If you’ve been excited about Windows Phone 7 development and the platform being Silverlight for application development, you probably rushed and downloaded all the tools (which are free by the way).  You may have even got the samples from the SDK and noticed the Location services example…but wondered why it doesn’t work.

If you are just getting started, I created some quickstart videos to help you through some of the basics.  You can view them here.

In case you haven’t figured it out: Location services (aka, GPS) is not emulated in the developer tools CTP. 

As you might expect, this makes it difficult to play around with location-based applications.

The API in Windows Phone 7 revolves around the GeoCoordinateWatcher class.  This class is what you would initialize to start listening for events:

   1: GeoCoordinateWatcher watcher = new GeoCoordinateWatcher(GeoPositionAccuracy.Low);

   2: watcher.StatusChanged += new EventHandler<GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs>(watcher_StatusChanged);

   3: watcher.PositionChanged += new EventHandler<GeoPositionChangedEventArgs<GeoCoordinate>>(watcher_PositionChanged);

As you can see, this watcher class looks for Status and Position changes.  The status is about the device peripheral itself (initializing, reading, etc.).  Position is more likely what you are interested in and would give you the details of where the device is reading the current location (longitude and latitude).  In the emulator right now the status will always return Disabled.

It’s relatively simple to simulate this, and here’s a really simple mock class for doing so.  Now, note this is not a complete emulation of the Location services APIs for Windows Phone 7 SDK.  This mock is to simply simulate a coordinate location and position changing.  The GeoLocationMock class implements the IGeoPositionWatcher<GeoCordinate> interface for mocking the location service.  There is a Start, Stop, PositionChanged and StatusChanged methods and events (TryStart is implemented, but simply calls Start).  To implement the mock in your application you would instantiate watcher (using above sample) as IGeoPositionWatcher<GeoCoordinate> instead of the GeoCoordinateWatcher specifically.  Here is a sample, and then an explanation:

   1: public partial class MainPage : PhoneApplicationPage

   2: {

   3:     IGeoPositionWatcher<GeoCoordinate> watcher;

   4: }

   5:  

   6: private void StartLocationService(GeoPositionAccuracy accuracy)

   7: {

   8:     if (watcher == null)

   9:     {

  10:         GeoCoordinateEventMock[] events = new GeoCoordinateEventMock[] {

  11:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=34.4, Longitude=11.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,5) },

  12:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=31.4, Longitude=21.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,1) },

  13:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=34.3, Longitude=28.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,2) },

  14:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=32.4, Longitude=34.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,3) },

  15:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=31.2, Longitude=37.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,4) },

  16:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=33.73, Longitude=39.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,5) },

  17:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=31.87, Longitude=41.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,6) },

  18:             new  GeoCoordinateEventMock { Latitude=11.81, Longitude=42.2, Time=new TimeSpan(0,0,7) }

  19:         };

  20:     

  21:         watcher = new EventListGeoLocationMock(events);

  22:         watcher.StatusChanged += new EventHandler<GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs>(watcher_StatusChanged);

  23:         watcher.PositionChanged += new EventHandler<GeoPositionChangedEventArgs<GeoCoordinate>>(watcher_PositionChanged);

  24:     }

  25:  

  26:     watcher.Start();

  27: }

The ‘watcher’ is created using a list of geo location points in this sample above.  Now this could be some web service that does IP address reverse lookup or use hard-coded examples as well like I’ve done above.  Using this mock above and replacing it in the LocationServiceSample in the SDK, here’s what my screenshot shows:

So you can see I can start the GPS emulation and simulate subtle position changes (or drastic ones if I wanted, aka maybe a social network map application of sorts).

Hopefully this little snippet will be valuable to play around with or expand upon for your needs.  If anything, you can create some emulation of the behavior temporarily.  The mock object used in a modified LocationServiceSample project can be downloaded here: LocationServiceSampleWithMock.zip.

Hope this helps!

UPDATE: Peter Torr actually had another geo location mock in his MIX10 talk which his code is now available for download.  It is much more comprehensive emulating accuracy, etc.  The above is a simpler approach, but both will get the job done depending on what you really need/want to emulate.

So the news is out! 

Silverlight IS the platform for Windows Phone 7 Series development!

