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How to embed video Files in WPF C# and change sources

I am working on an interactive app that shows different video's based on different stages, I am using C# and WPF and I am trying to use a MediaElement and change it source but it only let me play 1 video file and will not change to the next video, it will keep playing the same file over and over again, I just can't seem to understand why is this happening, I also couldn't find a solution to this online, I have embedded both video files "Stage8.mp4" and "Stage12.mp4" in my solution explorer, Both video files are set to copy if newer and content, also I don't think there is something wrong in the path because if I switch between them it will play the correct file, it just won't change the source in real time.
here are my codes:
C#:
using System;
using System.Windows;
namespace WPF_Tester
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
string NameChecker;
byte stage = 0;
private void BTN1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
NameChecker = "Name: " + TXT1.Text + " Last: " + TXT2.Text;
if (testlistview.Items.Contains(NameChecker))
{
MessageBox.Show("The name already exists.");
}
else
{
testlistview.Items.Add(NameChecker);
}
if (stage == 0)
{
TestElement.Source = new Uri("Stage12.mp4", UriKind.Relative);
TestElement.Play();
stage = 1;
}
if (stage == 1)
{
TestElement.Source = new Uri("Stage8.mp4", UriKind.Relative);
TestElement.Play();
stage = 0;
}
}
}
}
XAML:
<Window x:Class="WPF_Tester.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WPF_Tester"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Text="Name:" FontSize="20" Margin="20,40,0,0" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top"></TextBlock>
<TextBox x:Name="TXT1" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="18" Margin="80,40,0,0" MinWidth="30"></TextBox>
<TextBlock Text="Last Name:" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" FontSize="20" Margin="20,80,0,0" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top"></TextBlock>
<TextBox x:Name="TXT2" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="18" Margin="120,80,0,0" MinWidth="30"></TextBox>
<Button x:Name="BTN1" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Content="Add Name" FontSize="20" Margin="20,180,0,0" Click="BTN1_Click"></Button>
<!-- here we set controls for the second column.-->
<ListView x:Name="testlistview" Grid.Column="1" Margin="20,40,20,20" FontSize="20" ></ListView>
<MediaElement Name="TestElement" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,200,20,0" UnloadedBehavior="Manual" Source="/Stage12.mp4" LoadedBehavior="Play"></MediaElement>
</Grid>
Thanks in advance and have a great day!

There is an else missing. Your second if statement always resets the file to the first. Adding else should implement the desired toggling.
if (stage == 0)
{
TestElement.Source = new Uri("Stage12.mp4", UriKind.Relative);
TestElement.Play();
stage = 1;
}
//we need an else here, otherwise source is always "Stage12.mp4
else if (stage == 1)
{
TestElement.Source = new Uri("Stage8.mp4", UriKind.Relative);
TestElement.Play();
stage = 0;
}

OnPropertyChange(null) makes hyperlink disappear

Code first (upper TextBox is simplified for purpose of this question) :
<TextBlock
Style="{StaticResource FieldNameStyle }"
TextWrapping ="Wrap" Height="33" FontSize="12"
Visibility="Visible"
TextAlignment="Center"
Foreground="#FFFFFF"
Opacity="0.5"
Text="{Binding UnderLineMsg}">
<Hyperlink Name="PrivacyNoticeLink2"
Command="{Binding OpenPrivacyNoticeCommand}">
<TextBlock
Visibility="Visible"
Name="privacyNoticeText2"
Text="{Binding PrivacyNoticeButtonLabel,FallbackValue='privacy notice' ,UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
</Hyperlink>
</TextBlock>
this is what it looks after the window loads for the first time : Under line msg filler: link
one of the events in the window triggers a call to
OnPropertyChanged(null);
the method triggers a "refresh" in all the members in the window that are subscribed to it with :
UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged
once called the Hyperlink element disappears completely (verified using Snoop 2.8)
so after the call it will look like this:
Under line msg filler:
i have NO idea why this is happening. the current fix is replacing the general OnPropertyChanged call with many specific ones but that is not a realistic option in the long run.
EDIT :
Isolated the issue to a new project, note the issue still happens when its only a textblock within a textblock
simple XAML with a button that triggers OnPropertyChanged
<Grid>
<Button Click="Meh" Margin="171,37,153,199">
PRESS ME
</Button>
<TextBlock Name="WrapperText" Text= "{Binding randomNumber}">
<TextBlock Name="linkText" Text="{Binding randomNumStr }"></TextBlock>
</TextBlock>
</Grid>
Code behind:
public MainWindow()
{
DataContext = new Stuff();
InitializeComponent();
}
public void Meh(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
//MessageBox.Show(this, "BLA", "caption", MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
//MessageBox.Show("FASDFASDFASDF");
(DataContext as Stuff).OnPropertyChanged(null);
//Msg.ShowMessageBox("BLA", "caption", MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
the "view model"
public class Stuff : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public Stuff()
{
rnd = new Random();
}
private Random rnd;
public int randomNumber => rnd.Next(1, 100);
public string randomNumStr => randomNumber.ToString()+"Text";
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
[NotifyPropertyChangedInvocator]
public virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
Note the truly disgusting way that I trigger the property change. I know I should use Icommand in the 'Stuff' class but I wanted to isolate the problem quickly. In my original code, it's done properly.

