The user interface (UI) may be made incredibly rich with Silverlight, but what about the server? In what ways can I use Silverlight to gain basic access to a server, be it a Windows or Linux web server? What happens if I wish to contact my server via REST? A few namespaces are included in Silverlight for making basic requests to and responses from the server: System.Net.Browser and System.Net. The classes listed below are included in these assemblies and will enable online communication with our server:

In this article we are going to see how we can create a Slide in Transition Effect using Visual State Manager. We would be using few Blend Dlls . so make sure you have Blend 4 Sdk downloaded and installed from the Net.

Create a new Project and add reference to the Dlls as shown below :

Adding the Required Namespaces :
Make sure you add the following Namespaces in the xaml code .
xmlns:ei="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactions"
xmlns:ee="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/effects"

Creating the Visual State Manager:
Below is the code for creating a Visual State Manager . Have created a VisualStateGroup . Have added two states namely Start and New.

In our case Start refers to the Initial State and New refers to the Modified State . Here I have created an example to demonstrate the Slide in Transition Effect.
   <!-- Visual State Created -->
        <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
         
      <VisualStateGroup x:Name="PageTrans">
               
  <VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
                    <VisualTransition GeneratedDuration="0:0:1">
                        <ei:ExtendedVisualStateManager.TransitionEffect>
                            <ee:SlideInTransitionEffect/>
                        </ei:ExtendedVisualStateManager.TransitionEffect>
                        <VisualTransition.GeneratedEasingFunction>
                            <CubicEase EasingMode="EaseInOut"/>
                        </VisualTransition.GeneratedEasingFunction>
                    </VisualTransition>
                </VisualStateGroup.Transitions>

                <VisualState x:Name="Start"/>

                <VisualState x:Name="New"/>
            </VisualStateGroup>

        </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
        <VisualStateManager.CustomVisualStateManager>
            <ei:ExtendedVisualStateManager/>
        </VisualStateManager.CustomVisualStateManager>

        <!-- Visual State End-->

Swapping between the Visual States:
bool state;  // A boolean variable

The following code will help us swap between the states . You can place the code in a Button Event Handler to visually make the effect appealing . I just place it in the Constructor of the MainPage.xaml.cs.
if (state = state ^ true)
{
         VisualStateManager.GoToState(this, "Start", true);
}

else
{
         VisualStateManager.GoToState(this, "New", true);
}

Go ahead and Modify the Color of the Grid in the MainPage to Black.

Run the code and experience the Slide In Transition Effect . The same effect can be created using the Blend instead of Visual Studio with much lesser effect. We will check that out in the Blend series .

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Silverlight has a Visual Prompt Control called Pop Up Control. There are instances in which you must truly capture the user's interest. Perhaps you need to show information about a serious mistake. You may then just use this control. The purpose of this visual prompt is to mimic a dialog box.
All we shall do in our Sample Application is show you how to use it.

Make a Silverlight Project

Figure 1.1 Creating Silverlight Project
Designing the Application
Here is an idea, we will add three images (ImageControls) to our application and on theirs LeftMouseButtonDown Event we will display the PopUp. So I have taken the help of Blend 3 to design the application. It will have 3 Images as Home, Search and Reports. The following figure displays our application.

Figure 1.2 Designing our Application
Adding a PopUp Control
This is actually disturbing; you can't find the control in the toolbox. But if you start typing the control name it will satisfy you. So I have added some controls like Border, StackPanel and Displaying Text and Button to close the PupUp.
    <Popup x:Name="myPopup" Margin="-34,0,-31,0" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" Height="78" VerticalAlignment="Bottom"  >    <Border CornerRadius="10" Background="Silver" BorderThickness="2" BorderBrush="Black">  
        <StackPanel Margin="10">  
                    <TextBlock x:Name="PopUpText"/>  
                    <Button x:Name="PopUpButton" Height="30" Width="90" Content="Close" Click="PopUpButton_Click" />  
        </StackPanel>  
        </Border>  
    </Popup>  

PopUp Control has a unique property called IsOpen which returns a boolean value of either true or false. The default value is always false. With this concept in mind let's add some events and use this property to control the show of the PopUp.

