yalaTech

Hello Workflow

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 15:41:00 -0700

Workflows are a way to execute a business process. Each step in that process is implemented by an Activity. We will create a very simple workflow that will be the equivalent to this code:

private static void SayHello()

{

Console.WriteLine("Hello Workflow 4");

}

Visual Basic

Private Shared Sub SayHello()

Console.WriteLine("Hello Workflow 4")

End Sub

Start Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Create a new project in Visual Studio 2010 of type Workflow Console Application (under the Workflow project type) in either the Visual C# or Visual Basic projects Templates list. Ensure .NET Framework 4 is selected as the target runtime
, and name it HelloWorkflow. Name the solution Begin, set the desired location, and click OK.

Creating a new Workflow Console Application (C#)

Creating a new Workflow Console Application (Visual Basic)
Since our business process is a 1 step process, you can simply add a WriteLine activity to implement the process. From the Toolbox open Primitives tab, drag a WriteLine activity and drop it on the design surface.

Adding a WriteLine activity

Note: If the Toolbox window is not visible, select Toolbox from the View menu.
Set the WriteLine Text property to "Hello Workflow 4".

Setting the Text property

WriteLine Activity

The WriteLine activity is a simple activity that will display a message on the console. The text property is an Expression which could be the result of calling a function or evaluating the property of an object. In this case, the expression is a literal string so you must quote the string. Press CTRL+F5 to build and run the workflow without debugging. The application should run in a console window and print the message “Hello Workflow 4”.
Press CTRL+F5
to build and run the workflow without debugging. The application should run in a console window and print the message “Hello Workflow 4”.

The completed HelloWorkflow application

Interview Questions

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:50:00 -0700

Question No. 1: "Tell me about yourself."
This is usually the opening Question in an interview and it's the perfect moment for you to toot your own horn -- not to tell your life history. Your answers should be a quick rundown of your qualifications and experience. Talk about your education, work history, recent career experience and future goals.

Suggested answer: "I graduated from University X and since then, I have been working in public relations with an agency where I have generated millions of PR hits for my clients. While I've enjoyed working on the agency side, I'm looking to expand my horizons and start doing PR for corporate companies such as this one."

Question No. 2: "Why did you leave your last job?"
This is your chance to talk about your experience and your career goals, not to badmouth a former boss or give a laundry list of reasons for your exit. Instead, focus on what you learned in your previous position and how you are ready to use those skills in a new position.
Suggested answer: "The company just wasn't a good fit for my creativity, but I learned that organizations have distinct personalities just like people do. Now I know where I'll be a better fit."

Question No. 3: "Where do you see yourself in five years?"
Let the employer know that you're stable and you want to be with this company for the long haul. Keep your aspirations to take over the firm with which you are interviewing, own your own company, retire at 40 or be married with five children to yourself.
Suggested answer: "I want to secure a civil engineering position with a national firm that concentrates on retail development. Ideally, I would like to work for a young company, such as this one, so I can get in on the ground floor and take advantage of all the opportunities a growing firm has to offer."

Question No. 4: "What are your weaknesses?"
The key to answering this age-old Question is not to respond literally. Your future employer most likely won't care if your weak spot is that you can't cook, nor do they want to hear the generic responses, like you're "too detail oriented" or "work too hard."
Respond to this query by identifying areas in your work where you can improve and figure out how they can be assets to a future employer. If you didn't have the opportunity to develop certain skills at your previous job, explain how eager you are to gain that skill in a new position.
Suggested answer: "In my last position, I wasn't able to develop my public-speaking skills. I'd really like to be able to work in a place that will help me get better at giving presentations and talking in front of others."

Question No. 5: "Why were you laid off?"
This Question will become more common as the economy continues to slow down. It's a Question, however, especially because many workers aren't told exactly why they were laid off. The best way to tackle this Question is to answer as honestly as possible.
Suggested answer: "As I'm sure you're aware, the economy is tough right now and my company felt the effects of it. I was part of a large staff reduction and that's really all I know. I am confident, however, that it had nothing to do with my job performance, as exemplified by my accomplishments. For example..."

