4
Add a button to the MainPage.Xaml and print the document when the button is clicked,
    <Button Content="Button" Grid.Row="1" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="42,56,0,0" Name="button1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Click="button1_Click" /> 
    private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) 
    { 
        printDoc.Print("Printing A Page"); 
    } 

Step 5
Output look like as following,

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HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.

In this post allow us to understand how to use ScrollViewer panel Layout inside a Silverlight application. ScrollViewer is an additional layout container, that we don’t use constantly. It's chiefly useful showing contents in an exceedingly scrollable panel such as ListBox or Editor window. ListBox, TextBox, RichTextBox internally uses ScrollViewer to implement the scrolling functionality. Allow us to discuss the implementation in this post.

As usual, open up visual studio and choose Silverlight project. We will discover there's a Grid layout in your MainPage. xaml. Eliminate the default Grid layout and merely drag and drop the Stack panel Layout into our application. The code for this looks such as:
<StackPanel x:Name="LayoutRoot" > </StackPanel>

Inside the stack panel I am just defining 12 different rectangles.  And this is the code that I used:
<StackPanel x:Name="LayoutRoot" Orientation="Vertical" Width="100">
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Red" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Green" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Orange" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Tomato" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="WhiteSmoke" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Green" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Blue" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Yellow" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Azure" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Gold" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Blue" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Violet" />
        </StackPanel>

In case we compile the above code as it's, we will notice all of the rectangles however no scroll bar result. Thus in an effort to get scroll bar effect we ought to put the above stack panel inside scroll viewer and ought to offer fixid width towards the scroll viewer. And this is the code snippet:
<ScrollViewer Height="200" >
        <StackPanel x:Name="LayoutRoot" Orientation="Vertical" Width="100">
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Red" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Green" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Orange" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Tomato" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="WhiteSmoke" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Green" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Blue" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Yellow" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Azure" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Gold" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Blue" />
            <Rectangle Height="50" Width="100" Fill="Violet" />
        </StackPanel>
    </ScrollViewer>

Finally, Run the code and here is the result:

A data grid view is a rectangular control made of columns and rows. I have a DataGrid where I have included some controls in column header. Each column is a Template column. These controls appear just below the column header which are used for entering filter information. Here's the issue on my code on Silverlight 5.

VisualTreeHelper class helps to iterate through the visual tree of the xaml. Using it we can find the child and parent controls of the rendered controls. Lets check the Visual Tree of the rendered control using Silverlight Spy.

The Following Method do a search over the child controls with in a control recursively and returns the control based on Name.

private object GetChildControl(DependencyObject parent, string controlName)
{ 
    Object tempObj = null;
    int count = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
    for (int counter = 0; counter < count; counter++)
    {
        //Get The Child Control based on Index
        tempObj = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, counter);
        //If Control's name Property matches with the argument control
        //name supplied then Return Control
        if ((tempObj as DependencyObject).GetValue(NameProperty).ToString() == controlName)
            return tempObj;
        else //Else Search Recursively
        {
            tempObj = GetChildControl(tempObj as DependencyObject, controlName);
            if (tempObj != null)
                return tempObj;
        }
    }
    return null;
}

Make sure that the same has to be delegated to UI thread using Dispatcher. As the controls created using UI Thread can not be accessed from other thread.
//Access the Grid Header Controls
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(delegate
{
    var hyperlinkControl = GetChildControl(dataGrid1, "hlSort");
    var checkControl = GetChildControl(dataGrid1, "chkSelectAll");
});

So I was plugging right along in Silverlight using LINQ to asynchronously pull data from our database into my C# code. Everything was going great until I attempted to pull data from one table and its related tables all in one query. Here is what I found which resolved my data problem.

In my Library class I have the following code that enables my ASP.NET code to query a User by UserID and return a User object along with their UserFavorites and Illustration objects. This gives me everything I need to know about the user and their favorite illustrations.
public IQueryable<MyLibrary.User> GetUserByID(int userID)

{
    return myContext.Users.Include("UserFavorites").Include("UserFavorites.Illustration")
        .Where(u => u.UserID == userID);
}

In Silverlight I had a need to perform the same query using LINQ. After much searching on the web I found the two things that were needed to make this happen.
1. Use "Expand" instead of "Include"
2. Instead of "UserFavorites.Illustration" replace the "." with a "/" to get "UserFavorites/Illustration".

    int userID = 0;
    var qUser = ((DataServiceQuery<User>)(from myUser in service.Users
                  where myUser.UserID.Equals(userID)
                  select myUser))
                .Expand("UserFavorites")
                .Expand("UserFavorites/Illustration");

Now I have all of my data and I am happy once again. Using the Expand on my query is very nice in that I can get all of my data in one asynchronous call.