Calling the PopUp Control
As we discussed earlier we can handle the display of the PopUp by using the property IsOpen. Now we will see how we have used in our sample application.
    private void PopUpButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)  
    {  
          myPopup.IsOpen = false;  
    }  
      
    private void Home_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Home";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  
      
    private void Search_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Search";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  
      
    private void Reports_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)  
    {  
          PopUpText.Text = "You Clicked Reports";  
          myPopup.IsOpen = true;  
    }  

Running the Application
When you click different images you will be notified by the PopUp Control.

Figure 1.3 PopUp is displayed
That's it, we have successfully used the PopUp Control. Enjoy Coding.

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Step 1
Create a new project in Visual Studio and select "Silverlight Application".

Step 2
Open MainPage.xaml and add the following code.
    <UserControl x:Class="SilverlightAnalogClock.MainPage"  
        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"  
        mc:Ignorable="d"  
        d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400">  
      
        <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">  
             
        </Grid>  
    </UserControl>  

Step 3
Open MainPage.xaml.cs and add the following code.
    using System;  
    using System.Collections.Generic;  
    using System.Linq;  
    using System.Net;  
    using System.Windows;  
    using System.Windows.Controls;  
    using System.Windows.Documents;  
    using System.Windows.Input;  
    using System.Windows.Media;  
    using System.Windows.Media.Animation;  
    using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;  
    using System.Windows.Shapes;  
      
    namespace SilverlightAnalogClock  
    {  
        public partial class MainPage : UserControl  
        {  
      
            public Canvas ClockArea = null;  
            public Rectangle secondHand = null;  
            public Rectangle minuteHand = null;  
            public Rectangle hourHand = null;  
      
            public RotateTransform secondHandRotate = null;  
            public RotateTransform minuteHandRotate = null;  
            public RotateTransform hourHandRotate = null;  
      
            public Ellipse outerCircle = null;  
      
            public Point centerPoint;  
            public double HEIGHT  = 0;  
            public double WIDTH  = 0;  
            public double RADIUS = 0;  
      
            public MainPage()  
            {  
                InitializeComponent();  
      
                ClockArea = new Canvas()  
                {  
      
                    Width = 300,  
                    Height = 300,  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Left,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Top  
      
                };  
      
                ClockArea.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                ClockArea.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                ClockArea.Margin = new Thickness(0, 0, 0, 0);  
                this.LayoutRoot.Children.Add(ClockArea);  
      
                WIDTH = ClockArea.Width;  
                HEIGHT = ClockArea.Height;  
                centerPoint.X = (WIDTH/2);  
                centerPoint.Y = (HEIGHT/2);  
                       
                RADIUS = 400;  
                DrawClockFace();  
      
                Point TOPPOINT = new Point(0, 0);  
      
                DrawMinuteHand();  
                DrawSecondHand();  
                DrawHourHand();  
                DrawCenterCircle();  
      
      
                //Start the Clock  
                ClockStart();  
                  
      
            }  
      
            public void ClockStart()  
            {  
                // Create and Start the Thread Timer  
                System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer clockTimer = new System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer();  
                clockTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 0, 1000);  
                clockTimer.Tick += new EventHandler(Clock_Tick);  
                clockTimer.Start();  
            }  
      
            // Get and Set the Angles of Each Hand at every Clock Ticks  
            public void Clock_Tick(object o, EventArgs sender)  
            {  
                double hourRotateValue = Convert.ToDouble(DateTime.Now.Hour.ToString());  
                double minuteRotateValue = Convert.ToDouble(DateTime.Now.Minute.ToString());  
                double secondRotateValue = Convert.ToDouble(DateTime.Now.Second.ToString());  
                hourRotateValue = (hourRotateValue + minuteRotateValue / 60) * 30;  
                minuteRotateValue = (minuteRotateValue + secondRotateValue / 60) * 6;  
                secondRotateValue = Convert.ToDouble(DateTime.Now.Second.ToString()) * 6;  
                minuteHandRotate.Angle = minuteRotateValue;  
                hourHandRotate.Angle = hourRotateValue;  
                secondHandRotate.Angle = secondRotateValue;  
            }  
      
