Blog
-
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
No, this is NOT another Justin Bieber song…
In the last couple of projects I have consulted on I have seen VARIOUS implementations of dependency properties… The one thing that I did … [more]
-
TimeslotPanel
A while ago I wrote a couple of CodeProject articles on how to recreate a outlook calendar using WPF… Occasionally I still get emails from people asking… how can I make it work in … [more]
-
Extending the SiteMap
A couple of days ago I published a VERY simple SiteMap for Orchard. After some great help from Sébastien Ros, I updated the module to be a little more extensible! Any module can now depend on … [more]
-
Screen Conductor 101
One of my favourite features of Caliburn.Micro is it’s build-in support for the Screen Conductor “pattern”
The Screen, ScreenConductor and ScreenCollection patterns enable … [more]
-
Creating a sitemap module for Orchard
“A site map (or sitemap) is a list of pages of a web site accessible to crawlers or users”
I recently read a excellent article by Jeff Atwood about the importance of having a … [more]
-
HTTP dynamic compression for Azure web roles
Since Upgrading from Oxite to Orchard I have been very busy tweaking the settings… All the SEO sites/tools recommended that I turn on gzip compression
“gzip is any of several … [more]
-
Growing pains
First off, sorry for flooding all your RSS readers!!! I had some… let’s call them technical difficulties getting my Orchard installation to work with feedburner!!!
Although … [more]
-
WP7 Splash Screen Tips & Tricks
Lets start with the basics… To add a splash screen to you Windows Phone 7 Application, just create a new jpg image (480x800) and name it SplashScreenImage.jpg. Add this image to you phone … [more]
-
Caliburn.Micro Project templates
One of my favourite local developer events are almost here… Devs-4-Devs… and this year I decided to talk about Caliburn.Micro (Making MVVM Simple). For this talk I want to show how easy … [more]
-
Blogs to follow – WPF Disciples
Want to learn more about WPF/Silverlight/XAML/WP7? Here is the list of all the WPF Disciples!
“WPF Disciples…the name says it all. We are bunch of WPF addicts that cannot get enough of … [more]
-
Upgrading from Oxite to Orchard
For the last 6 months I have been running my blog on Windows Azure using a CMS platform called Oxite. I have finally decided to upgrade my blog from Oxite to Orchard (Oxite’s successor) … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 10 – Code First
Historically Microsoft has always focused on the “Database first” model, where you build a database and then from this database create a data layer… With Entity Framework 4, we now … [more]
-
Free Visual Studio 2010 and TFS 2010 Training
Two Colleagues of mine, Robert MacLean and Zayd Kara is presenting a day packed with free Visual Studio and TFS training!
Here are some of the topics to be discussed
Authoring and Running Manual … [more]
-
Mahhala – FluidKit
Mahhala (isiZulu word for free or without charge) is a new series that showcase some of the cool free WPF/Silverlight controls available…
“You can learn a lot by reading other … [more]
-
Faking it…
I recently had a weird requirement… I needed a ComboBox with a TreeView inside? Sounds like something that should be easy with WPF, doesn’t it?
WPF provides a rich set of controls that … [more]
-
Mahhala – WPF NotifyIcon
Mahhala (isiZulu word for free or without charge) is a new series that showcase some of the cool free WPF/Silverlight controls available…
“You can learn a lot by reading other … [more]
-
Mahhala - AvalonDock
Mahhala (isiZulu word for free or without charge) is a new series that showcase some of the cool free WPF/Silverlight controls available…
“You can learn a lot by reading other … [more]
-
7MC Gofer
A gofer or go-fer (pronounced /'go?f?r/ "Topo") is an employee who is often sent on errands.
