Re: Simulating modal dialog
It is pretty cool, and nice how much you get for free. :) We're using it to display unhandled exceptions etc, including a way to show the full message and allow you to cut and paste it. A few dependency properties on the usercontrol and you can collect user input and then pull that out of the object after they have closed it. (on the closed event if you like). It was interesting seeing Jordans comment, I hadn't thought of it not being MVVM. I guess the need it was fulfilling for me initially as a "MessageBox" and a real messagebox is also not MVVM. The interaction with the usercontrol works fine with MVVM stuff so happy to use it, I just want to get the user's input or notify them of something important that they have to know about (ie stops them doing anything until they acknowledge it). cheers, Stephen On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 9:16 AM, Greg Keogh wrote: > *+1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, > message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated > show/hide. * > > > > Holy sh*t! The ChildWindow class is fantastic. It dims and blocks the app > background and it animates beautifully. I can’t believe this control > actually works so well with little effort and that it looks so nice. > > > > It’s a shock on the eyeballs, so I will only use it judiciously in my app > where the user’s attention is required for something important. In my case > I’m adding a global error handler to show a “sorry for the inconvenience” > apology when something unexpected happens. > > > > Hmmm! Error handling is a whole subject in itself eh! I’d be interested to > hear from others on the subject if you have strong opinions or snazzy > tricks. > > > > Cheers, > > Greg > > > > ___ > ozsilverlight mailing list > ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com > http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight > > ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
Re: Simulating modal dialog
Check out the Telerik Controls. I'm sure other 3rd party vendors have something similar. However, I would try other navigation paradigms and try to stay away from MDI for most use cases. Something I was thinking on doing, but I never got time to (or a real requirement), was to port AvalonDock <http://avalondock.codeplex.com/> to Silverlight. It seems impossible, but certainly a lot of work. I already ran into a couple of apps where we needed something similar. We used simple grid splitters with tabs and states to show/hide panels. It worked well, but the user wasn't able to customize their workspace. It wasn't too critical, but certainly something nice if we would get it for free. On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 12:06 PM, Paul Du Bois wrote: > We built our own windowing components and API in SL2 beta using an early > version of the Blacklight controls (http://blacklight.codeplex.com/) as a > base. > > Though we added normal windows functions like modality (using the Canvas > blocking approach mentioned below), resize, maximise, minimise, boundary > awareness etc. Oh and mouse gesture functions for the geeks in our user > base. > > > > When ChildWindow and FloatableWindow came along, we found we didn’t need to > transition to these since we were already doing all that in SL2 J > > > > Would be nice to see a full windowing implementation ala WPF in Silverlight > 5. > > > > When building a LOB with Silverlight, the page based approach seems a cop > out when you can give users a familiar windows based interface that allows > them to work in multiple screens simultaneously. > > Particularly given that SL OOB is now pretty decent with SL4. > > > > > > Paul Du Bois > > www.projection-group.com > > > > *From:* ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto: > ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] *On Behalf Of *Scott Barnes > *Sent:* Monday, 10 May 2010 11:28 AM > > *To:* ozSilverlight > *Subject:* RE: Simulating modal dialog > > > > There is a catch to it, in that it has a few quirks here and there.. > > > > Time Heuer has upgraded it a little via this project - > http://floatablewindow.codeplex.com/ > > > > I’ve also written some code to help folks figure out the ChildWindow’s > location when you go to close it (at times can be useful for persisting > windows to emulate a “hibernate” style approach to resuming a UI). > > > > > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2707789/how-to-know-the-position-of-the-silverlight-childwindow-when-you-close-it/2729442#2729442 > > > > etc.. > > > > > > *From:* ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto: > ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] *On Behalf Of *Greg Keogh > *Sent:* Monday, May 10, 2010 11:16 AM > *To:* 'ozSilverlight' > *Subject:* RE: Simulating modal dialog > > > > *+1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, > message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated > show/hide. * > > > > Holy sh*t! The ChildWindow class is fantastic. It dims and blocks the app > background and it animates beautifully. I can’t believe this control > actually works so well with little effort and that it looks so nice. > > > > It’s a shock on the eyeballs, so I will only use it judiciously in my app > where the user’s attention is required for something important. In my case > I’m adding a global error handler to show a “sorry for the inconvenience” > apology when something unexpected happens. > > > > Hmmm! Error handling is a whole subject in itself eh! I’d be interested to > hear from others on the subject if you have strong opinions or snazzy > tricks. > > > > Cheers, > > Greg > > > > ___ > ozsilverlight mailing list > ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com > http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight > > -- Miguel A. Madero Reyes www.miguelmadero.com (blog) m...