            // Draw Center Circle  
            public void DrawCenterCircle()  
            {              
                Ellipse centerCircle = new Ellipse()  
                {  
      
                    Width = 10,  
                    Height = 10,  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red),  
                    Fill = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red),  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
      
                };  
      
                centerCircle.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                centerCircle.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(centerCircle, (WIDTH / 2) - (centerCircle.Width / 2));  
                Canvas.SetTop(centerCircle, (HEIGHT / 2) - (centerCircle.Height / 2));  
                ClockArea.Children.Add(centerCircle);  
            }  
      
            // Draw Clock Face  
            public void DrawClockFace()  
            {  
                          
                int smallCircle = 5;  
      
                Color c = Colors.Blue;  
                int p = 0;  
      
                // Draw Shadow of Outer Circle  
                Ellipse outerCircleShadow = new Ellipse()  
                {  
                    Width = (WIDTH),  
                    Height = (WIDTH),  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Gray),  
                    StrokeThickness = 5,  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                      
                };  
                 
                outerCircleShadow.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                outerCircleShadow.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(outerCircleShadow, (WIDTH / 2) - (outerCircleShadow.Width / 2) + 6.5);  
                Canvas.SetTop(outerCircleShadow, (HEIGHT / 2) - (outerCircleShadow.Height / 2) + 6.5);  
                ClockArea.Children.Add(outerCircleShadow);  
                 
                //  Draw Outer Circle  
                outerCircle = new Ellipse()  
                {  
                    Width = (WIDTH ),  
                    Height = (WIDTH),  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Black),  
                    StrokeThickness = 5,  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                };              
                outerCircle.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                outerCircle.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(outerCircle, (WIDTH / 2) - (outerCircle.Width / 2) + 4.5);  
                Canvas.SetTop(outerCircle, (HEIGHT / 2) - (outerCircle.Height / 2) + 4.5);  
                ClockArea.Children.Add(outerCircle);  
      
      
                outerCircle.Fill = new LinearGradientBrush()  
                    {  
                        EndPoint = new Point(1, 0),  
                        GradientStops = new GradientStopCollection()  
                        {  
                                new GradientStop() { Color = Colors.White, Offset = 0 },  
                                new GradientStop() { Color = Colors.Gray, Offset = 0.5 },  
                                 new GradientStop() { Color = Colors.White, Offset = 1 }  
                        }  
                    };  
      
                int clockDigits = 3;  
                double rad = (WIDTH/2) - 10.0f;  
                // 60 Innner Dots as Small Circle  
                for (double i = 0.0; i < 360.0; i += 6)   
                {   
      
                double angle = i * System.Math.PI / 180;  
      
                int x = (int)(centerPoint.X + rad * System.Math.Cos(angle));  
                int y = (int)(centerPoint.Y + rad * System.Math.Sin(angle));  
      
                if (p % 5 == 0)  
                {  
                    smallCircle = 10;  
                    c = Colors.Orange;                  
                }  
                else  
                {  
                    smallCircle = 5;  
                    c = Colors.Blue;  
                }  
                if (p % 15 == 0)  
                {  
                    TextBlock tb = new TextBlock();  
                    tb.Text = clockDigits.ToString();  
                    tb.FontSize = 24;  
                      
                    tb.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                    tb.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                    Canvas.SetLeft(tb, x );  
                    Canvas.SetTop(tb, y);  
                    if (clockDigits == 3)  
                    {  
                        Canvas.SetLeft(tb, x - 20);  
                        Canvas.SetTop(tb, y - 10);  
                    }  
                    if (clockDigits == 6)  
                    {  
                        Canvas.SetLeft(tb, x);  
                        Canvas.SetTop(tb, y - 30);  
                    }  
                    if (clockDigits == 9)  
                    {  
                        Canvas.SetLeft(tb, x + 15);  
                        Canvas.SetTop(tb, y - 10);  
                    }  
                    if (clockDigits == 12)  
                    {  
                        Canvas.SetLeft(tb, x - 10);  
                        Canvas.SetTop(tb, y + 5 );  
                    }   
                    