Introducing 7MC Gofer
7MC Gofer is a Windows Phone 7 based remote control for my Windows Media … [more]
-
Mahhala – Fluent Ribbon Control Suite
Mahhala (isiZulu word for free or without charge) is a new series that showcase some of the cool free WPF/Silverlight controls available…
“You can learn a lot by reading other … [more]
-
Mahhala – Bag o' Tricks
Mahhala (a isiZulu word for free or without charge) is a new series that showcase some of the cool free WPF/Silverlight controls available…
“You can learn a lot by reading other … [more]
-
A DataForm with a little configuration (Or is it convention)?
I absolutely love the DataForm (I even ported the Silverlight version to WPF). One of the common question I occasionally receive is how to express a relationship. Have a look at the following 3 data … [more]
-
OutlookBar for WPF & Silverlight
A while ago I wrote a CodeProject article on how to re-style a TabControl to look like the Outlook navigation bar/pane… The article had a good response and loads of people were asking for a … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 9 – Settings and Notifications
A common topic I see on StackOverflow is how do I persist my window location in a WPF-friendly manner?
First things first, lets create some default values
“The .NET Framework 2.0 allows … [more]
-
SketchFlow with a splash of balsamic
Do you love the quick mockups that balsamic offers… want it in SketchFlow? Well, the Expression Blend team is again pushing the boundaries! Thy have just released Sketch Mockups Library! After … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 8 – Windows 7 Love
OpenPOS is almost ready and I am very exited!!!
The first OFFICIAL version should be released by the end of the month, I am just busy finishing off some last touches… With that said, I do want … [more]
-
Upgrading WPF Themes to WPF 4
I finally had some time to upgrade WPFThemes to WPF 4!
Why might you ask would I want to do that? Well, in WPF 4, the VisualStateManager is in-the-box which means I can drop the dependency to the … [more]
-
TFS for Idiots like me…
Before I start… I know if you only use TFS for its source control then you are not using it for its strengths! That said, I am slowly migrating some stuff from SVN to TFS to play with and here … [more]
-
Is Silverlight eating Adobes bread and butter?
[DISCLAIMER] Before I start I have to state that this is only my opinion!!!
With the disclaimer out of the way, a large percentage of the websites out their that utilize flash uses it as islands of … [more]
-
Will the REAL DataForm please stand up
Why do silverlight get all the really cool stuff?
In most line of business applications you need to execute CRUD operations on your data… Re-creating forms for each data entity can … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 7 – NoSQL, MSSQL, SQL CE?
One of the BIG overarching goals of OpenPOS is simplicity! You should be able to install OpenPOS using something like click-once and it should just work.
Simplicity? What’s wrong with Microsoft … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 6 – Make it look pretty…
Before I can start with cosmetic surgery, lets just finish off the SalesModule. The last thing I added here is the Keypad! The keypad is used to type in the barcode and also has a increment … [more]
-
FIFA World Cup Countdown timer using Silverlight
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is in less than 60 days… and South Africa (Where I live), will be the host! If you talk to anybody in South Africa, you can see the excitement that this tournament … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 5 – SalesModule (Part 2)
So, what’s next?
In part 1, we looked at the bottom half of the screen where we can find and filter products! But what happens if I actually want to buy a product?
Lets start by defining a … [more]
-
Cool view transitions using ZapScoller
I recently watched a Silverlight TV episode featuring John Papa & Ward Bell where thy demoed a KIOSK application he build for the new UFC Gyms! This application has some very fluent transitions … [more]
-
And it can also make phone calls…
Remember when cell phones use to look like this and all thy could do is make calls? These days smart phones are more powerful than PCs…
I am playing around with the Windows Phone 7 Series, … [more]
-
Using the GPS, Accelerometer & Vibration Controller
Want to write a application for Windows Phone 7 Series devices? Need to know where you are? Are you moving? etc…
Well, I do!