Sweet.  We also made available an update to Silverlight 4 that you might be interested in too!

You may be wondering how you get started.  If you are new to Silverlight, I recommend getting familiar with Silverlight first.  You can find all the tools you will need at the Silverlight community site.  In addition to the core tools you’ll want to get the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP.  This will add to your Visual Studio 2010 installation (or install Visual Studio Express) to enable Windows Phone and XNA Game Studio development.  Be sure to read the documentation on the release notes to understand any limitations.  A link to the tools, documentation, developer/UX guides and more can be found on the Silverlight for Windows Phone page.  The key elements you’d want to get  are:

• Windows Phone developer tools CTP (read the release notes)
• Expression Blend 4 add-on for Windows Phone (Christian Schormann’s blog)

I’ve also taken some quick time to get some quick videos up for some tips and familiarity with the tools and some initial areas you’ll want to take a look at.  Here are some starting videos for you:

• Getting started with Silverlight and Windows Phone development
• Windows Phone Application Bar
• Navigation framework for Windows Phone applications
• Custom application splash screen
• Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Training Kit

The getting started video has some quick tips and tricks about the emulator and using the keyboard input control (referred to as the ‘SIP’).  I suggest taking a look at these for some primer.  If you have questions afterwards, check out the dedicated forum for Silverlight for Windows Phone.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll develop using Silverlight for Windows Phone!  Be sure also to watch for @ckindel and @wp7dev on Twitter for information about Windows Phone 7 Series development.

UPDATE: Silverlight 4 is RELEASED!  READ HERE!

At MIX10, Silverlight 4 released an update, the Silverlight 4 RC (release candidate).  A few things have changed since the beta which was released in November.  If you haven’t read my guide to Silverlight 4 you may want to check that out.  The features still exist, but there are some changes to the implementations of some of the features as well as some new ones.  Please go read the previous post to familiarize yourself with the features.  This post will be complimentary to that and identify new/changed.

First let’s get you going with the tools:

• Visual Studio 2010 RC
• Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010 (this installs Silverlight developer runtime, SDK, tools, and WCF RIA Services).
• Silverlight Toolkit March 2010 Release (coming soon)
  
• WCF RIA Services Toolkit
• Expression Blend 4 beta (note: existing Blend 3 licensed users will get this as a free upgrade)
• BREAKING CHANGES DOCUMENTATION – read this
• Windows Phone Developer tools

And since sometimes people just want to get going with learning resources here’s my top suggestions:

• Silverlight learning videos for Silverlight 4 (3 new feature ones added)
  • Custom Windows Chrome
  • XAP Signing
  • Full-screen pinning mode
• Silverlight 4 hands-on-labs – major updates including an 8-part business application lab
• Silverlight 4 books – check out what you can pre-order from the experts

So here we go, here’s my brain dump of some key areas of what you’ll be seeing in the Silverlight 4 RC.  This is not all-inclusive, but I think a list of some that most will want to know about.

A quick note about Visual Studio 2010 RC

The Silverlight 4 tools linked above target the RC release of Visual Studio.  There have been 2 patches to Visual Studio 2010 RC since it’s release.  It is recommended that you have these two patches installed prior to installing the Silverlight tools.  Information about these patches (and links to them) is available here.

RichTextBox (the control formerly known as RichTextArea)

Silverlight 4 introduced a new control for enabling editing and display of rich text.  (See original details here for RichTextArea.)  A few things have changed here, one key one being the name: RichTextBox.  This was to be more consistent with WPF and also based on your feedback.  Additional improvements were also enabling the ability to get the XAML that makes up the underlying runs and paragraph of the rich text.  This is helpful for saving off the data and re-hydrating later if desired.  It’s a simple property on the RichTextBox control (assuming the control name is ‘MyRichContent’):

   1: string richText = MyRichContent.Xaml;

In addition to that, there are also some new text selection and position APIs to enable you programmatically select text and/or know where the current position of the text is located.  This is best demonstrated in the ‘Silverlight Notepad’ sample application in the hands-on-lab area where you can see examples of it being used.

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WebBrowser control

The beta provided us with a mechanism for hosting HTML content within an out-of-browser application.  This is still available to us, however some APIs have changed.  The HtmlBrush is now called the WebBrowserBrush to be consistent in naming and what it actually does.