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Today, I will explain you how to create an analog clock apps in Silverlight 6. Of course open new projectin visual studio and select a Silverlight project. In Mainpage.xaml  draw an ellipse which will serve as background for our Analog clock. The code looks as following:

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">
        <Ellipse Margin="165,67,145,83" Fill="Goldenrod" Width="330"
         Height="330" Opacity="0.7"/>
    </Grid>
Then, draw another ellipse in the same grid which will serve as Outer Rim for our analog clock. The Complete code looks on the below:
<Ellipse Height="330" Margin="156,58,154,92" Width="330" 
Stroke="Goldenrod">
            <Ellipse.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.84,0.87" Opacity="0.9"  
StartPoint="0.164,0.129">
                    <GradientStop Color="Goldenrod"/>
                    <GradientStop Color="Gold" Offset="0.7"/>
                </LinearGradientBrush>
            </Ellipse.Fill>
        </Ellipse>              

Next, I want to draw another ellipse in the same grid which will serve as Bevel for our analog clock. And this is the code that I used:
        <Ellipse Height="290" Margin="156,58,154,92" Width="290" Stroke="Goldenrod">
            <Ellipse.Fill>
                    <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.84,0.87" Opacity="0.5" StartPoint="0.164,0.129">
                    <GradientStop Color="Goldenrod"/>
                    <GradientStop Color="Goldenrod" Offset="0.987"/>
                </LinearGradientBrush>
            </Ellipse.Fill>
        </Ellipse>     

Now draw another ellipse in the same grid which will serve as a Face for our analog clock. This is the code snippet:
<Ellipse Height="270" Margin="176,78,174,112" Width="270"
         Stroke="Goldenrod" Fill="Yellow" Opacity="0.3"/>

Now we are going to draw the hour,minute and seconds hand. Then draw a rectangle in the same grid which will serve as a Hour hand for our analog clock with the code below:
<Rectangle x:Name="hourHand" Height="59" Margin="315.75,180,314.25,0"
        VerticalAlignment="Top" Fill="Black" Stroke="Black" Width="10" RenderTransformOrigin="0.525,1.428">
            <Rectangle.RenderTransform>
                <RotateTransform x:Name="hourHandAnimation"/>
            </Rectangle.RenderTransform>
        </Rectangle>

Now draw another rectangle in the same grid which will serve as a Minute hand for our analog clock. And this is the code that I used:
<Rectangle x:Name="minuteHand" Height="80" Margin="316.75,160,315.25,0"       
VerticalAlignment="Top" Fill="Black" Stroke="Black" Width="8"
        RenderTransformOrigin="0.5,1.312" >
            <Rectangle.RenderTransform>
                <RotateTransform x:Name="minuteHandAnimation"/>
            </Rectangle.RenderTransform>
        </Rectangle>

Now we are going to draw another rectangle in the same grid which will serve as a Seconds hand for our analog clock. And this is the code that I used:
<Rectangle Height="80" Margin="318.25,160,316.75,0"
        VerticalAlignment="Top" Fill="#FFFF0000" Stroke="#FF000000"
        Width="5" RenderTransformOrigin="0.10,1.312" >
            <Rectangle.RenderTransform>
                <RotateTransform x:Name="secondHandAnimation"/>
            </Rectangle.RenderTransform>
        </Rectangle>