                      
                    ClockArea.Children.Add(tb);  
                    clockDigits = clockDigits + 3;  
                }  
      
                p++;  
                 
                            Ellipse innerPoints = new Ellipse()  
                            {  
                                Width = smallCircle,  
                                Height = smallCircle,  
                                Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(c),  
                                Fill = new SolidColorBrush(c),  
                                HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                                VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                            };  
                            innerPoints.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                            innerPoints.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                            Canvas.SetLeft(innerPoints, x);  
                            Canvas.SetTop(innerPoints, y);  
                            ClockArea.Children.Add(innerPoints);  
      
                }  
      
                  
            }  
            // Draw the Second Hand  
            public void DrawSecondHand()  
            {  
      
                double handLength = (HEIGHT / 2) - 20;  
                secondHand = new Rectangle()  
                {  
                    Width = 1,  
                    Height = handLength,  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red),  
                    Fill = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red),  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                };  
                  
                secondHand.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                secondHand.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
                //Add Rotate Transformation  
                secondHandRotate = new RotateTransform();  
                secondHandRotate.Angle = 0;  
                //Set Center for Rotation  
                secondHandRotate.CenterX = Canvas.GetLeft(secondHand);  
                secondHandRotate.CenterY = secondHand.Height;  
                secondHand.RenderTransform = secondHandRotate;  
                //Set Initial Position of Hand  
                Canvas.SetTop(secondHand, centerPoint.Y - handLength);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(secondHand, WIDTH/2);             
                ClockArea.Children.Add(secondHand);  
                 
            }  
      
            public void DrawMinuteHand()  
            {  
                double handLength = (HEIGHT / 2) - 50;  
                minuteHand = new Rectangle()  
                {  
                    Width = 4,  
                    Height = handLength,  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Black),  
                    Fill = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Black),  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                };  
      
                minuteHand.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                minuteHand.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
      
                minuteHandRotate = new RotateTransform();  
                minuteHandRotate.Angle = 0;  
                minuteHandRotate.CenterX = Canvas.GetLeft(minuteHand);  
                minuteHandRotate.CenterY = minuteHand.Height;  
                minuteHand.RenderTransform = minuteHandRotate;  
                Canvas.SetTop(minuteHand, centerPoint.Y - handLength);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(minuteHand, WIDTH / 2);  
                ClockArea.Children.Add(minuteHand);  
      
            }  
            public void DrawHourHand()  
            {  
                double handLength = (HEIGHT / 2) - 80;  
                hourHand = new Rectangle()  
                {  
                    Width = 4,  
                    Height = handLength,  
                    Stroke = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Black),  
                    Fill = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Black),  
                    HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center,  
                    VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center  
                };  
      
                hourHand.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, 0);  
                hourHand.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, 0);  
      
                hourHandRotate = new RotateTransform();  
                hourHandRotate.Angle = 0;  
                hourHandRotate.CenterX = Canvas.GetLeft(hourHand);  
                hourHandRotate.CenterY = hourHand.Height;  
                hourHand.RenderTransform = hourHandRotate;  
                Canvas.SetTop(hourHand, centerPoint.Y - handLength);  
                Canvas.SetLeft(hourHand, WIDTH / 2);     
                ClockArea.Children.Add(hourHand);  
      
            }  
      
        }  
    }  

Output
Now execute and you will get a fully drawn Analog Clock.

Data binding is one of the best features the human race has ever devised. Binding a property of a UI Element to a property in the code behind can accomplish any task. It is magic, in a nutshell. Once the properties are bound, we must continue to notify the UI whenever the property's value is modified in the code. INotifyPropertyChanged is useful in this situation.