Don't bind the Text property of a TextBlock that you are also adding a Hyperlink to. Raising the PropertyChanged event for the source property will then clear out the Hyperlink.
Instead of binding the Text property of the TextBlock itself, you could add a Run element to it:
<TextBlock
TextWrapping ="Wrap" Height="33" FontSize="12"
Visibility="Visible"
TextAlignment="Center"
Foreground="#FFFFFF"
Opacity="0.5">
<Run Text="{Binding UnderLineMsg, Mode=OneWay}" />
<Hyperlink Name="PrivacyNoticeLink2" Command="{Binding OpenPrivacyNoticeCommand}">
<TextBlock
Visibility="Visible"
Name="privacyNoticeText2"
Text="{Binding PrivacyNoticeButtonLabel,FallbackValue='privacy notice' ,UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
</Hyperlink>
</TextBlock>

C# UWP Button binding with flyout not refreshing button content

I have a button that displays the value from a class that I created. Everything works fine, except for the fact that the button content does not refresh once the value of the binding is changed in the code. If I exit the screen and come back, the value is correct. Staying on the same screen does not refresh the button content.
The button code is shown below.
<Grid x:Name="Task1Grid" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Margin="5,0,5,0">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height=".2*"/>
<RowDefinition Height=".6*"/>
<RowDefinition Height=".2*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Button Grid.Row="1" Style="{StaticResource RoundedButtonStyle}" Tag="0" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Click="StoplightButton_Click" FontFamily="Global User Interface">
<Button.Content>
<Image Stretch="Uniform" Source="{Binding SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[0], Converter={StaticResource TaskStatusToStopLight}, Mode=OneWay}"/>
</Button.Content>
<Button.Background>
<ImageBrush Stretch="Uniform" ImageSource="{Binding SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[0], Converter={StaticResource TaskStatusToStopLight}, Mode=OneWay}"/>
</Button.Background>
</Button>
<Button x:Name="Task0Time" Tag="0" Style="{StaticResource RoundedButtonStyle}" Visibility="{Binding SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[0].NewTaskstatus, Converter=
{StaticResource TaskStatusToVisibility}}" IsEnabled="{Binding ShowForecastFeatures}" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Content="{Binding SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[0].TmTimecmpltask, Converter={StaticResource TaskCompleteTimeToTime}}" Grid.Row="2" Flyout="{StaticResource Task1Flyout}"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Text="{Binding ClientInfo.TasksInfo[0].TaskDescription}" TextAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" FontSize="28"/>
</Grid>
The flyout code is shown below.
<Border x:Name="StopLightBorder" Background="CornflowerBlue" Grid.Row="1" BorderBrush="White" BorderThickness="2">
<Grid x:Name="StopLightGrid" Margin="5" >
<Grid.Resources>
<converter:TaskStatusToStopLight x:Key="TaskStatusToStopLight"/>
<converter:TaskCompleteTimeToTime x:Key="TaskCompleteTimeToTime"/>
<converter:TaskStatusToVisibility x:Key="TaskStatusToVisibility"/>
<Flyout x:Key="Task1Flyout" >
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding ForecastTimes}" Tag="0" SelectionChanged="ForecastTimeChanged"/>
</Flyout>
The code which changes the value for the binding is shown below.
private void ForecastTimeChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
var timeListBox = (ListBox)sender;
var completeTime = Convert.ToDateTime(e.AddedItems[0].ToString());
var taskNum = Convert.ToInt16(((FrameworkElement)sender).Tag);
var result = checkPreviousTaskTimes(completeTime, taskNum);
switch (result)
{
case ForecastResult.ValidTime:
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[taskNum].TmTimecmpltask = completeTime.ToString();
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[taskNum].DtDateoverride = completeTime.ToString();
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[taskNum].TmTimeoverride = completeTime.ToString();
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.TaskStatusGrid[taskNum].SendOverrideForecastTime = true;
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.WasChanged = true;
globalContext.SelectedRepairOrder.RecordGrid = "1";
((Popup)((FlyoutPresenter)((FrameworkElement)sender).Parent).Parent).IsOpen = false;
break;
default:
showForecastError(result, completeTime, taskNum);
break;
}
}
