This book has one primary goal: to get you working in Expression Blend 4 effectively using the features and functionality of the tool.
This book is not about XAML, not about code nor explicit work flows. It is about simply dragging, dropping, drawing, and defining the experience and vision for a user interface and rich interactive experience.
You will learn how to work with the core features of Blend, edit Styles and Templates, and more importantly, understand what they all mean. You will also work in detail with Parts, States, and Behaviors to understand how collectively they can provide your solutions advanced functionality without the need for code or hand-cranked XAML.
Animations and Storyboards will allow you to bring life to your vision, as will working with data efficiently and learning how to create and manage Resources.
In short, this book will give you the answers to many questions asked in forums by new and experienced users alike.
Microsoft Expression Blend 4 Unleashed is a stunning, full-color resource with hundreds of screenshots and informative figure references. It has also been authored sequentially, to enable you to build your knowledge step-by-step and gain confidence through repartition and fearlessness in discovery.
Detailed information on how to…
- Create, edit, and work effectively with Styles and Templates
- Master Parts, States, and Behaviors to enable XAML and code free functionality
- Use Blend’s Animation and Storyboard workflows to bring life to your solutions
- Create and manage Resource Dictionaries, Skins, and Themes
- Create sample and live data
Implement effective XML, CLR Data binding, and Control Template binding using Expression Blends advanced data support tools - Use Blend as part of your designer/developer workflow to create rapid prototypes with SketchFlow
- Use design resources to start creating solutions for Windows Phone 7
- Work with WPF, Silverlight, and Silverlight for Windows Phone 7 platforms
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1
What Will You Learn in Expression Blend 4 Unleashed? 1
The Topics Covered in Expression Blend 4 Unleashed 2
How This Book Is Structured 2
Sample Applications Covered in This Book 3
1 Expression Blend 4 Overview 5
What Is Expression Blend and Who Is It For? 5
What’s New in Expression Blend 4? 7
A Brief History Leading to the Future… 8
Why the Focus Shifted Away from WPF 8
Enter Silverlight 9
What Does This All Mean for the Big Picture? 10
What Does Expression Blend have to do with HTML5, CSS, and Expression Web? 11
Summary 11
2 Discovering the Expression Blend Interface 13
The Expression Blend Interface Theme 13
How the Experience Changes 16
Project Panel 21
Expression Blend Options Dialog 22
The Artboard 27
The XAML Editor 30
The Code Editor 31
Objects and Timeline Panel 37
Tools Panel 39
Assets Panel 49
Properties Panel 49
Resources Panel 57
Data Panel 58
Summary 59
3 Using Expression Blend for the First Time 61
Keeping Things Simple to Start With 61
It All Starts with a Button! 62
Transformations 72
Simple Animation 74
Summary 78
4 Common Properties and Functionality 79
Controls, Controls, Elements… 79
Border 80
The Checkbox 83
The RadioButton 85
TextBlock Versus Label 88
The TextBox 89
The ProgressBar 92
The Slider 93
The ComboBox 97
The ListBox 100
Summary 102
5 The Art of Layout 103
Layout Panels 103
The Grid Control 104
Canvas 117
The Viewbox 119
Scaling Text 120
StackPanel 121
ScrollViewer 122
Summary 124
6 Element Styles and Templates 125
What Is the Difference Between a Style and a Template? 126
What Is a Style? 126
What Is a Template? 132
Creating the Easiest Button Ever 140
Simple Styles 142
Summary 144
7 Working with Parts 145
It’s the Parts That Make Up the Whole 146
Element to Element Binding 147
Building Your Own Slider Control 151
Summary 156
8 Working with States 157
What Is a State? 157
Working with the VSM 158
The Base State 160
The Unchecked State 160
Control Level States 163
State Transitions 168
Transition Effects 170
Transition Effect Priority 172
Summary 173
9 Working with SketchFlow 175
The User Centered Design Process (UCD) 176
It’s All About the Process 176
Collaboration Isn’t Easy 181
Creating a Basic SketchFlow Solution 183
Summary 215
10 Expression Blend Data Support 217
Designing Sample Data 217
Thinking About the Data 218
Defining Sample Data 219
Editing the Data Template 224
Editing the ItemContainerStyle 227
Working with the Details 229
The ValueConverter Solution 234
Switching to Live Data 239
Summary 246
11 Animations and Transitions 247
The Storyboard Editor 247
Animation Keyframes 250
Transformations 251
Plane Projections 258
Easing Functions 260
The Spline Editor 261
Repeating the Animation 263
Duplicate and Reverse the Storyboard 266
HandOff Animation 267
Managing State Animations with Storyboards 268
Summary 272
12 Shapes, Paths, and Effects 273
Taking Shape 273
Is it a Path or a Line? 274
The New Silverlight PathListBox 282
The Magic of Effects 289
Summary 290
13 Skins, Themes, and Resource Dictionaries 293
Does It Come in Blue? 293
Resource Dictionaries 293
What Is the Difference Between a Skin and a Theme? 297
Multiple Style Resources Within a Single Skin 305
Using the ResourceVault in Your Solution 307
Creating a Default Skin 309
Using Themes in Expression Blend 310
Summary 312
14 Advanced Controls 313
Introduction 313
The WPF and Silverlight Toolkits 313
The DataGrid Control 314
The DataForm 316
Silverlight Charts 317
InkPresenter 319
AutoComplete Textbox 320
WPF Extended Toolkit 322
Summary 323
15 Windows Phone 7 325
And on the 8th Day… 325
Style and Substance with Metro 327
Tools and Add-Ins 329
Building a Simple WP7 Application 335
Adding Rotation Animation Support 346
Summary 349
A Resources for Going Further 351
Finding Out More… 351
Short URLs 351
Expression Blend Resources 352
SketchFlow Resources 352
XAML Resources 353
Silverlight Resources 353
WPF Resources 354
Windows Phone 7 Resources 354
Surface Resources 354
C# .NET Development Resources 355
M-V-VM Resources 355
Summary 356
Index 357
