Windows application default UI

Question

Hi,

I've started the development of a windows application, which target windows 7 and vista (maybe XP).

I wanted to have some standard behavior that we find in the default windows applications. But I can't find anything to do that, so I have some questions :

1) For example, on Windows 7, the address bar that displays the current folder in the Windows Explorer. Is there a way to get it somewhere, or I'll have to develop it myself ?

2) Is it possible to add UI element to the window chrome? I mean, if you check at the Windows Explorer, the previous and next button, the address bar, the search bar are draw below the window title is the translucent area.

3) Where can I find good UI development tutorial, or documentation ? I've checked on google, but I couldn't find something understandable.

4) An application like the Windows Explorer, is a WPF application or a WinForms application ? I think it can be done in both technologies, but will be easier to perfom in WPF, am I wrong?

Thank you.

Answer 1

RE: 2) Please see Extend Glass Frame Into a WPF Application

Answer 2

1. As far as I know, there's no official control for the Explorer address bar functionality; some other controls/libraries exist, like Ribbon and manipulating taskbar functionality in Win7. Someone may have implemented something similar in a custom library but I have no knowledge of any. Anyway, if using WPF it's not terribly complicated.

2. See the answer directing you to a MSDN article, they pretty much have it covered.

3. That's a bit more complicated. Not everything in WPF can be understood from a couple of quick tutorials, but I'd warmly recommend this series of articles from Dr. WPF - while most of them are about the ItemsControl, some go in-depth about general concepts like lookless controls, styles etc. I'm actually trying to think of something more low-level but I fail.

4. It absolutely can be done in both technologies, and it's only easiest in the one you're more familiar with. If you put time and effort into being proficient in another technology, eventually it will be easy as well. Having some experience with WPF I can definitely say that it's easier, but you need to know some odds and ends first. It's certainly a lot different than WinForms. And better :P

That said, both technologies have .Net Framework at the core so some things will be identical; file and folder access, opening files of known types etc. all use the same classes. The big difference is only that WPF done correctly (i.e. some variation of MVVM) enforces a very nice separation between data and presentation. And of course it also features a very powerful binding infrastructure that makes presenting data a breeze.