Using Windows Store controls in a Windows Forms application - c#

We are looking at creating a new mobile application which will run on tablets using full Windows 8. We would like to be able to use full SQL for our data storage (which can be accessed easily using Windows Forms apps), but also retain the nice controls and touch friendliness provided by Windows Store apps (e.g. the LayoutAwarePage and the Windows 8 XAML controls).
We were looking at a way to use the Windows Store libraries within a Windows Forms application (as mentioned here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj856306.aspx#consuming_standard_windows_runtime_types), but have had no joy beyond adding the reference to a solution.
Does anyone know how to add a LayoutAwarePage to a Windows Forms application? Or is there a better way to approach this?

If you want it to look like a windows 8 app try having a look at MahApps
http://mahapps.com/MahApps.Metro/
Its pretty easy to use and look pretty good, this is for wpf though not winforms

Related

Using Universal Windows Platform (Windows 10) controls in WPF

Hopefully a simple question; I seem to recall seeing somebody at one of the recent Microsoft conferences say that some of the UWP application functionality was to be made available within WPF/Desktop. Unfortunately, I can no longer find (or remember) which of the many videos this was from (though it was probably Build or similar on Channel9).
Is it therefore possible to use UWP controls within a WPF application? Basically I want the look and feel of an "app", including some of the new controls (RelativePanel, SplitPanel) and the themed buttons etc., but I need the power of the full desktop - such as access to the full file system.
Thanks.
I think you are referring to the different Bridges to port apps to Windows 10 from for instance, IOS, Android, Web, Win32, etc. and still take advantage of Windows 10 features and APIs. Specifically, I think you are talking about the Bridge to bring in Win32 apps. You can find the bridges listed here.
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/bridges
•"Project Centennial": This toolkit will enable desktop developers to package and publish their existing .NET and Win32-based Windows applications to the Windows Store. Developers can also use Centennial to call common UWP APIs and services."

What is the alternative of Pivot Control in Windows 8.1?

I am migrating my Windows Phone 8 app to Windows Universal Apps. I am currently working on Windows 8.1 project.In my Windows Phone 8 app , I used Pivot Control to show multiple pages and for each App bar was different and in that when I used to slide the other view was visible. I showed different listbox on each page and the values comes from database. I want to do the same for Windows 8.1 but I found that there is not a Pivot Control in Windows 8.1. Can anyone suggest me any control using which I can do that. If possible explain me with some code.
Please help.
See XAML controls comparison between Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 on MSDN.
Not all controls are available for both Windows and Windows Phone. Specifically, there is no direct analogue to the Pivot on Windows 8.1. You will need to either redesign your UI to use a different control or write your own (or find a 3rd party control) Pivot control.
Two likely options are a FlipView or a Hub Control, but the specifics will really depend on the details of your app.

Windows Store 8.1 and System.Windows.Forms

Recently, I tried to make a battery app (C#, store app) for Windows 8.1
(I am using VS2013, tried also VS2012 with the same result).
As it turned out, I need to add a Reference to the project - but I cannot add anything in Reference Manager: it says "All of the Framework assemblies are already referenced". And all what I need is to get System.Windows.Forms - when I search for it, nothing appears.
Any ideas, what can I do?
(Please tell me if I forgot something essential)
Windows Store Apps are build, from scratch, on new technology stack , So Windows Form and WPF are not part of Windows Store apps.
Windows store apps and Windows Forms apps has there different set of
APIs.
Windows store apps are used to known as known as Metro apps and Right now they have been merging the stuff(don't want to go into the details).
This will give a basic knowledge about this new Technology
So, above are the just a small hints about the differences. Actually, It is not possible to explain all the stuff here. Just explore.

Windows 8 Tile Icon for WPF application?

guys, first time posting -
I'm a newbie to Windows development and VS (Using 2013 on Windows 8.1).
I've created a very simple application by the action of
File->New Project/WPF application.
The application works great, and does exactly what I'd like it to do.
I successfully added a large (128x128) icon and got it to look great on Windows 7's taskbar and start menu by right-clicking my project in the Solution Explorer and specifying my .ico file through there.
I also added the 'Icon' property to my MainWindow.xaml file and it even looks great on the taskbar of Windows 8...
However, it doesn't even display my app's icon on the Start Menu of Windows 8, and I am having a really hard time finding documentation specific to this issue.
I'm sure it's a no-brainer but I'm just stuck.
How do I get a nice icon and tile in Windows 8?
Live tiles are only supported in Windows Store Applications but you can use some third-party solutions that provides a way to add this capability via the interoperation between your Desktop Application and separate Windows Store application (this one is installed on end-users computers and behaves like a server that can provide a Tile for its clients, which actually are the Desktop applications).
For example, DevExpress solution - WinRTLiveTileManager.
Or you can implement this approach itself...
Live tiles are only supported in Windows Store Apps unfortunately.
See this thread...

Windows 8 Application Launcher with a WPF application

I need to set the Windows 8 Application Launcher to launch my WPF application as guided here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn195617(v=winembedded.81).aspx
Is it possible or does it have to be a Windows 8 App (instead of a regular WPF application)?
If its not possible, how difficult would it be to migrate my WPF application to a Windows 8 App format?
Couldn't i simply package my WPF application with an AUMID?
Important: The Windows 8 Application Launcher also has a KeepAlive option in Windows Embedded. I need it to keep my application alive as well incase its closing so a good solution would include this as well. Of and i'm using ClickOnce for auto-update my WPF application and i would like to keep this functionality too.
your example is for win 8 Embedded and only for apps. There you have the possibility to startup directly an app.
I think there is still startup possibility for your wpf application on normal Windows 8 devices.
Maybe you have to disable metro on startup. Here is a complex tutorial about this. In Win 8.1 there will be a simple option inside the properties of the taskbar.
Judging by the page you linked, it seems you are out of luck. Only Windows 8 apps are mentioned. But maybe there is another mechanims to auto start desktop applications?
The difficulty of migrating a classic WPF desktop application to a Windows 8 ("Store") app depends on the kind and content of the application, ranging from simple to impossible.
Windows 8 apps are sandboxed and cannot do everything a desktop application can, they have a different lifecycle and different UI/UX principles (you probably need to redo your UI from scratch). .NET and XAML for Windows Store Apps look like .NET and WPF for desktop applications, but there are many surprising details and strings attached, possibly complicating a direct port.
Application Launcher is for Windows Store Applications only. However you can achieve the same effect with Shell Launcher for any executable.
Have a look at these two links here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn195623(v=winembedded.81).aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn451259.aspx
Let me know if you need additional help.

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