Because it is an interface, it must first be implemented. However, the procedure is not arduous. Here is the code for my primary page in my new Silverlight project:

publicpartialclassMainPage : UserControl
{
    privatestring _names;
     publicstring Names
    {
        get
        {
            return _names;
        }
        set
        {
            _names = value;
        }
    }

    public MainPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    privatevoid MainPage_OnLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Names = "This is the Text";
    }
}

The property "Name" I have here is bound with the textblock in XAML, here is the code:
<UserControlx:Class="PropertyChangedDescribed.MainPage"
 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"
  mc:Ignorable="d"
 Loaded="MainPage_OnLoaded"
 x:Name="TestingPropertyChanged"
 d:DesignHeight="300"d:DesignWidth="400">

 <Gridx:Name="LayoutRoot"Background="White">
  <TextBlockText="{Binding Names, ElementName=TestingPropertyChanged}"/>
  </Grid>

</UserControl>

As you can see, the textblock has it's "text" property bound with our code behind's property "Name". Right now, no matter what you set the value of "Name", it will never be reflected onto the UI. So, what we want is, every time we change the value of our property "Name," the text block has its value changed too. In order to do this, we need to implement the interface INotifyPropertyChanged. Here is the modified main page's code to do so:
publicpartialclassMainPage : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    privatestring _names;
    publicstring Names
    {
        get
        {
            return _names;
        }
        set
        {
            _names = value;
            OnPropertyChanged("Names");
        }
    }
    public MainPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

    }

    privatevoid MainPage_OnLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Names = "This is the Text";

    }

    publicevent PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
    privatevoid OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)

    {
        if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this,new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }
}

So this is how you can implement INotifyPropertyChanged in Silverlight.

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The control that you just like drag or move with the mouse is embedded among a Border control then handle the mouse down, up and move events to create the object move among your layout panel.

See sample .xaml code:
<Canvas x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">
<Border x:Name="border1"
Canvas.Top="100"
Canvas.Left="10"
MouseLeftButtonDown="border1_MouseLeftButtonDown"
MouseLeftButtonUp="border1_MouseLeftButtonUp"
MouseMove="border1_MouseMove"> 
<Image x:Name="MyImage" Source="images/Basket.png" Stretch="Uniform" ></Image>           
</Border>
</Canvas>

In the above code, a Border control is placed within the Canvas. The foremost necessary code to notice is:
MouseLeftButtonDown="border1_MouseLeftButtonDown"
MouseLeftButtonUp="border1_MouseLeftButtonUp"
MouseMove="border1_MouseMove"

The above lines outline 3 events that we tend to like to handle. because the name indicates, we are handling the mouse button down, mouse button up and mouse move events for the left mouse.

In the code behind, once the left button is pressed, we are going to set a global variable to point that user has started moving. within the mouse move event, we are going to get the current location of the mouse pointer and then set the new position for the border control. once the left mouse button is discharged, we are going to reset the global variable in order that we are going to not move the item from now on.
See the code for the code behind class:
public partial class Page : UserControl
{
// Global variable to indicate if user has clicked border
// and started/stopped moving.
private bool moving = false;
private double offSetX;
private double offSetY;
public Page()
{
InitializeComponent();
}

private void border1_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
// Left mouse button clicked within border. start moving.
moving = true;

Point offset = e.GetPosition(border1);
offSetX = offset.X;
offSetY = offset.Y;
}

private void border1_MouseLeftButtonUp(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
// Left mouse button release. Stop moving.
moving = false;
}

private void border1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (moving)
{
    // Get the new mouse pointer position
    Canvas parent = (Canvas)this.border1.Parent;
    Point p = e.GetPosition(parent);
    double x = p.X - offSetX;
    double y = p.Y - offSetY;
    // Set the new position for the border control.
    this.border1.SetValue(Canvas.LeftProperty, x);
    this.border1.SetValue(Canvas.TopProperty, y);
}
}
}

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Why should I use Silverlight? Why does Silverlight stand ahead of all other technologies?

Well!! When I began to write small applications using Silverlight, there were many questions in my mind.

Why do we use Silverlight? What would be the reason for Silverlight when there is ASP.NET, Windows apps, and the latest WPF.

