Step1: Find the resource

You will typically have the control code:

public class TemplatedControl1 : Control {
    public TemplatedControl1() {
        this.DefaultStyleKey = typeof(TemplatedControl1);
    }
}

and the XAML in the Generic.xaml:

<Style TargetType="local:TemplatedControl1">
    <Setter Property="Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="local:TemplatedControl1">
                <Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                        BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
                        BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}">
                </Border>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>

Step2: Create a new resource file

Create a copy of Generic.xaml and rename to TemplatedControl1.xaml.
Delete the TemplatedControl1 style from Generic.xaml.
So Generic.xaml looks like:

<ResourceDictionary
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SilverlightApplication1">
</ResourceDictionary>

and TemplatedControl1.xaml looks like:

<ResourceDictionary
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SilverlightApplication1">

    <Style TargetType="local:TemplatedControl1">
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="local:TemplatedControl1">
                    <Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                            BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
                            BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}">
                    </Border>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
</ResourceDictionary>

Step3: Create reference in App.xaml

Open App.xaml and add the resource:

<Application xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             x:Class="SilverlightApplication1.App"
             >
    <Application.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <ResourceDictionary Source='/SilverlightApplication1;Component/Themes/TemplatedControl1.xaml'/>
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </Application.Resources>
</Application>

If you open the project in Expression Blend you will see that you can edit the template as usual:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC#\Snippets\1033\Visual C#

or

c:\Users\You\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Code Snippets\Visual C#\

1 clsObservableObject

Creates an ObservableObject class you can use to subclass your Models from. Each model that subclasses ObservableObject can call a typed or untyped OnPropertyChanged method.

Output code:

public class ObservableObject : INotifyPropertyChanged {
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName) {
        var handler = PropertyChanged;
        if (handler != null) {
            handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }

    protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged<TViewModel>(Expression<Func<TViewModel>> property) {
        var expression = property.Body as MemberExpression;
        var member = expression.Member;

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

2 event

Event declaration and a helper method to raise it.

Output code:

public event EventHandler DoubleClick;

protected virtual void OnDoubleClick() {
    EventHandler handler = DoubleClick;
    if (handler != null) {
        handler(this, EventArgs.Empty);
    }
}

3 loremIpsum

Creates a string with lorem ipsum text.

Output code:

var loremIpsum="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Toverstudio consectetuer...

4 propds

Creates a Silverlight dependency property

Output code:

public string Text {
    get { return (string)GetValue(TextProperty); }
    set { SetValue(TextProperty, value); }
}

/// <summary>
/// Identifies the Text dependency property. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
/// </summary>
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty =
    DependencyProperty.Register("Text",
                                typeof(string),
                                typeof(MyControl),
                                new PropertyMetadata(null, OnTextPropertyChanged));

/// <summary>
/// Text changed handler.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="d">MyControl that changed its Text.</param>
/// <param name="e">DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs.</param>
private static void OnTextPropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) {
    var source = d as MyControl;
    if (source != null) {
        var value = (string)e.NewValue;
        //TODO: Handle new value.
    }
}

5 propds_nocallback

Creates a Silverlight dependency property without a callback method

Output code:

public string Caption {
    get { return (string)GetValue(CaptionProperty); }
    set { SetValue(CaptionProperty, value); }
}

public static readonly DependencyProperty CaptionProperty =
    DependencyProperty.Register("Caption",
                                typeof(string),
                                typeof(MyControl),
                                new PropertyMetadata(null));

6 propNotify

Uses the OnPropertyChanged with a string parameter (“”) from ObservableObject.

Output code:

private string name;

public string Name {
    get { return name; }
    set {
        if (name != value) {
            name = value;
            OnPropertyChanged("Name");
        }
    }
}

7 propNotify_typed

Uses the typed OnPropertyChanged method from ObservableObject.

Output code:

private string name;
public string Name {
    get { return name; }
    set {
        if (name != value) {
            name = value;
            OnPropertyChanged(() => this.Name);
        }
    }
}

You can download a zipfile with the snippets

create an app with applescript to open two finders side-by-side in a few minutes!

I use both a Mac and Windows machine and if I may compare the two, I would say one of them is my feel-good-machine and the other a workhorse to develop .NET stuff on. Both OSses have file managers which work great for finding and opening files but when you copy, move and view files all the time, doing that in the windows explorer or the Mac Finder soon becomes a click fest.

TotalCommander

On my windows machines I use the brilliant Total Commander which was very accurately described by someone as: “Using windows without Total Commander is like driving without my glasses”. It’s true. This thing can do anything from file management to comparing files and from FTP to batch copy.

Back to the Finder

When I bought my Mac I searched for Total Commander alternatives and while some of them work OK, they are not perfect. So while I wait and hope one day Christian Ghistler will re-write Total Commander for the Mac, I’m just going to use the Finder. But to copy and move files, I really need to have side by side Finders. Of course you can open two Finders but why not have an AppleScript do that for me? I googled, found this one to start from and made some changes like determining the screen size automatically and place the finders side-by-side around the center of the screen.

