Moving House

jmancine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:47:29 +0000

At the time of this post, I am transferring all of the previous posts from this blog over to Blogger.

Thus, any old posts and all new posts will be at http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/ so update your bookmarks.

Graphing Calculator Demo — Part 1

jmancine — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:16:09 +0000

This post has been moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2010/02/graphing-calculator-demo-part-1.html

Concentric Rings Demo — Part 2

jmancine — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:01:11 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2010/01/concentric-rings-demo-part-2.html

Concentric Rings Demo — Part 1

jmancine — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:14:39 +0000

This post has moved to [P] this.Title = "Concentric Rings";[P] this.Width = 910;[P] this.Height = 512;[P] [P] //[P] MainCanvas = new Canvas();[P] BrushConverter bc = new BrushConverter();[P] SolidColorBrush brush = bc.ConvertFromString("#FFE0E0E0") as SolidColorBrush;[P] MainCanvas.Background = brush;[P] [P] this.Content = MainCanvas;[P] [P] }[P]}[P][P]That’s enough to get the window to show up with a gray canvas. The background was a little tricky. The _Background_ property must be assigned a _Brush_ type so I knew just setting it equal to the string wouldn’t work. I noticed the _BrushConverter_ class thanks to Visual Studio’s autocomplete feature but I wanted to make sure I used it correctly so I searched the internet and found the perfect example. I also made a note to myself that _Canvas_ comes from _System.Windows.Controls_ and _BrushConverter_ (as well as all other brush/color related stuff) comes from _System.Windows.Media_.[P][P]All the rest of the code is already written so all I need to do is come to understand it. I want to finish the container before getting the circles to appear.[P][P]It is very useful to be able to control how the window looks to the user. Sometimes you want them to be able to resize, sometimes you want to remove the border. For the concentric rings, we want the window to be maximized, without any border or titlebar and without showing the taskbar.[P][P]These are the three important lines:[P]this.WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;[P]this.WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None;[P]this.ResizeMode = ResizeMode.NoResize;[P][P]I tried different combinations. Without any of those lines, the window looks like a normal application. By setting _WindowStyle.None_, the titlebar (and buttons) disappear but it still has the border so it can be resized. If you keep the window style normal but set _ResizeMode.NoResize_, you regain the title bar and still have a border but cannot change the size of the window. It is only with both _WindowStyle.None_ and _ResizeMode.NoResize_ does the boarder disappear. That’s nice, but we want it to be maximized. Set _WindowState.Maximized_ and you get a normal looking maximized window. Set _ResizeMode.NoResize_ and magically, the taskbar disappears. What if we say it can be resized but get rid of the title bar? It still forces the taskbar away. So if we want it maximized, why go through the trouble of setting _NoResize_ if it’s not needed to get the look we want? Well, if you _alt-tab_ to another program, you can see the taskbar, then you can right click on _Concentric Rings_ and, if you set _NoResize_, then you won’t be able to restore the window, it will always be maximized. I personally think it would be better to have a windowed and fullscreen mode but perhaps that introduces unnecessary complications…I also think it’s strange the programmer wants to force the window to stay maximized but set the _Width_ and _Height_ properties in XAML.[P][P]Since the window will be maximized at all times with no buttons or other GUI, it would be nice to offer a way to close the application without resorting to the _alt-tab_ trick. For the last part of this part, I’ll look at quitting with the _Escape_ key.[P][P]It’s very simple, especially if you’ve worked with any user interaction before. Just set the event handler for a keypress, check which key, and act appropriately:[P]public Window1()[P] {[P] ...[P] this.KeyDown += new System.Windows.Input.KeyEventHandler(Window1_KeyDown);[P] ...[P] }[P] [P]void Window1_KeyDown(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)[P] {[P] if (e.Key == System.Windows.Input.Key.Escape)[P] this.Close();[P] }[P][P]This is very similar to the Calculator.[P][P]Next time, I will try to understand the use of:[P]System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer frameTimer;[P]private int lastTick;[P]private Random rand;[P][P]We’ve done animation without those objects before, so why use them now?">http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2010/01/concentric-rings-demo-part-1.html

Calculator Demo — Part 9

jmancine — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:18:30 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2010/01/calculator-demo-part-9.html

Calculator Demo — Part 8

jmancine — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:52:00 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2010/01/calculator-demo-part-8.html

Calculator Demo — Part 7

jmancine — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:22:01 +0000

This post has been moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2009/12/calculator-demo-part-7.html

Calculator Demo — Part 6

jmancine — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:44:26 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2009/12/calculator-demo-part-6.html

Calculator Demo — Part 5

jmancine — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:46:20 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2009/12/it-took-so-much-effort-to-style-buttons.html

Calculator Demo — Part 4

jmancine — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:01:25 +0000

This post has moved to http://understanding-c-sharp.blogspot.com/2009/12/calculator-demo-part-4.html

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