Micro XAML Tool

Update 3/21/2014: 1.0.2.3

• Fixed a registration bug that required both the Visual Studio and the Visual C#​ Express to be installed (thanks to Игорь Федчун). Recompiled for .NET 4.5.

Update 9/29/2010: 1.0.2.2

• Although the utility was registering into Visual Studia 2010 as well, its 64-bit version rejected references to the old Visual Studio assemblies. Recompiled with Visual Studio 2010 SDK (thanks to Jean-Daniel Lemoine).

Update 4/19/2010: 1.0.2.1

• Fixed (well, workarounded, thanks to Chris Theberge): In case of referencing another project in the solution, the tool kept it locked, preventing subsequent builds.

Update 3/12/2010: 1.0.2.0

• Attached properties support added. Now you can go crazy with Canvas and similar.

Update 24.2.2010: 1.0.1.1

• Due to increasing requests, the tool registers into the Express editions as well. (Юрий Лещенко was the first one to let me know, thanks.)

Update 10/11/2009: 1.0.1.0

• The registration was updated so that it works on 64-bit systems (thanks to Christoph Wolfgang), as well as with any installed Visual Studio since version 2005, including 2010.
• The application is now digitally signed.

Update 12/7/2008:

• Handlers are now being expected in the root class (they were expected on the objects which defined the event). Re-registration is not needed, just rewrite the current exe file.

Sure, writing an user interface in code is not a problem. Actually, every good WPF developer should know and understand the code which XAML describes. However, it ofen means lots of code lines, and every help counts. How would you like to write the UI using XAML, including intellisense support?

Okay, enough speaking, you can download the package here (53 kB, ZIP). Installation steps:

1. This is a prerelase version and likely has bugs - you have been warned...
2. The main file is the MicroXamlTool.exe. Put it into any directory you would like to keep it in.
3. It is a custom tool, and as such it must be registered with the Visual Studio. The application can register itself automatically, if you run it as administrator without parameters:
   
   (note: you can unregister it by running it again)
4. All five schemas (the files with a .xsd extension) need to be placed in the appropriate Visual Studio folder, typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Xml\Schemas. These files provide the intellisense support.
5. Move the packed Micro WPF Window.zip archive as it is into the item templates folder, typically C:\Users\You\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Templates\ItemTemplates. This file is the standard template for new microxaml files (see the code on first screenshot) - you will see it in the project's add new item dialog:
   
6. Starting with Visual Studio 2012, you might need to run devenv.exe /setup as an admin if no code is being generated.

And that's it! How to try it:

1. Run the Visual Studio and create a new Micro Framework project of Window Application type.
2. Add a new item to the project - in the My Templates group, choose Micro WPF Window.
3. Open the Program.cs and change the line number 16 to:
   Window mainWindow = new Window1();
4. Run the project. You should see a yellow window with Hello World! text in it.
5. If you change the type of mainWindow to Window1, you can directly access the named controls: mainWindow.MyLabel1 and mainWindow.MyLabel2.

Known limitations, planned to be resolved:

• The included schemas are first sketch only. For example, they do not cover explicit properties, although they are supported (eg. <Text.TextContent></Text.TextContent>), do not check value types, do not list all colors available etc. Stay tuned for schema updates and the schema generation tool, too.
• Only x:Class and x:Name are supported from the xaml namespace at the moment.
• No markup extensions neither value converters are supplied now.

Some cool stuff:

• You can use any color string supported by desktop WPF where Color, Brush or Pen type is expected.
• Actually, the MicroXamlTool is able to instantiate any public object with parameterless constructor, not only WPF things.
• Although you cannot change the generated class' constructor, it contains a partial method OnComponentsInitialized, so you can just declare the other part:
  public partial class Window1 { partial void OnComponentsInitialized() { // your constructor code goes here } }
• As you can see from the default template, you can use resource names for values of type Font and Bitmap.
• You can attach event handlers as usual, though you have to declare them yourself in your part of the partial class.

Known limitiations which you'd rather get used to:

• Only objects from project's referenced assemblies are supported.
• You cannot instantiate nor access objects directly declared in your project.
• The Navigate to Event Handler command is not available in XAML.

Have a fun and let me know about any questions or issues!

Comments

Roland 2/14/2011 8:40:38 AM

> Only objects from project's referenced assemblies are supported. > You cannot instantiate nor access objects directly declared in your project. Does this mean that you can actually define your own UIElements in an external assembly, declare it as additional namespace and instantiate these? I would really love this feature, but seems not to work. :( Cheers, Roland

Steve Maillet 2/28/2011 9:33:10 PM

On Windows Vista and Windows 7 with UAC you will likely see an error registering the single file generator (0x80131515). To resolve this you will need to: 1) right click on the EXE 2), select properties and click on the Unblock button to unblock the application since it is considered untrusted download by default.

Sergio Carrero 3/25/2011 6:40:21 AM

Could you post a sample project where you use the template? I've tried everything but my project does not recognize the Window1 item. System Specs: WIndows 7 x64, VS2010, Net MF 4.1.

J.B. Klein 4/27/2011 9:36:21 AM

I am running Win7 with Visual Studio 2010 SP1. I have the same problem as Sergio, and when i right-click Window1 and click run custom tool i get "Cannot find custom tool 'MicroXamlTool' on this system" . I registered the tool. Is there a way to manually setup this tool?

Craig Darling 2/1/2012 9:07:59 PM

how can we download the newest version of this tool?

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