You can view a video on using the WebBrowser control here.

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Printing API enhancements

The printing API was enhanced to help developers query for the printer page size and the printable area.  Another change was where the ‘document name’ is provided.  It is now required and a part of the Print() method.  Before:

   1: PrintDocument doc = new PrintDocument();

   2: doc.DocumentName = "Sample Document";

   3: doc.Print();

After:

   1: PrintDocument doc = new PrintDocument();

   2: doc.Print("Sample Document");

You can view a video on using the printing APIs here.

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Native automation (COM interop)

API changes in the naming of the native integration (COM interop) feature for trusted applications.  Before:

   1: dynamic excel = ComAutomationFactory.CreateObject("Excel.Application");

After:

   1: dynamic excel = AutomationFactory.CreateObject("Excel.Application");

Simple, but will catch you in a recompile :-).  You can view a video on using native integration here.

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Language/script support

Silverlight now has extended language support, including Thai and Vietnamese.  Additionally we added support for multiple Indic scripts.  The following Indic scripts are now supported:

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Networking

In the beta, socket ports were still being restricted in trusted applications.  In this release, the port restriction for socket ranges in trusted applications is removed.

Additionally, the client networking stack (ClientHttp) has been enhanced to enable UploadProgress reporting and caching support.

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User consent dialogs (webcam/clipboard/etc.)

We call those dialogs that require user permissions ‘consent dialogs.’  Your users will see these whenever code requires things like requesting device access for webcam/microphone, clipboard access, or quota increase for IsolatedStorage.  In the beta we showed these dialogs always and didn’t have a mechanism for enabling the user to determine if they wanted their consent preference saved.  That has changed in this release.  Consent dialogs now give the user the option to remember the setting which is persisted to their preferences only for that application and is in their control.  Here’s the new consent dialog for clipboard, webcam and full-screen pinning:

And if you look at the Silverlight configuration dialog you’ll notice a permissions tab now where these permissions are set for the user, which they can change or delete:

This consent dialog ‘remember my preference’ setting is not available for IsolatedStorage quote increase however.  It doesn’t make sense to enable that really for that scenario.

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XAP Signing for trusted applications

We think trusted applications (or elevated privileges applications) will be a widely used feature for this release.  We changed the install prompt dialog for trusted applications.  These are different dialogs than the typical out-of-browser install prompt as we need the user to have more information provided about them.  One key feature of a trusted application is the ability to code-sign the XAP file.  Here’s a trusted application install prompt from an un-signed application:

Windows:

Mac OSX:

And here is one from a code-signed one:

Windows:

Mac OSX:

Which would you feel more comfortable installing?  Notice that in signed applications your custom icon will show as well (even if you have the icon settings set up, if the app is unsigned they will not show).  The process of code signing is very simple and although I expect the tooling for Silverlight to improve on this, it is as simple as adding a post-build event task (or a task for automated builds) that uses the signtool.exe (installed with Visual Studio) to sign the XAP.  Here’s my post-build event task:

   1: "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin\signtool.exe" sign /v 

   2:     /f c:\users\timheuer\documents\authenticode\timheuer.pfx 

   3:     /p "MYPASSWORD" 

   4:     /t TIMESTAMP_URI_FROM_PROVIDER $(TargetName).xap

The PFX file is an exported certificate with my private key and password protected.  You can acquire code-signing certificates (normal Authenticode ones) from providers.  We were thankful to get assistance in testing this feature from the following providers who can provide you code-signing certificates for your organization:

• VeriSign
• Thawte
• GoDaddy
• Comodo

All of the above provide Authenticode code-signing certificates and are trusted certificate authorities (CA) on Windows.  A trusted CA means that their root certificates are already a part of Windows verification.  The process of obtaining one is not instant so plan ahead.  There is a specific organizational verification process that occurs which may require documentation of proof of the organization and a few phone calls.  Once you have these certificates you will be on your way to providing even more trusted applications to your users.

NOTE: Thawte code-signing certificate requests should be made from a Windows XP machine as their current process does not support Windows Vista or Windows 7.  If you use Vista/7 you will not be able to export to a PFX file for automated build or to have your certificate stored on other machines.  Read each instructions carefully.