@miguelmadero.com ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
Re: Simulating modal dialog
There's a ContextMenu in the SLToolkit. On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Greg Keogh wrote: > Can anyone recommend a Silverlight way of simulating the effect of a > Windows model dialog? Or perhaps it’s not wise to attempt this at all and > use some other UI technique. > > > > I have seen a few demos over the last year or so, including one by Stephan > Dekker last January on the SL weekend where put a semi-transparent canvas > over the main app window to create a dialog illusion. I think I’ve seen > Jordan Knight do the same thing at a demo last year. I heard discussion that > these techniques are not watertight because they’re not really modal and > don’t block keystrokes. > > > > I’m using the Liquid controls, and they seem to contain a Dialog class. I’m > going to take a couple of hours to play with the Liquid Dialog, but in the > meantime I thought I’d ask about this subject in general. > > > > Cheers, > > Greg > > > > Ps. I’ve put the context menu into the too-hard-basket for now. I’ll return > to it later when I have more hobby time, or SL4 arrives with one. > > ___ > ozsilverlight mailing list > ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com > http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight > > -- Miguel A. Madero Reyes www.miguelmadero.com (blog) m...@miguelmadero.com ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
We built our own windowing components and API in SL2 beta using an early version of the Blacklight controls (http://blacklight.codeplex.com/) as a base. Though we added normal windows functions like modality (using the Canvas blocking approach mentioned below), resize, maximise, minimise, boundary awareness etc. Oh and mouse gesture functions for the geeks in our user base. When ChildWindow and FloatableWindow came along, we found we didn't need to transition to these since we were already doing all that in SL2 J Would be nice to see a full windowing implementation ala WPF in Silverlight 5. When building a LOB with Silverlight, the page based approach seems a cop out when you can give users a familiar windows based interface that allows them to work in multiple screens simultaneously. Particularly given that SL OOB is now pretty decent with SL4. Paul Du Bois www.projection-group.com http://www.projection-group.com/> From: ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto:ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] On Behalf Of Scott Barnes Sent: Monday, 10 May 2010 11:28 AM To: ozSilverlight Subject: RE: Simulating modal dialog There is a catch to it, in that it has a few quirks here and there.. Time Heuer has upgraded it a little via this project - http://floatablewindow.codeplex.com/ I've also written some code to help folks figure out the ChildWindow's location when you go to close it (at times can be useful for persisting windows to emulate a "hibernate" style approach to resuming a UI). http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2707789/how-to-know-the-position-of-t he-silverlight-childwindow-when-you-close-it/2729442#2729442 etc.. From: ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto:ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 11:16 AM To: 'ozSilverlight' Subject: RE: Simulating modal dialog +1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated show/hide. Holy sh*t! The ChildWindow class is fantastic. It dims and blocks the app background and it animates beautifully. I can't believe this control actually works so well with little effort and that it looks so nice. It's a shock on the eyeballs, so I will only use it judiciously in my app where the user's attention is required for something important. In my case I'm adding a global error handler to show a "sorry for the inconvenience" apology when something unexpected happens. Hmmm! Error handling is a whole subject in itself eh! I'd be interested to hear from others on the subject if you have strong opinions or snazzy tricks. Cheers, Greg ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
