Building Data Visualization
Applications with the Windows
Presentation Foundation and
SilverLight...and Surface
Tim Huckaby
CEO, InterKnowlogy
Microsoft RD & MVP
About…
• InterKnowlogy
(www.InterKnowlogy.com)
• Tim Huckaby, CEO (TimHuck@InterKnowlogy.com)
● Custom Application Development / Consulting / Software &
Systems Engineering Firm headquartered in Carlsbad, CA
● Design, Architect, Build and Deploy Enterprise Class Applications
● Industry Experts:
•Most of the employees are published, MVPs, Speakers, etc.
•Microsoft .NET Application development since 2000!
•Microsoft .NET Rich Client Pioneers / industry leaders
•Information Worker Solutions (VSTO & SharePoint)
•Integration / Messaging, B2B / B2C, Wireless / Mobility
•Leading Edge: Surface, WPF, Silverlight, Win7 touch, SharePoint, VSTO
•Cutting Edge Solutions on emerging Microsoft technologies
•Largest Client: Microsoft
Session Objectives And Agenda
Data Visualization: WPF & XAML…and Silverlight…and Surface
Session Objective: To get you excited by showing you “what you can do” so
that you start doing it.
Why you need Rich Client Applications
Rich Client Technology Roadmap
Demos, demos, demos!...
The Scripps Research
Institute: C-ME
Tim Huckaby
CEO, InterKnowlogy
Microsoft RD & MVP
5
The Scripps Research Institute: C-ME
• WPF Smart Client for SharePoint 2007
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Collaborative Client
2D & 3D views at a molecular level
Leverage the collaborate environment of
SharePoint 2007
Provide data in the context of the project not in the context of it’s
storage
• Allow users to drag and drop data into the
context of the project
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Smart client then handles the display & annotations of the
underlying storage
Allow user’s to add ad-hoc information
3D with WPF
Check out the
method level
support for Rotation
This is why you
should have paid
attention in high
school calculus..
Lightweight WPF runtime
• Interactive experiences for devices,
PC, & Mac platforms (and others…)
• Strict subset of Windows Presentation Foundation
• Lightweight download (4.2mbs)
• Programming model uses XAML + Jscript + WPF
• Access to WPF tooling
WPF-based Tools
<XAML>
<Button Width="100px"> OK
<Button.Background>
LightBlue
</Button.Background>
</Button>
</XAML>
Silverlight
43Things.com & InterKnowlogy Wish 43
Tim Huckaby
CEO, InterKnowlogy
Microsoft RD & MVP
10
What the heck is XAML?
• Separates the front-end from the back-end
• Simple declarative programming language
suitable for constructing and initializing .NET
Objects
• Usually the most concise way to represent user
interfaces (or other hierarchies of objects)
• Doesn’t need a compile to render
• The language that almost all WPF related tools
emit
XAML Demos
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WPF – how does it work?
• Built on Top of Direct 3D
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Converted to 3D triangles, textures and other Direct3D
objects & then rendered by hardware
Benefits of hardware acceleration & performance due
to work being off-loaded to GPUs (unlike GDI based
systems)
Ensures the maximum benefit of new hardware
and drivers
Software rendering pipeline as fallback
Simulating the “Design to Dev" WPF
experience with VS 2008, Expression
Designer, XAML Cruncher, and Expression
Blend
15
Why WPF?
• The GDI & USER subsystems were
introduced in Windows 1.0 in 1985
• OpenGL – Early 90s
• DirectX – 1995
• Goal: Overcome the limits of GDI+ &
USER with the productivity of Windows
Forms
WPF 3D
Tim Huckaby
CEO, InterKnowlogy
Microsoft RD & MVP
17
WPF FAQ
1. Does WPF enable me to do something I
couldn’t have done before?
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No. Unless you factor in time & money…
2. Is DirectX dead?
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No. It is more applicable to advanced 3D developers writing hard-core “twitch”
games.
3. Are Winforms dead?
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No. …but it will not be advanced; the last version was 2.0 in .NET 2005.
WPF / Winforms Integration is simple
Windows 98 Supports WinForms
4. Does WPF run better on Vista than on
XP?
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Yes.
3D objects only get anti-aliasing on Windows Vista or Later
Non-rectangular windows only get hardware acceleration on Vista.
Vista has a driver model that helps with resource contention
Surface!
WPF: Where to go Next
Free Resources
• WindowsClient.net - this is the official Microsoft
community portal for WPF development, and is
chock full of great resources such as the...
• Learn WPF page - this page links to podcasts,
labs, and the very popular "how do I?" videos
• MIX University's WPF Bootcamp - this is a full 3day video training course on WPF, in which
expert instructors guide you from the surface
into the depths of the technology stack
Where to go next
• Windows Presentation Foundation
Unleashed (WPF)
• by Adam Nathan, Daniel Lehenbauer
• Essential Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF)
• by Chris Anderson
Where to go…soon…
• Windows Presentation
Foundation
A Scenario-Based Approach
by Billy
Hollis
• “Early April…I hope…”
B. Hollis, 12/7/07
• “October…”
B. Hollis, 6/3/08
• “It’s not going to be done in April.”
B. Hollis, 2/24/09
Tim Huckaby, InterKnowlogy
• More info on InterKnowlogy:
● www.InterKnowlogy.com
• Contact me: Tim Huckaby
●
E-mail: TimHuck@InterKnowlogy.com
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Phone:
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760-444-8640
Blog: http://team.interknowlogy.com/blogs/timhuckaby
• About Tim Huckaby…
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CEO, InterKnowlogy
Microsoft® Regional Director – Southern California
Microsoft® .NET Partner Advisory Council Founder / Member
Microsoft® MVP - .NET
Microsoft® Surface Partner Advisory Council
INETA Speaker – International .NET Users Group Association
Windows and .NET Magazine Advisory Board Member
.NET Developers Journal Magazine Advisory Board Member
Author / Speaker
InterKnowlogy Surface
Highlights
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