AppleScript to open two Finders side-by-side

STEP1: Fire up the AppleScript Editor and paste this code in it:

-- Feel free to copy, modify and redistribute this script any way you like
-- Be careful to run this "AS IS" script on your machine. I've
-- tested it and it works on my iMac but if you don't know what you're doing,
-- you could end up hurting your beloved Mac and the data on it.
-- Cheers, Loek

-- This script opens two finder windows side-by-side
property finderWidth : 900 -- MUST BE SMALLER THEN HALF OF THE ACTUAL SCREEN SIZE!
property finderHeight : 700

tell application "Finder"
	set screenBounds to bounds of window of desktop
	set screenWidth to item 3 of screenBounds
	set screenHeight to item 4 of screenBounds
	set centerX to screenWidth / 2
	set centerY to screenHeight / 2
	activate
	set visible of (every process whose visible is true and frontmost is false) to false
	set finder1 to make new Finder window
	set the bounds of finder1 to {centerX - finderWidth div 1, centerY - (finderHeight / 2) div 1, centerX - 2 div 1, centerY + (finderHeight / 2) div 1}
	set the current view of finder1 to column view
	set finder2 to make new Finder window
	set the bounds of finder2 to {centerX + 2, centerY - (finderHeight / 2) div 1, centerX + finderWidth, centerY + (finderHeight / 2) div 1}
	set the current view of finder2 to column view
end tell

STEP2: Set a correct value for the finderWidth and finderHeight and if you run the script, two Finders should open. If not, make sure the finderWidth is less then half of the actual screen width.

STEP3: Save as app

In the AppleScriptEditer goto File | Save As…

Type a name and choose Application as File Format

Open the DualFinder.app et voila! Two Finders side by side!

Find a stream

Google for radio streams and find playlists that end with .m3u. Copy the stream address to your clipboard.

Open in iTunes

In iTunes go to Advanced > Open stream (CMD+U) and enter the address. For your convenience, you can drag the item from the main grid to your playlists for later listening.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FXn6zo8Z4s

More Architectural Projection

I personally like the architectural projections the most and here are some of my favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGXcfvWhdDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3Zg_sa0iY&feature=related

Philips used Microsoft BASIC on their earlier released Videopac G7000 game console and used this also in the P2000. This programming language is responsible for my future love for computers. This weekend I dug up the computer from my parents basement and took it home. I was very surprised that it still worked after all these years. For old time sakes, I input my favorite statement and enjoyed the output very much:

Soon after working on the P2000T, I bought a commodore64 where I learned assembler language and really started to learn the ins and outs of computers but when I look at the P2000T, it is like looking at my first love :-)

The dictionary key ” is already used. Key attributes are used as keys when inserting objects into a dictionary and must be unique.

If this error occurs, it’s possible there are implicit styles that target a type more than once. In my case I got stuck with the following code after a version control update:

<Style TargetType="ComboBox" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultComboBoxStyle}" />
<Style TargetType="HyperlinkButton" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultHyperlinkButtonStyle}" />
<Style TargetType="ComboBox" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultComboBoxStyle}" />

Implicit style defined twice

When I removed the second ComboBox style the error was gone. I hope this helps!

double x1=100.0;
double y1=100.0;
double x2=200.0;
double y2=200.0;
double radians=Math.atan2(y2-y1, x2-x1) ;
double radius=50.0;
double y3=y2+radius * Math.cos(radians);
double x3=x2+radius * Math.sin(radians);

As it turned out, I made two mistakes. The last two lines should be:

double y3=y1+radius * Math.sin(radians);
double x3=x1+radius * Math.cos(radians);

How did I find out? Easy! I entered the code in the Dart editor and sent the generated link to Chris. He looked at the code, made some changes and sent a link back.

Calculate intersection point of line and circle

I wrote this post to point out the power of a shared code editor and to show how to calculate where a line intersects a circle. Open the link in a recent Chrome or Firefox browser and press play!

One of the things I really miss in Javascript are proper classes. You can fake classes with functions but it is what it is. Not a Class (NaC). So in my example I rebuilt a C# class that we use a lot in our Silverlight training: ‘Employee’

The Employee class has a constructor that takes a Name (string) and Salary (double). It has a method RaiseSalary(double percentage) and a public property ‘Info’ that returns info about the employee.

Getting started

So let’s start by opening http://try-dart-lang.appspot.com/ in Chrome. I use Chrome 14.0.835.202.

Dart code

Let’s start with a main top level function main function:

main() {
  print('Hello, Vera!');
}

Enter the code in the Dart editor and press the play button:

Employee class

So here’s an example of a class with a public property in Google Dart:

class Employee{
  String name;
  double salary;

  Employee(String name, double salary){
    this.name=name;
    this.salary=salary;
  }

  get Info()=> "Hello "+name+", your salary is €"+salary;

  RaiseSalary(double percentage){
    salary=salary+salary*percentage/100;
  }
}

Create and use this class like this:

main() {
 var emp=new Employee("Vera",4500.0);
 print(emp.Info);
 emp.RaiseSalary(6);
 print(emp.Info);
}

Wich results in:

This is just a small example but it’s a nice start with Dart. You can find the full Language specification on the Dart website. Happy coding!

When you use Expression blend it’s easy to create static resources for everything you are going to re-use. Static resources are always loaded in Silverlight. Even if they are not used. Unfortunately Expression Blend does not have a way to get rid of unused resources. Last year I built a small WPF app that analyses your project for you and indicates unused static resources. I’ve used it again today and decided to share it with you.

ResourceCounter

Download and extract ResourceCounter.zip and run the exe.
Enter a valid path to a Silverlight or WPF project and click ‘Analyse’