There is a catch to it, in that it has a few quirks here and there.. Time Heuer has upgraded it a little via this project - http://floatablewindow.codeplex.com/ I've also written some code to help folks figure out the ChildWindow's location when you go to close it (at times can be useful for persisting windows to emulate a "hibernate" style approach to resuming a UI). http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2707789/how-to-know-the-position-of-the-silverlight-childwindow-when-you-close-it/2729442#2729442 etc.. From: ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto:ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 11:16 AM To: 'ozSilverlight' Subject: RE: Simulating modal dialog +1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated show/hide. Holy sh*t! The ChildWindow class is fantastic. It dims and blocks the app background and it animates beautifully. I can't believe this control actually works so well with little effort and that it looks so nice. It's a shock on the eyeballs, so I will only use it judiciously in my app where the user's attention is required for something important. In my case I'm adding a global error handler to show a "sorry for the inconvenience" apology when something unexpected happens. Hmmm! Error handling is a whole subject in itself eh! I'd be interested to hear from others on the subject if you have strong opinions or snazzy tricks. Cheers, Greg ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
+1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated show/hide. Holy sh*t! The ChildWindow class is fantastic. It dims and blocks the app background and it animates beautifully. I can't believe this control actually works so well with little effort and that it looks so nice. It's a shock on the eyeballs, so I will only use it judiciously in my app where the user's attention is required for something important. In my case I'm adding a global error handler to show a "sorry for the inconvenience" apology when something unexpected happens. Hmmm! Error handling is a whole subject in itself eh! I'd be interested to hear from others on the subject if you have strong opinions or snazzy tricks. Cheers, Greg ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
Yeah it's a creeper :) .. don't worry lots of people never get around to finding out how deep SL goes, as often its hidden well throughout the interweb espec when 3rd party and beta blog posts can often confuse as to whats in the build vs out/external. From: ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto:ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 10:55 AM To: 'ozSilverlight' Subject: RE: Simulating modal dialog You can get this for free via ChildWindow.Show(); The overlay should intercept input requests (ie shield them). Good grief! I never noticed it. Thanks for the pointer to this class, there are lots of articles on it now I know where to look. The Liquid Dialog class is quirky and I'm avoiding it for now. Greg [cid:image001.png@01CAF02F.DEBD7D90] <>___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
You can get this for free via ChildWindow.Show(); The overlay should intercept input requests (ie shield them). Good grief! I never noticed it. Thanks for the pointer to this class, there are lots of articles on it now I know where to look. The Liquid Dialog class is quirky and I'm avoiding it for now. Greg <>___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
Re: Simulating modal dialog
I dont like it... its not very MVVM etc... Maybe look at the Silverlight toolkit's transitioning content control http://silverlight.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Silverlight%20Toolkit%20Control%20Overview%20Pg4&referringTitle=Home <http://silverlight.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Silverlight%20Toolkit%20Control%20Overview%20Pg4&referringTitle=Home>or, make your own content control derivitive that has a couple of visual states (shown and not shown) and have it go to not shown state when the content is null and the shown state when the content is not null, then just expose a ViewModel from your parent ViewModel and bind that as the content - then it will just appear when you have a viewmodel exposed and dissapear when you dont :) On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Stephen Price wrote: > +1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, > message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated > show/hide. > > On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 8:14 AM, Scott Barnes wrote: > >> You can get this for free via ChildWindow.Show(); The overlay should >> intercept input requests (ie shield them). >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto: >> ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] *On Behalf Of *Greg Keogh >> *Sent:* Monday, May 10, 2010 10:07 AM >> *To:* 'ozSilverlight' >> *Subject:* Simulating modal dialog >> >> >> >> Can anyone recommend a Silverlight way of simulating the effect of a >> Windows model dialog? Or perhaps it’s not wise to attempt this at all and >> use some other UI technique. >> >> >> >> I have seen a few demos over the last year or so, including one by Stephan >> Dekker last January on the SL weekend where put a semi-transparent canvas >> over the main app window to create a dialog illusion. I think I’ve seen >> Jordan Knight do the same thing at a demo last year. I heard discussion that >> these techniques are not watertight because