You can also sign your XAP using self-signed certificates.  If you do so, it is likely that you are not a trusted CA on machines and would have to instruct your users further.  In my opinion, it is better to acquire a trusted CA cert for external applications.  Take a look at Jeff Wilcox’s epic post on Code Signing 101.

A special note on trusted applications…please read!  If you want to take advantage of using the update features of Silverlight for your application (aka CheckAndDownloadUpdateAsync), then your application must be signed.  If you do not sign your XAP for a trusted application it cannot auto-update.  Self-signed works here to, but don’t get your application in a state where it cannot be updated automatically!

You can view a video walk-through of XAP signing here.

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Custom window chrome

One of the more requested features of trusted applications is the ability to customize the ‘chrome’ around the window.  The chrome area refers to the standard OS-specific border and title bar that a typical out-of-browser application will receive.  In this release we give you the ability to customize this for your users.  The Visual Studio tools also build in the capability to make this easier for you:

You can see there are a few options to choose from for window types.  Right now we do not support transparent windows or irregular shapes but are aware of the desire to have these.  Here’s an example of the Facebook client before:

and with custom window chrome:

You’ll notice that in the custom window mode that since you don’t have the OS-specific title bar with minimize/maximize/close that you’ll be responsible for doing that.  That also includes handling the window moving and resizing events.  We enable APIs for you to do all of this easily. 

You can view a video on customizing window chrome and handling resizing and moving here.

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Pinned full-screen mode

Are you a developer with multiple monitor setup?  I’m jealous.  If you’ve used silverlight you’ve no doubt run into a situation where you’ve put something in full-screen on one monitor and anticipated being able to work on other stuff in the other monitor.  Maybe you’re watching a Netflix movie while working?  You’ve likely experienced the issue that the full-screen mode goes back to regular when activity occurs in the second monitor.

We’ve changed that to enable the developer to prompt for permission to 'pin’ the Silverlight application to the monitor.  This will prompt the consent dialog option (with preference remembering) to get the user’s permission.  The code is extremely simple:

   1: App.Current.Host.Content.FullScreenOptions = System.Windows.Interop.FullScreenOptions.StaysFullScreenWhenUnfocused;

Once that is implemented, the full-screen application will remain pinned until the user hits ESC key or until you change the IsFullScreen mode in the code for them.

You can view a video on using the full-screen pinning mode here.

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ContextMenu control

In the beta we introduced the right-click event handling capabilities.  In most cases this would be used by developers to implement context menus.  The Silverlight Toolkit for March 2010 release now provides a ContextMenu control for you to use and wire-up for this event.  It’s similar to the one Jesse Bishop created for the beta, so if you’ve used that it should be familiar.  It also supports ICommand too!

You can get the ContextMenu control and other great controls by ensuring you download and install the Silverlight Toolkit March 2010 release.

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SLLauncher silent installs

One of the features we added in this release was using the sllauncher.exe (which is the program that assists in out-of-browser applications) to provide silent install capabilities for your applications.  The primary scenario here would be something like CD-based installation situations.  Using a command like this:

   1: "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Silverlight\sllauncher.exe"  

   2:     /install:"D:\deploy\demoapp.xap"  

   3:     /origin:"http://foocompany.com/apps/ClientBin/demoapp.xap"  

   4:     /shortcut:desktop+startmenu  

   5:     /overwrite 

would enable you to deploy an application in this type of a situation.  Setting the origin flag here enables the application to determine where it would get future updates from if CheckAndDownloadUpdateAsync methods are called within the application.

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WCF RIA Services Toolkit

If you read above you’ll know that installing the Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio also automatically installs the WCF RIA Services framework for you.  This release the RIA Services team also has a toolkit of their own.  After installing the RIA Services Toolkit you’ll get:

• LinqToSql DomainService
• SOAP endpoint – enabling exposing a SOAP endpoint for your DomainService
• JSON endpoint – enabling exposing a JSON endpoint for your DomainService
• ASP.NET DomainDataSource – enabling your ASP.NET application to talk to your DomainService

This is a separate install that you must complete.  For more details on this toolkit, visit Deepesh’s blog.

If you aren’t familiar with WCF RIA Services, you can view an introductory video here.