I am trying to resolve these conflicts over here.

As per my working knowledge, Microsoft released ASP.NET and the Windows Application platform. It was a great revolution for the web and the internet world.

Windows applications are called thick clients and an ASP.NET Web application is called a thin client. Since a Windows application will be installed in the client machine, it is called a thick client. Whereas in a web application, there is no installation required on the client-side.

But, there were two problems the company/developer faced.

They needed to maintain two versions for Windows and web applications. i.e. the company has to maintain two versions of the same application. Because some clients want the same application in both a Windows version and a web version. So, it becomes a great headache for companies and developers. Since it was taking not only time for the UI design/Application layer but also for code-behind work.
 
Even though Ajax is a superb concept adapted to ASP.Net for animation like some of the visual effects, still there was difficulty achieving the same UI types for both web and Windows Applications.
 
Since there is a need for two versions of applications, there is a maintenance problem.
 
So later Microsoft came up with a new technology called "WPF". WPF was introduced with a new style of markup language called XAML. There are two types of applications; one is Web browser WPF and WPF application. A WPF web browser app runs in a browser and works as a web application and the other WPF application works as a Windows application. So a developer can use the same XAML for both versions.
 
The look and feel of both versions are the same and it provides a rich UI better than a normal ASP.Net and Windows application.

But, again there was a problem; that is, again the company/developer must maintain two versions of an application:

Web browser WPF.
Normal WPF (as Win form).

So, again Microsoft came up with a new and robust technology called "SILVERLIGHT". Silverlight falls in between thin and thick client concepts.

So, in Silverlight Microsoft has introduced Silverlight applications and Silverlight out-of-browser applications. Silverlight as an out-of-browser application provides the same effect as Windows applications. Even though its run's under the sandbox and doesn't have full pledge permissions as in Windows applications, still it has some of the permissions to access local resources.

So, there is no need to maintain two versions of applications. Any Silverlight application can be converted into an Out-Of-Browser app and as well as revert it into a web app. The app will have the power of the desktop but delivered by the web.

Next, let me cover some more extra futures of Silverlight:

Smart client
 
Already I have explained the smart client concept in my previous articles.
 
A smart client is nothing but, the application will be installed on the client, and whenever the application launches, downloads the latest and also is able to handle online as well as offline with the help of a local DB.
 
Service-oriented business applications
 
Socket Programming.
 
One of the most important things is socket programming in Silverlight. First of all, what are sockets?
 
Silverlight has built-in support for sockets which creates really very interesting possibilities.
 
Suppose, if I need to update on the client-side for each update in the server, then probably I should go for polling.
 
In this polling, the client contacts the server for each regular interval of time to get the updates.
 
Even though there is no update on the server, still the client checks for updates. So, this could cause a traffic overload or unnecessary server round trips.
 
How would it be, if there is a system which sends the updates from the server whenever the data is changed?
 
In this case, sockets are relevant. So, sockets are nothing but, a listener server to listen to clients.
 
By using this socket, a client can send data to the server as well as the server can send data to the client. So, it is a two-way transaction or duplex mode.
 
The .Net framework supports sockets in the namespace "System.net.sockets".
 
I will explain about socket programming in the next chapter.
 
While operating outside the sandbox of the browser.
 
There are some restrictions for the web application so that they can not get round in the browser because of security. We can't access the system, can't write the user's disk except for cookies and HTML 5 offline storage. Also can't access devices connected to the user machine.
 
By using a Silverlight Out –of – Browser app or elevated trust these restrictions can be lifted.
 
When an application needs to look exactly alike in all platforms.
 
There is no guarantee on HTML5/web applications about rendering over different browsers. So, if you want a pixel perfect app, then Silverlight would be the better option.
 
When there is a need to support multi-touch.

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Today, I am going to tell you about Custom Events on Silverlight 5 controls. Generally when you employ or develop controls the events you employ are a lot of straight forward however this case, we possess a dial therefore the 'mouseover' or click is not actually need you would like. So exactly what we need is once the dial moves to some place we need the 'position changed' event called.