they’re not really modal and >> don’t block keystrokes. >> >> >> >> I’m using the Liquid controls, and they seem to contain a Dialog class. >> I’m going to take a couple of hours to play with the Liquid Dialog, but in >> the meantime I thought I’d ask about this subject in general. >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> Greg >> >> >> >> Ps. I’ve put the context menu into the too-hard-basket for now. I’ll >> return to it later when I have more hobby time, or SL4 arrives with one. >> >> ___ >> ozsilverlight mailing list >> ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com >> http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight >> >> > > ___ > ozsilverlight mailing list > ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com > http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight > > ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
Re: Simulating modal dialog
+1 ChildWindow. I'm using that for login window, change password window, message prompts etc. It's great and even has its own funky animated show/hide. On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 8:14 AM, Scott Barnes wrote: > You can get this for free via ChildWindow.Show(); The overlay should > intercept input requests (ie shield them). > > > > > > > > *From:* ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto: > ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] *On Behalf Of *Greg Keogh > *Sent:* Monday, May 10, 2010 10:07 AM > *To:* 'ozSilverlight' > *Subject:* Simulating modal dialog > > > > Can anyone recommend a Silverlight way of simulating the effect of a > Windows model dialog? Or perhaps it’s not wise to attempt this at all and > use some other UI technique. > > > > I have seen a few demos over the last year or so, including one by Stephan > Dekker last January on the SL weekend where put a semi-transparent canvas > over the main app window to create a dialog illusion. I think I’ve seen > Jordan Knight do the same thing at a demo last year. I heard discussion that > these techniques are not watertight because they’re not really modal and > don’t block keystrokes. > > > > I’m using the Liquid controls, and they seem to contain a Dialog class. I’m > going to take a couple of hours to play with the Liquid Dialog, but in the > meantime I thought I’d ask about this subject in general. > > > > Cheers, > > Greg > > > > Ps. I’ve put the context menu into the too-hard-basket for now. I’ll return > to it later when I have more hobby time, or SL4 arrives with one. > > ___ > ozsilverlight mailing list > ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com > http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight > > ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
RE: Simulating modal dialog
You can get this for free via ChildWindow.Show(); The overlay should intercept input requests (ie shield them). From: ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com [mailto:ozsilverlight-boun...@ozsilverlight.com] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 10:07 AM To: 'ozSilverlight' Subject: Simulating modal dialog Can anyone recommend a Silverlight way of simulating the effect of a Windows model dialog? Or perhaps it's not wise to attempt this at all and use some other UI technique. I have seen a few demos over the last year or so, including one by Stephan Dekker last January on the SL weekend where put a semi-transparent canvas over the main app window to create a dialog illusion. I think I've seen Jordan Knight do the same thing at a demo last year. I heard discussion that these techniques are not watertight because they're not really modal and don't block keystrokes. I'm using the Liquid controls, and they seem to contain a Dialog class. I'm going to take a couple of hours to play with the Liquid Dialog, but in the meantime I thought I'd ask about this subject in general. Cheers, Greg Ps. I've put the context menu into the too-hard-basket for now. I'll return to it later when I have more hobby time, or SL4 arrives with one. ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight
Simulating modal dialog
Can anyone recommend a Silverlight way of simulating the effect of a Windows model dialog? Or perhaps it's not wise to attempt this at all and use some other UI technique. I have seen a few demos over the last year or so, including one by Stephan Dekker last January on the SL weekend where put a semi-transparent canvas over the main app window to create a dialog illusion. I think I've seen Jordan Knight do the same thing at a demo last year. I heard discussion that these techniques are not watertight because they're not really modal and don't block keystrokes. I'm using the Liquid controls, and they seem to contain a Dialog class. I'm going to take a couple of hours to play with the Liquid Dialog, but in the meantime I thought I'd ask about this subject in general. Cheers, Greg Ps. I've put the context menu into the too-hard-basket for now. I'll return to it later when I have more hobby time, or SL4 arrives with one. ___ ozsilverlight mailing list ozsilverlight@ozsilverlight.com http://prdlxvm0001.codify.net/mailman/listinfo/ozsilverlight