Now, our design part is complete. Now we have to give animations to our hour, minute and second’s hands. For this, let us take a storyboard. We should write the code for storyboard outside the Grid.  The complete code for all the three animations is as follows.
<UserControl.Resources>
        <Storyboard x:Name="silverlightClock">
            <DoubleAnimation x:Name="hourAnimation"                            
                             Storyboard.TargetName="hourHandAnimation"
                             Storyboard.TargetProperty="Angle"
                             Duration="12:0:0" RepeatBehavior="Forever" To="360"/>          
            <DoubleAnimation x:Name="minuteAnimation"
                             Storyboard.TargetName="minuteHandAnimation"
                             Storyboard.TargetProperty="Angle"
                             Duration="1:0:0" RepeatBehavior="Forever"/>                                                                
            <DoubleAnimation x:Name="secondAnimation"                            
                             Storyboard.TargetName="secondHandAnimation"
                             Storyboard.TargetProperty="Angle"
                             Duration="0:1:0" RepeatBehavior="Forever"/>                                   
 </Storyboard>
 </UserControl.Resources>

Now we have to write the code for these 3 animations (hourAnimation, minuteAnimation  and secondAnimation ) in MainPage.xaml.cs. The code looks as follows.
private void startClock(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            System.DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
double hourAngle = ((float)currentTime.Hour) / 12 * 360 +                 
currentTime.Minute/2;          
hourAnimation.From = hourAngle;
            hourAnimation.To = hourAngle + 360;         
           double minuteAngle = ((float)currentTime.Minute) / 60 * 360;
            minuteAnimation.From = minuteAngle;
            minuteAnimation.To=minuteAngle+360;
           double secondAngle = ((float)currentTime.Second) / 60 * 360;
            secondAnimation.From = secondAngle;
            secondAnimation.To = secondAngle + 360;
            silverlightClock.Begin();
        }                          

We need to call the method “startClock” in our grid control and assign it to “Loaded” property of the grid control. The code for this looks as follows.
  <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" Loaded="startClock"> 
</Grid>

Finally! Our Analog clock is ready. Now you should refresh and see it.

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This article will explore how to use the ViewBox control in Silverlight 6. The ViewBox control allows you to place a child control such as Image within it in such a way that it will be scaled appropriately to fit the available without any distortion. It is typically used in 2D graphics.

We will begin with creating a new Silverlight 6 project. Modify the existing XAML code of MainPage.xaml so that a Grid of 1 column and three rows is created. The code for the same is shown below:

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightDemo.MainPage"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc=http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006 mc:Ignorable="d" xmlns:sdk=http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/ sdk HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" Height="300" Width="300">
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Drag and drop the Viewbox control from the Toolbox into the XAML code between the <Grid></Grid> tags. Specify its row and column in the grid to be 0. The resulting code is seen below.

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightDemo.MainPage"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc=http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006 mc:Ignorable="d" xmlns:sdk=http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/ sdk HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
         <controls:Viewbox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Height="120" Width="120">
  </controls:Viewbox> 
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Drag and drop the Viewbox control from the Toolbox into the XAML code between the <Grid></Grid> tags. Specify its row and column in the grid to be 0. The resulting code is seen below.

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightDemo.MainPage"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc=http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006 mc:Ignorable="d" xmlns:sdk=http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/ sdk HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
         <controls:Viewbox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Height="120" Width="120">
  </controls:Viewbox> 
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Right click on the project name in the Solution Explorer pane and select Add Existing Item option. Choose the image "Winter.jg" from the My Documents\My Pictures\Sample Pictures folder.

Drag and drop an Image control in between the <controls:ViewBox> and </controls:ViewBox> tag and modify its code as shown below, to specify its source and size.

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" Height="300" Width="300">
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
         <controls:Viewbox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Height="120" Width="120">
            <Image Source="Winter.jpg" Height="40" Width="40"></Image>
        </controls:Viewbox>
    </Grid>

Drag and drop another ViewBox and then an Image control in between the second <controls:ViewBox> and </controls:ViewBox> tag.

Modify the XAML as shown below:

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" Height="300" Width="300">
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
         <controls:Viewbox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Height="120" Width="120">
            <Image Source="Winter.jpg" Height="40" Width="40"></Image>
        </controls:Viewbox>
<controls:Viewbox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Height="70" Width="90">
    <Image Source="Winter.jpg" Height="40" Width="40"></Image></controls:Viewbox> 
    </Grid>

Save the solution, build and execute it. When you see the output, you will observe that the two images show no distortion whatsoever though their height and width are not the same. This has happened because of the ViewBox.

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HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.