The Visibility and IsEnabled both work just fine. Not sure what else I can do at this point. It seems that changing the bound data does not have an effect until you leave the screen. I chased this issue all the way through and saw the changes to the data as well as everything else I expected. The flyout causes the forecasttimechanged method to activate. When we go to save this data to the database, the data is correct. The flyout shows the selected time when viewing it on the screen, which is what I want. I see that highlighted in the flyout.
If there is a better control to use than the button, I am all ears at this point. Here is the tricky part. This forecast time can be set in the application as well as the app you are seeing code from. The app has time in 15 minute increments, but the other program that can update this control can put in any time it wishes.
I know there is some control or parameter that needs to be set in order to make this happen properly, but for the life of me, I cannot find it. I have tried everything for the past 3 days now and nothing works.
Help me please.

I know there is some control or parameter that needs to be set in order to make this happen properly, but for the life of me, I cannot find it. I have tried everything for the past 3 days now and nothing works.
From your code, I guess the problem is that you have not implemented INotifyPropertyChanged for binding property. And your logic is complex, you could realize your feature with the easy way like the follow example.
<Button Content="{Binding SelectItem,Mode=OneWay}">
<Button.Flyout>
<Flyout Placement="Top">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectItem,Mode=TwoWay}">
</ListBox>
</Flyout>
</Button.Flyout>
</Button>
Bind the button content with SelectItem, And then the button content will be modified automatically if the ListBox SelectedItem changed.
public class MainPageViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
public List<string> Items { get; set; } = new List<string>();
private string selectItem = "Nico";
public string SelectItem { get { return selectItem; } set { selectItem = value; OnPropertyChanged(); } }
public MainPageViewModel()
{
Items.Add("Nico");
Items.Add("Song");
Items.Add("Xiao");
}

Get event when user clicks away from current element or children

Okay, I have tried to use a popup to get this to work but there are a ton of reasons why that doesn't appear to be a route I want to take...especially because I've spent the last two hours trying to get it to work and I've deemed it unholier than all hell (this is despite the fact that I have popups in other places in the app that work just fine, but I digress...)
Basically I need only one piece of functionality that doesn't appear to be standard out of the box in WPF...I have to determine when someone clicks on something OTHER than a known UI element (I.E. they click away from something to close it...much like a popup set to StaysOpen = false)
From what I have gathered this is quite an arduous task and I can't seem to find a straight answer on the best way to do this...any ideas SO?
EDIT:
One of the commenters wanted me to post some sample code and re-reading through my question I really don't want to post something that is unrelated (the XY problem). I am posting this question for two reasons:
The onmouseleave event gets fired as soon as the popup opens. This means that if the popup is set to 'StaysOpen="False"' that the popup appears and immediately disappears no matter what. I believe wholeheartedly that this will not be an issue if I create a component that appears using the Visibility attribute to appear and disappear rather than placing it in a popup. The only reason I considered the popup component was because of it's StaysOpen=False functionality, not because it needs to float above everything else
The popup itself feels quite hacky, especially because it needs to fit inside of a parent component in the visual tree. As you can see from the code below, I have gotten the popup to fit inside of it's parent...but I really don't like binding a component's width and height to another component's actual width and height. This is the second reason I would like to avoid using a popup.
As a result, while this question could be 'how can I get the popup to work', the original question still stands: "How can I listen for a on click away event?" I would like to create a component that fits in the visual tree logically, and behaves as the following:
On hover over a component, appear
On leave a component disappear
On click on a component persist appearing
On click away from a component or itself close
I have all of the above handled except for on click away