Question No. 6: "Tell me about the worst boss you ever had."
Never, ever talk badly about your past bosses. A potential boss will anticipate that you'll talk about him or her in the same manner somewhere down the line.
Suggested answer: "While none of my past bosses were awful, there are some who taught me more than others did. I've definitely learned what types of management styles I work with the best."

Question No. 7: "How would others describe you?"
You should always be asking for feedback from your colleagues and supervisors in order to gauge your performance; this way, you can honestly answer the Question based on their comments. Keep track of the feedback to be able to give to an employer, if asked. Doing so will also help you identify strengths and weaknesses.
Suggested answer: "My former colleagues have said that I'm easy to do business with and that I always hit the ground running with new projects. I have more specific feedback with me, if you'd like to take a look at it."

Question No. 8: "What can you offer me that another person can't?"
This is when you talk about your record of getting things done. Go into specifics from your résumé and portfolio; show an employer your value and how you'd be an asset.
Suggested answer: "I'm the best person for the job. I know there are other candidates who could fill this position, but my passion for excellence sets me apart from the pack. I am committed to always producing the best results. For example..."

Question No. 9: "If you could choose any company to work for, where would you go?"
Never say that you would choose any company other than the one where you are interviewing. Talk about the job and the company for which you are being interviewed.
Suggested answer: "I wouldn't have applied for this position if I didn't sincerely want to work with your organization." Continue with specific examples of why you respect the company with which you are interviewing and why you'll be a good fit.

Question No. 10: "Would you be willing to take a salary cut?"
Salary is a delicate topic. In today's tough economy though, how much a company can afford to pay you might be the deal breaker in whether or not you are offered a position.
Suggested answer: "I'm making $X now. I understand that the salary range for this position is $XX - $XX. Like most people, I would like to improve on my salary, but I'm more interested in the job itself than the money. I would be open to negotiating a lower starting salary but would hope that we can revisit the subject in a few months after I've proved myself to you."

Building a Composite Activity Designer part(4 - 4)

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:43:00 -0700

Part 4 Adding a TextBox to the Workflow Designer

We will add a TextBox control to the hosted Workflow designer that will serve as a XAML code viewer. This will allow us to see the XAML source code as the workflow is edited.

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Open the project from last post Building a Composite Activity Designer part(3 - 4).
Add the TextBox to the designer window. To do this, open MainWindow.xaml in the XAML editor and replace the current element with the following code (shown in bold).

XAML

<Window ...>

  <Grid>

    <Grid.RowDefinitions>

        <RowDefinition Height="4*" />

        <RowDefinition Height="*" />

    </Grid.RowDefinitions>

    <Grid Name="grid1">

        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

            <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />

            <ColumnDefinition Width="4*" />

            <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />

        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

    </Grid>

    <TextBox Grid.Row="1" Height="250" Name="textBox1" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Visible" />

    </Grid>

</Window>
Wire up the ModelChanged event from the Workflow Designer to force it to write the current XAML to its buffer (WorkflowDesigner.Text property). To do this, in Solution Explorer right-click MainWindow.xaml and select View Code. Add the following method to MainWindow class:

C#

private void AddXamlTextBox()

{

wd.ModelChanged += ((s, e) => wd.Flush());

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub AddXamlTextBox()

AddHandler wd.ModelChanged, (Sub(s, e) wd.Flush())

End Sub
Call the method from the MainWindow constructor. To do this, add the following code (shown in bold) to the constructor:

public MainWindow()

{

    InitializeComponent();

    this.RegisterMetadata();

    this.AddDesigner();

    this.AddToolBox();

    this.AddXamlTextBox();

    this.AddPropertyInspector();

}

Visual Basic

Public Sub New()

    InitializeComponent()

    Me.RegisterMetadata()

    Me.AddDesigner()

    Me.AddToolBox()

    Me.AddXamlTextBox()

    Me.AddPropertyInspector()

End Sub
Set the HostingApplication project as startup project. To do this, right-click HostingApplication project in Solution Explorer and select Set as StartUp Project.
Press CTRL+F5 to run the application.
Drag a MyTryCatchFinally activity from the Toolbox and drop it in the Sequence designer surface.