Location, Location, Location
“The … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 4 – SalesModule (Part 1)
Let’s start implementing the SalesModule! This is a pretty big and complicated module and will most probably be split into multiple parts (And be refactored n times)! Before I can really … [more]
-
Create your own Hulu.com
“Video is the fastest growing advertising medium”
Statements like this is very common, and I have to agree! Just look at he success of sites like youtube… While I was in the … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 3 – Scaffolding and Navigation
I started creating the basic PRISM scaffolding using the PRISM project templates! Based on the prototypes I created, I also defined 2 regions…
<!-- Navigation Region --> … [more]
-
The ONLY ListBox you will EVER need!
The Blend team is constantly releasing some cool stuff but the PathListBox is AWESOME!
“The PathListBox is a new control that introduces a new and flexible way to layout multiple items. … [more]
-
Silverlight 4 is here…
No big surprise but Silverlight 4 (RC) is released at Mix 2010! So, where do I get the bits?
Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 Silverlight 4 SDK Windows Runtime Mac Runtime Expression … [more]
-
Speaking at DevDays 2010
“It’s here! Microsoft DevDays is the premier developer event of the year and is all about learning, sharing and interacting with one another and having fun!
DevDays 2010 … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 2 - Rapid prototype using SketchFlow
Sometimes it is easier to sketch the ruff design of your user interface on a piece of paper or napkin! This makes logically understanding the “idea” a little easier. I also want to get … [more]
-
Building OpenPOS: Part 1 - Introduction
As most of you have hopefully noticed, I have moved my blog into the “cloud”… For my first post on my new platform, I decided to create a new series of post on how to create a … [more]
-
View-the-box
The last couple of days I’ve been searching and evaluating some point of sale systems for a friend… I found a excellent solution from openbravo! It has just one problem (that could … [more]
-
Open-Source WPF Reporting Engine
Reporting is one of those things that we hate but can’t live without!
WPF is a awesome platform with so many powerful controls available! I have seen so many people use FlowDocuments to … [more]
-
Blend 3 Tip: Filter resources by selected element
If you ever worked on a relatively large WPF project, you probable at some point wanted to know which resources are used by a specific element? The problem is even harder if these resources are in … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar
I FINALLY managed to finish the series on all the COOL stuff in the new Windows 7 taskbar!
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – ThumbnailToolbarButton Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – Jumplist (Part 2)
If you application is associated with a specific file extension, then you get the last part for free! The taskbar also list files opened by your application in the Recent category!
To check … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – Jumplist (Part 1)
The last topic I want to cover about the Windows 7 taskbar is the Jumplist!!!
To create a new JumpList, call CreateJumpList()
JumpList jumplist = JumpList.CreateJumpList();
We should now choose … [more]
-
Inter-process Mediator
Imagine for a second that you are writing a application like outlook… lets call it MiMail.exe! This application is very basic and has 3 views that are relevant to me! i want to be able to see … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar - Progress
Ever noticed the subtle progress overlay while downloading something from the internet? With Windows 7’s new taskbar, applications can visually display their progress on the taskbar!
We first … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – TabbedThumbnail (Part 2)
In my “quest” to create thumbnails similar to the once used in IE8, I hit a couple of snags! In part 1 we looked at the basics of creating a TabbedThumbnail. This is still a very manual … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – TabbedThumbnail (Part 1)
One of the “features” of the new taskbar that excites me is the TabbedThumbnail interface! This allows me to quickly see which applications are open and what their status is! From the … [more]
-
Make your WPF buttons color hot-track!
One of the cool new features of the Windows 7 taskbar is that all running applications gives you this nice feedback that its running using the color hot-track “feature”
“Color … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar – Overlays
As you would expect from Microsoft, Office integrates very nicely with Windows 7 taskbar! Have a look at the following 2 taskbar icons:
And if I have unread mail
These “visual clues” … [more]
-
Anatomy of the Windows 7 taskbar - ThumbnailToolbarButton
With Windows 7’s public release less than 2 weeks away (22 October 2009) I decided to dig into how the taskbar works! I will specifically be looking at it from a developers point of view! … [more]
Rudi Grobler's blog