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Summary

It’s been a fast pace since getting the Silverlight 4 beta in your hands in November.  We’ve had a lot of work to do to finish things up and implement some new key features.  We are very excited about this release of Silverlight 4 for developers and look forward to seeing the great applications you build with it!

Be sure to visit the MIX10 site for video recordings of various Silverlight-related presentations as the event is happening and as reference later on!  I really encourage you to view the keynote to see some new consumer-facing application experiences built on Silverlight, like eBay, Associated Press (Windows Phone 7)

Hope this helps!  Be sure to subscribe here via RSS or email and if you’re on Twitter you can follow me there as well for Silverlight updates/resources

‘Twas the week before MIX, when all through the tubes
Not a developer was sleeping, not even the noobs.

The laptops were paved removed of their glitz
In hopes that they soon will get some new bits.

A developer was coding, building an app
Trying to build the next greatest XAP

Battleship gray?! Now that’s obscene
Check our designers’ latest theme

Okay, so I’m not going to win any poetry awards.  Our UX design team for Silverlight has been thinking about app building a lot this past year, gathering valuable input from developers, designers and end-users about how people interact with applications, primarily line-of-business applications (<shudder>I hate that term</shudder>).  Hot off the press here is a preview of some of the things we’ve been thinking about from a XAML theme perspective.

First, I present to you codename Grayscale.  Some subtle twists on existing base themes but not detracting too much from the ‘traditional’.  (larger view here).

Up next is codename Windows Theme (yeah, original I know, gimme a break here I’m making these up).  Taking a cue from Windows 7 system design, this theme brings familiarity to the end-user. (larger view here).

And finally, Metro.  Taking a cue perhaps from Zune desktop (and device) software design, a clean but fun theme for any application (larger view here).

So there you have some preview of some Silverlight application themes we’ve been playing around with. I know the design team is enthusiastic about getting these in the hands of developers/designers.

What do you think?

Quick, what’s the most popular thing in XAML development?  Yeah, thought so…MVVM or Model-View-ViewModel.

It’s one of the most popular subjects I hear about when people talk about developing applications with WPF and Silverlight.  However, as much as it is talked about and as much as frameworks are born every day, there isn’t a ton of just simplified ‘here’s how you do it’ information in one place.  I mean, sure there *is* information, but I have to admit I think it is a bit scattered all over.

One of the pioneers of promoting this pattern for WPF development, Josh Smith, took some time to try to solve that.  Josh has recently released a self-published book titled Advanced MVVM and is a quick and good read about the pattern.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Josh presented me with a complimentary printed copy of this book a few weeks ago.  I had already intended on purchasing it when available on Amazon Kindle and have since done so.  In the nature of ensuring I share the love and complimentary goodies, Josh allowed me to give away my printed copy to someone, which I did at a Silverlight user group meeting just last night.  I’m grateful Josh provided me with a printed copy and also grateful he encouraged me to give it as a prize.

The book is about 50-ish printed pages and is a quick read.  It covers creating a simple and common game, Bubble Burst, using the MVVM pattern.  The code is all WPF, but the concepts still apply to Silverlight development and Josh points out some areas where there are differences.

All of the code discussed in the book is available to download so that you can work with starting projects as you go throughout the book learning the pattern.  Josh covers all the key topics of the pattern you would expect: ViewModel, View, Commands, etc.  One of the things that Josh is good about is not being a zealot of the pattern.  He’s quick to point out that when code belongs with the View and when he thinks it doesn’t.

When doing development I always think it is a great idea to have some solid references on your shelf.  No matter where you are in your skill set, there will always be those times when you want to refer back to something you may have forgotten or perhaps get a different perspective on a specific way of doing things.  For MVVM development, I think this is one such reference.

On a side note, Josh got a lot of crap for his initial chosen method of distribution (Lulu digital, which uses a DRM PDF).  He quickly responded and offered a printable copy as well as put it on Amazon for Kindle distribution (which I bought and can read on my Kindle, my phone or my PC…note: phone and PC are in color too).  There are a multitude of ways you can get the title all of which are listed at the AdvancedMVVM.com web site which also lists a table of contents for the book.  If you are doing Silverlight or WPF development you should pick it up, read it and keep it handy.  It’s not the only opinion, of course, but it is a great presentation of the pattern relevant to the development platform that I’ve seen.

Recommend.