To start out along with you need a few custom event args as we wish to pass the 'angle' from the dial towards the event handler inside the consuming application. Therefore the custom event args appearance such as this:
public class DialEventArgs : EventArgs
{
private double angle;
public DialEventArgs(double _Angle)
{
this.angle = _Angle;
}
public double Angle
{
get
{
return angle;
}
}
}

During this case it is a fairly straight forward class which drives from eventargs so we add a constructor which lets us established the angle property simply. Next we would like in our own control class to outline the event such as this :
public delegate void PositionChangeHandler (Object Sender, DialEventArgs e);
public event PositionChangeHandler PositionChangedEvent;
protected virtual void OnPositionChanged(DialEventArgs e)
{
PositionChangedEvent(this, e);
}

Using this set up a consuming xaml page if they utilize the control can set an event handler for that event. However first we have to truly call the event once the angle in the dial changes : In the method which sets the angle we've this code :
OnPositionChanged(new DialEventArgs(AngleOfRotation));

Currently if you get an event handler set in xaml you will get the event called in the correct time. In xaml this may look such as this:
<cc:Dial x:Name="NewKnobControl" Height="100" Width="100" PositionChangedEvent="NewKnobControl_PositionChangedEvent" Minimum="45.0" Max="135" >
<cc:Dial.KnobFace>
<Grid >
<Ellipse Fill="Aquamarine" />
<Rectangle x:Name="Indicator" Height="10" Width="49" Fill="Blue" Margin="1,45,50,45" />
</Grid>
</cc:Dial.KnobFace>
</cc:Dial>

Now inside the client code you'll need an event handler and during this case inside my demo app it's similar to this :
private void NewKnobControl_PositionChangedEvent(Object sender, DialEventArgs e)
{
// applicable values
double Angle = e.Angle;
}

In this article, you will implement an AutoComplete TextBox in Silverlight Applications using C#. An AutoCompleteBox is just a kind of TextBox in which, when you start typing, items that match are displayed in a dropdown list and you can pick an item from the list.

Step 1

Create a New “Silverlight Application” in Visual Studio and name it as you chooce (I named mine AutoCompleteBox). Now a new Silverlight Application Page (MainPage.xaml) will be generated.

Step 2

Now go to the Solution Explorer Window and right-click on "References" and click on "Add Reference".

Step 3

Now an "Add Reference" window will appear. Navigate to the .NET tab and search for System.Windows.Controls.Input reference and add it to your project.

Step 4

Now navigate to the MainPage.xaml portion in your project and add the following code for the reference:

xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/sdk"

Step 5

A reference is added to your project and now it's time to add the AutoCompleteBox. Navigate to the XAML code and in the Grid tag add the following code:

<sdk:AutoCompleteBox Name="Colors" Width="200" Height="25"/>

An AutoCompleteBox is added to your project (here I named it Colors but it's up to you what to use).

Step 6

Now it's time to add some data in the AutoCompleteBox. To do that navigate to the .cs file of your project MainPage.xaml.cs and add the following code to the MainPage() block:

public MainPage()
{
        InitializeComponent();
        this.Colors.ItemsSource = new string[]
        {
            "Aqua","Azure","Beige","Black","Blue","Brown","Cyan","Gold","Red","Green","Yellow"
        };
}

What we are doing is that we are simply adding the data to the AutoCompleteBox whenever the MainPage is Loaded. I am here adding Name of various colors for demo purposes, you can however add your own data. Now that's all; compile and run your project and whenever you type a letter into the AutoCompleteBox an intellisenese will appear with suggestions the same as you usually see in Visual Studio.

Step 7

Now Suppose you want to Auto fill the suggestions in your AutoCompleteBox; for that you just need to add a property called IsTextCompletionEnabled to True in your XAML code like:

<sdk:AutoCompleteBox Name="Colors" Width="200" Height="25" IsTextCompletionEnabled="True"/>

Now compile and run your project; you will see that whenever you type a letter, the words related to it are automatically placed into the AutoCompleteBox.

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