I have long had a problem with using HTML tables to display data to the user. I have an even bigger problem with editing on a table, but that is a different discussion. An HTML table is easy to implement for a developer, and this is normally why developers use them. However, a table is not always the best method for conveying data to a user, especially when that data is most likely viewed on a mobile device. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, but these should be 'the exception' and not the rule. There are many reasons why a table is not suitable for user consumption. This blog post presents some alternatives to normal HTML tables.)
One of the navigation mechanisms used in Windows 8 and Windows Phone is a Tile. A tile is a large rectangle that can have words and pictures that a user can click on. You can build your own version of a Tile in your WPF or Silverlight applications using a User Control. With just a little bit of XAML and a little bit of code-behind you can create a navigation system.)
Some of our customers are asking us to give them a Windows 8 look and feel for their applications. This includes things like buttons, tiles, application bars, and other features. In this blog post I will describe how to create a button that looks similar to those you will find in a Windows 8 application bar.)
Instead of a normal button with words, sometimes you want a button that is just graphical. Yes, you can put an Image control in the Content of a normal Button control, but you still have the button outline, and trying to change the style can be rather difficult. Instead I like creating a user control that simulates a button, but just accepts an image. Figure 1 shows an example of three of these custom user controls to represent minimize, maximize and close buttons for a borderless window. Notice the highlighted image button has a gray rectangle around it. You will learn how to highlight using the VisualStateManager in this blog post.)
You go to great pains to add styles, colors, gradients, and a really cool look and feel to your WPF application only to have that ruined by the standard Windows message box as shown in Figure 1. What would be nice is if Microsoft offered a styled message box. But, they don't. So it is up to us to create a window that we can style and do whatever we want with it.)
In Figure 1 you can see examples of the standard WPF Button controls. You can add a drop shadow and you can change the color, but you can't change much else without creating a whole new control template. For example, you are unable to modify the BorderBrush or the BorderThickness properties of the Button control. Additionally you might want to use some other animation than the default, which again requires you to change the control template. Sometimes all you want to do is to just have some simple buttons where you can modify the border brush and the thickness and have different color options via styles. I have found that instead of working with the whole control template thing, just creating a User Control is sometimes much easier.)