MCTS Self-Paced Training: Styles and Animation in Windows Presentation Foundation

One of the major advances with the advent of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) programming model is the uniquely agile use of the system’s visual capabilities. In this chapter, you learn to use two aspects of WPF programming that take full advantage of these capabilities: styles and animation. Styles allow you to quickly apply changes to the visual interface and change the look and feel of your application in response to different conditions. Animations allow you to change property values over timelines that can be useful for a variety of visual effects. Together, these features allow you to harness the full power of the WPF presentation layer.

Exam objectives in this chapter:

• Create a consistent user interface appearance by using styles.

• Change the appearance of a UI element by using triggers.

• Add interactivity by using animations.

Lessons in this chapter:

• Lesson 1: Styles

• Lesson 2: Animations

Before You Begin

To complete the lessons in this chapter, you must have

• A computer that meets or exceeds the minimum hardware requirements listed in the “About This Book” section at the beginning of the book

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition installed on your computer

• An understanding of Microsoft Visual Basic or C# syntax and familiarity with Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5

• An understanding of Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)