How about the UIElement.LostFocus-Event? That seems to be the one you need.

I think in this case, you can be useful routed events. There are two types of events: Bubbling, Direct and Tunneling. Attention should be paid to Bubbling and Tunneling. Bubbling events rises up the logical tree and tunneling down. Below is a diagram from here:
So that event up / down the tree, it should be set on each control. Usually, the demonstration bubbling events, apply this example:
XAML
<Window x:Class="DemoRoutedEvents.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525" MouseUp="somethingClicked">
<Grid MouseUp="somethingClicked">
<StackPanel MouseUp="somethingClicked" Margin="0,0,10,0">
<Label x:Name="btnClickMe" Content="Click Me!" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Margin="101,22,0,0" MouseUp="somethingClicked"/>
<CheckBox x:Name="chkhandle" Content="CheckBox" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="241,28,0,0" RenderTransformOrigin="-0.588,1.188"/>
<ListBox x:Name="lstEvents" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="604" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="416" Margin="29,66,0,0"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
Code behind
public int eventCounter = 0;
private void somethingClicked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
eventCounter++;
String message = "#" + eventCounter.ToString() + ":\r\n" +
" Sender: " + sender.ToString() + ":\r\n" +
" Source: " + e.Source + ":\r\n" +
" Original Source: " + e.OriginalSource;
lstEvents.Items.Add(message);
e.Handled = (bool)chkhandle.IsChecked;
if (e.Handled)
lstEvents.Items.Add("Completed");
}
Output
I tried to optimize this process for multiple panels and components. I have created a attached dependency property IsDebugEvent, which is in the class of EventBehaviours. The principle is simple, we take an event handler and set it for all elements of the type Control (almost all the UIElements it inherits). For panels such as a Grid, StackPanel, WrapPanel, etc, Panel is the base class.
In the handler, we find ListBox and display the name of the panel s the element that caused the event, just for test. The example uses the event PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown (tunneling), because the first fires is an event at the Button.Click, and when it works, it conflicts with the event MouseUp. Quote from here:
ButtonBase inherits from UIElement, a Button will also have access to all of the mouse button events defined for UIElement. Because the Button does something in response to button presses, it swallows the bubbling events (e.g. MouseLeftButtonDown and MouseDown). You can still detect these lower level button press events by adding handlers for the tunneling events (e.g. PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown and PreviewMouseDown).
XAML
<Window x:Class="AwayEventHelp.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:AwayEventHelp"
Title="MainWindow" Height="550" Width="525"
WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen">
<Grid>
<CheckBox Name="DebugCheckBox" Width="100" Height="30"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Content="Debug event" IsChecked="False"
Checked="DebugCheckBox_Checked" Unchecked="DebugCheckBox_Unchecked" />
<StackPanel Name="LeftStackPanel" Width="150" local:EventBehaviours.IsDebugEvent="False"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" Background="BlanchedAlmond">
<Button Name="LeftButton1" Height="30" Content="LeftButton1" />
<Button Name="LeftButton2" Height="30" Content="LeftButton2" />
<Button Name="LeftButton3" Height="30" Content="LeftButton3" />
<Label Name="JustLabelLeft" Content="JustLabelLeft" Background="Azure" HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" />
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Name="RightStackPanel" Width="150" local:EventBehaviours.IsDebugEvent="False"
HorizontalAlignment="Right" Background="Azure">
<Button Name="RightButton1" Height="30" Content="RightButton1" />
<Button Name="RightButton2" Height="30" Content="RightButton2" />
<Button Name="RightButton3" Height="30" Content="RightButton3" />
<Label Name="JustLabelRight" Content="JustLabelRight" Background="BlanchedAlmond" HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" />
