Programming Windows Store Apps with C#

by Matthew Baxter-Reynolds, Iris Classon

Overview

If you’re a .NET developer looking to build tablet apps, this practical book takes you step-by-step through the process of developing apps for the Windows Store. You’ll learn how to use Microsoft’s Modern UI design language with Windows 8.1 and WinRT 8.1.1 by building a line-of-business mobile app with C# through the course of the book.

To develop the app, you’ll work with the same system details and design specs that apply to retail apps, such as persistence, backend service, and Windows 8 features for sharing and search. You’ll learn how to develop the code, incorporate third-party open source products, and package your app for the Windows Store.

• Build a UI with XAML and the Model/View/View-Model pattern
• Understand asynchrony—and rediscover threads and parallelism
• Store data and system settings locally with SQLite
• Use app bars for commands and the settings charm for Help options
• Present notifications as tile updates, badges, or toast popups
• Help users visualize locations and tag activities to a map
• Enable apps to share data and run side-by-side in the UI
• Implement functionality for running tasks in the background

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449320850
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/10/2014
Pages:	506
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Matthew Baxter-Reynolds is an independent software development consultant, trainer and author based in the UK. His favourite way to communicate with like-minded technical people is Twitter: @mbrit

Iris Classon (@IrisClasson) is a C# MVP, Pluralsight author, and well-known speaker and blogger. She holds a dozen certificates in .NET development with a specialization in client app development and Windows Phone development.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Making the Transition from .NET (Part 1) 1

Why WinRT? 1

Philosophical Differences 2

Objectives 3

The New Project Templates 3

WinRT Metadata 4

Project Settings and Adding References 9

Building a Basic User Interface 11

UI Tracks 11

XAML Parsing Basics 14

Building a Basic Page 15

Implementing MWM 25

WPF and Silverlight 26

MWM Structure and Inversion of Control 28

Creating the View-Model and Running the App 38

2 Making the Transition from .NET (Part 2) 47

Inversion of Control 47

Installing TinyloC 48

Initializing IoC Defaults 49

Understanding Asynchrony 53

How Asynchrony Works in WinRT 55

Calling the Server 60

Building the Service Proxies 60

Building the Register Method 63

Finishing the UI to Call the Register Server Function 67

Logon 68

Building LogonServiceProxy 69

Building the Logon Page 70

Busy Indicators 75

Positioning the Indicator 75

Showing the Indicator 77

3 Local Persistent Data 83

SQLite and sqlite-net 84

Working with SQLite 85

A Primer on Object-Relational Mapping 86

Using the Micro-ORM in sqlite-net 87

Storing Settings 89

The SettingItem Class 89

Linking in sqlite-net 91

Creating the Database Table for SettingItem 95

Reading and Writing Values 96

Modifying LogonPageViewModel 97

Caching Data Locally 100

Local Caching 100

Mapping JSON to Database Entities 101

Creating Test Reports 102

Setting Up the User Database 103

Creating ReportsPage 105

Using Templates 106

Building a Local Cache 109

Updating the Cache 112

Returning Reports from the Server 113

The Items Property 114

4 The App Bar 119

Adding a Simple App Bar 120

Getting Started with an App Bar 121

App Bar Behavior 124

App Bar with Single-Select Grid 126

App Bar with Multiselect Grid 126

A More Complex App Bar Implementation 127

Showing the App Bar on Multiple Selections 128

Checking Touch Operations 133

Showing the App Bar on Right-Click 135

Showing Context Options 136

App Bar Images 140

The Glyph Method 140

Using Images 146

5 Notifications 155

Local Notifications 156

Turning Notifications On and Off 156

XML Templates 156

Toast 158

Badges 167

Tiles 170

Other Notification Features 176

Push Notifications 177

WNS Process 177

Handling User Accounts 179

Obtaining a Notification URI 180

Sending to WNS 182

Troubleshooting Tips 191

6 Working with Files 193

The File Picker 193

File Associations 196

Launching the App 197

Handling the Launch 199

Sandboxed File Access 201

Walking and Copying Pictures 203

Roaming Files 206

Multiple Devices 207

Setting Up the Remote Debugging Client 207

Syncing Files 209

Roaming Settings 210

Using Files with StreetFoo 210

Getting Report Images 211

Migrating to ReportViewItem 212

Implementing ReporllmageCacheManager 217

7 Sharing 223

Sharing Data 224

Basic Sharing 224

Pull Requests/Deferrals 233

Acting as a Share Target 235

Sharing Text 235

Sharing Text (and Troubleshooting) 238

Long-Running Operations 249

Sharing Images 252

Quick Links 254

8 Searching 257

Implementing Search 258

Creating the Search Results Page 258

Creating SearchResultsPageViewModel 258

Implementing the Search Operation 263

Refining Search 276

Placeholder Text 277

Suggestions 278

Remembering Where We Were 284

Using the SearchBox 289

Other Best-Practice Notes 291

9 Settings 293

Adding Options 293

Standard Options 294

Adding Custom Options 294

Implementing the Settings Flyout 297

Building a Settings Pane 297

Building MySettingsFlyout 301

Developing a Help Screen 303

Creating a Help Pane 303

Handling the Fl Key 305

Rendering Markup 306

10 Location 311

Creating a Singleton View 311

Creating the View-Model 312

Creating the View 315

Navigating to the View 318

Retrieving a Current Location 322

Using the Simulator with Location 327

Integrating Maps 328

Adding the Bing Maps Control 329

Handling Input with the View 331

Packaging Points for Display 332

Showing Points on the Map 336

Shelling to the Maps App 339

11 Using the Camera 343

Capturing Photos 344

Creating EditReportPage 345

Building EditReportPageViewModel and Its View-Model 346

Saving and Canceling 352

Adding the New Option 355

Handling Temporary Files 356

Changing the Manifest 356

Taking Pictures 357

Implementing Save 360

Validating and Saving 360

Resizing Images 363

12 Responsive Design 369

Updating the Grid View 371

The VisualStateManager 371

Creating MyListView 373

Modifying the App Bar 375

Updating Singleton Views 377

Adding a More Button to the App Bar 380

Handling Views That Don't Support 320-Pixel Width 385

13 Resources and Localization 387

.pri Files 387

Adding Strings 390

Localizing Strings 393

Default Project Locales 393

Localizing Strings in XAML 394

Conventions 398

Changing Other Properties 399

Explicitly Loading Strings 399

Localizing Images 402

Varying Images by Locale 402

Varying Images by Display DPI 405

14 Background Tasks and App Lifetime 409

App Lifetime 410

Background Tasks API 411

CPU Usage Quota 412

Triggers and Conditions 413

Execution Model 415

Implementing a Sync Background Task 416

Building the Facade 422

Debugging the Task 425

Troubleshooting Background Tasks 427

Restricting the Run Period 428

Implementing the Sync Function 433

Sending Changes 434

Receiving New Work 438

Signaling the App from the Background Task 443

Putting the App on the Lock Screen 444

15 Sideloading and Distribution 447

Using the Windows App Certification Kit 450

Distribution Through Production Sideloading 451

Turning on Sideloading on Windows 8 452

Installing Apps 453

Distribution Through the Windows Store 453

A Cryptography and Hashing 457

B Unit Testing Basics for Windows Store Apps 467

Index 475