</StackPanel>
<Grid Name="GridPanel" Width="100" Height="100" local:EventBehaviours.IsDebugEvent="False"
VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Background="CadetBlue">
<Label Name="LabelInGrid" Width="100" Height="50" Content="LabelInGrid" Background="AliceBlue" />
</Grid>
<ListBox Name="EventOutput" Width="180" Height="180" Background="AliceBlue" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Code behind
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void DebugCheckBox_Checked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(LeftStackPanel, true);
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(RightStackPanel, true);
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(GridPanel, true);
}
private void DebugCheckBox_Unchecked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(LeftStackPanel, false);
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(RightStackPanel, false);
EventBehaviours.SetIsDebugEvent(GridPanel, false);
}
}
public class EventBehaviours : DependencyObject
{
#region IsDebugEvent declaration
public static void SetIsDebugEvent(DependencyObject target, bool value)
{
target.SetValue(IsDebugEventProperty, value);
}
public static bool GetIsDebugEvent(DependencyObject DepObject)
{
return (bool)DepObject.GetValue(IsDebugEventProperty);
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsDebugEventProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("IsDebugEvent",
typeof(bool),
typeof(EventBehaviours),
new UIPropertyMetadata(false, OnIsDebugEvent));
#endregion
private static void OnIsDebugEvent(DependencyObject sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Panel MyPanel = sender as Panel;
if (e.NewValue is bool && ((bool)e.NewValue == true))
{
MyPanel.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown += new MouseButtonEventHandler(MyControl_PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown);
if (MyPanel.Children.Count != 0)
{
foreach (Control MyControl in MyPanel.Children)
{
MyControl.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown += new MouseButtonEventHandler(MyControl_PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown);
}
}
}
else
{
foreach (Control MyControl in MyPanel.Children)
{
MyControl.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown -= new MouseButtonEventHandler(MyControl_PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown);
}
MyPanel.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown -= new MouseButtonEventHandler(MyControl_PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Main handler of PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown event
/// </summary>
private static void MyControl_PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
string OutInfo = string.Empty;
if (sender.GetType() == typeof(StackPanel))
{
StackPanel MyStackPanel = sender as StackPanel;
Grid MyGrid = MyStackPanel.Parent as Grid;
OutInfo = "PanelName: " + MyStackPanel.Name;
OutInfoInListBox(MyGrid, OutInfo);
}
else if (sender.GetType() == typeof(Grid))
{
Grid MyGrid = sender as Grid;
Grid MyMainGrid = MyGrid.Parent as Grid;
OutInfo = "PanelName: " + MyGrid.Name;
OutInfoInListBox(MyMainGrid, OutInfo);
}
else
{
Control MyControl = sender as Control;
Panel MyStackPanel = MyControl.Parent as Panel;
Grid MyGrid = MyStackPanel.Parent as Grid;
OutInfo = "ControlName: " + MyControl.Name;
OutInfoInListBox(MyGrid, OutInfo);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Get ListBox and insert some info
/// </summary>
/// <param name="ParentGrid">Panel, where locate ListBox</param>
/// <param name="info">Just string</param>
private static void OutInfoInListBox(Grid ParentGrid, string info)
{
ListBox MyEventOutput = ParentGrid.FindName("EventOutput") as ListBox;
MyEventOutput.Items.Add(info);
}
}
Output
By clicking on the CheckBox, set a dependency property IsDebugEvent in True, subject thus causing OnIsDebugEvent, where we set the handlers. If you deselect the CheckBox in, then all event handlers deleted.
To set the events immediately on startup, you need to make sure that all the items on the successfully booted. This can be done in the event ContentRendered of Window.

How to emulate a console in WPF?

I'd like some tips-in-the-right-direction or even ready solutions to this problem and I'm pretty stuck (I'm just beginner/intermediate):
I'm trying to implement a SSH in my application. The SSH-backend works fine and such, but I'm stuck at the frontend. What WPF-Combination would present me with an adequate solution to emulate a console? Put aside a complete terminal-emulation, I'd be happy to simply readline/writeline into something that looks like a console :-)
My best approach yet was a 80x50 Grid of single characters resulting in 4000 single cells and that feels like a total overkill.
Another idea was to make a console-Appl. bound to a wpf-window in another project. But...is that even possible and how?

Given that you want to emulate a console, I'd do it like this. Note that you'd have to handle the commands and outputting the results yourself.
page.xaml
<Window x:Class="ConsoleEmulation.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" MinHeight="350" MinWidth="525" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid>
<ScrollViewer Name="Scroller" Margin="0" Background="Black">
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding ConsoleOutput, Mode=OneWay}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=.}" Foreground="White" FontFamily="Consolas"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
<TextBox Text="{Binding ConsoleInput, Mode=TwoWay}" Background="Black" Foreground="White" FontFamily="Consolas" Name="InputBlock" BorderBrush="{x:Null}" SelectionBrush="{x:Null}" />
</StackPanel>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>
</Window>
page.xaml.cs
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
ConsoleContent dc = new ConsoleContent();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = dc;
Loaded += MainWindow_Loaded;
}
void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
InputBlock.KeyDown += InputBlock_KeyDown;
InputBlock.Focus();
}
void InputBlock_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Key == Key.Enter)
{
dc.ConsoleInput = InputBlock.Text;
dc.RunCommand();
InputBlock.Focus();
Scroller.ScrollToBottom();
}
}
}
public class ConsoleContent : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
string consoleInput = string.Empty;
ObservableCollection<string> consoleOutput = new ObservableCollection<string>() { "Console Emulation Sample..." };
public string ConsoleInput
{
get
{
return consoleInput;
}
set
{
consoleInput = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ConsoleInput");
}
}
public ObservableCollection<string> ConsoleOutput
{
get
{
return consoleOutput;
}
set
{
consoleOutput = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ConsoleOutput");
}
}
public void RunCommand()
{
ConsoleOutput.Add(ConsoleInput);
// do your stuff here.
ConsoleInput = String.Empty;
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (null != PropertyChanged)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}

Did you know that you can display a Console window from your application by using AllocConsole?
This is a simple way to create a "dual-mode" application can be a
console or windows forms application.
[DllImport("kernel32")]
static extern bool AllocConsole();
Or you can use this:
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition Height="30"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Text="Console contents..." HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" x:Name="ConsoleTextBlock"/>
<DockPanel Grid.Row="1">
<TextBox/>
</DockPanel>
</Grid>
For better looks, replace the TextBlock with a ListBox and style the ItemTemplate accordingly.

I haven't done it myself, however it is one of my "I'll do it if I have time"-projects.
Thus I am still looking for an existing implementation :-P
Anyways some thoughts:
The applroach to use Visuals (i.e. Ellipses, Textblocks) is probably not a good Idea.
Just think of what has to happen if you want like 200x100 characters. Maybe even a backbuffer. Holding it all in memory + drawing it....it will be incredibly slow.
Therefore the better (or even right) approach is to "draw yourself". Since WPF is backbuffered and you don't want to display an arbitrary bitmap the most likly approach would be to create a new UserControl and override it's Paint-Method.
You ma prefer to derive from Control, but UserControl may have Content, so you can show something like a connection indicator icon inside.
Architecture-wise I'd suggest to create a dependecy property Buffer (ConsoleBuffer) that holds the console buffer-model. Another DP would hold the top-left positon Location (long). It determines where to start the display (while you have a look behind). The console model I would make a class that contains a char[] and a Color[] (one dimensional). Use line breaking and \n characters to make lines (because this is the character of a console). Then if you resize the control it will re-flow without the buffer needing to be re-allocated.
You can work with **ConsoleBuffer**s of different sizes (for a different number of look behind characters).
ConsoleBuffer.Write(string s) is your method to do stuff.
Maybe it is advisable to hold arrays of arrays char[][] to represent lines.... but that is up to finding out while programming.