Adding a TryCatchFinally activity
Drag two Prompt activities from the Toolbox and use them as Try and Finally activities respectively.

Adding Prompt activities

Note: Notice that the workflow XAML is being displayed in the TextBox at the bottom of the window.
Remove the TryCatchFinally activity. To do this, click over the activity surface and press Delete.
Drag a PrePostSequence activity from the Toolbox and drop it into the empty sequence.

Adding a PrePostSequence activity
Drag and drop Prompt activities into the Pre and Post sections of the PrePostSequence activity.

Adding Pre and Post Activities
Drag several Prompt activities into the Activities section of the PrePostSequence activity.

Adding Activities
Close the window to end this verification.

Building a Composite Activity Designer part(3 - 4)

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 8 Oct 2012 15:17:00 -0700

Part 3 Registering the Activities Designers

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Open the project from last post Building a Composite Activity Designer part(2 - 4) .
Register the PrePostSequence and TryCatch designers in the Workflow Designer metadata. To do this, in Solution Explorer, under the HostingApplication project, right-click MainWindow.xaml and select View Code. In the RegisterMetadata method add the following code (shown in bold):

C#

private void RegisterMetadata()

{

    (new DesignerMetadata()).Register();

    AttributeTableBuilder builder = new AttributeTableBuilder();

    // Register Custom Designers.

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(typeof(Prompt), new DesignerAttribute(typeof(BasicDesignerWithStyling)));



    builder.AddCustomAttributes(typeof(PrePostSequence), new DesignerAttribute(typeof(PrePostSequenceDesigner)));

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(typeof(TryCatch), new DesignerAttribute(typeof(MyTryCatchFinally)));

    // Apply the metadata

    MetadataStore.AddAttributeTable(builder.CreateTable());

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub RegisterMetadata()

    Dim dm As New DesignerMetadata()

    dm.Register()

    Dim builder As New AttributeTableBuilder()

    ' Register Custom Designers.

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(GetType(Prompt), New DesignerAttribute(GetType(BasicDesignerWithStyling)))



    builder.AddCustomAttributes(GetType(PrePostSequence), New DesignerAttribute(GetType(PrePostSequenceDesigner)))

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(GetType(TryCatch), New DesignerAttribute(GetType(MyTryCatchFinally)))



    ' Apply the metadata

    MetadataStore.AddAttributeTable(builder.CreateTable())

End Sub

Note: Doing this you are overriding the default TryCatch designer with the custom one created in the previous post.
Create two new toolbox items for each activity, and register them in the designer Toolbox. To do this, find the GetToolboxControl method and add the following code (shown in bold):

C#

private ToolboxControl GetToolboxControl()

{

    //Create the ToolBoxControl

    ToolboxControl ctrl = new ToolboxControl();

    //Create a collection of categories

    ToolboxCategory categoryItems = new ToolboxCategory("category1");

    //Creating toolboxItems

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool = new ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.Prompt",

"CustomActivities", null, null);

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool2 = new ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.Sequence",

        "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35",

        null, "Sequence");

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool3 = new ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.TryCatch", "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35", null, "MyTryCatchFinally");

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool4 = new ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.PrePostSequence", "CustomActivities", null, "PrePostSequence");

    categoryItems.Add(tool);

    categoryItems.Add(tool2);

    categoryItems.Add(tool3);

    categoryItems.Add(tool4);

    ctrl.Categories.Add(categoryItems);

    return ctrl;

}

Visual Basic

Private Function GetToolboxControl() As ToolboxControl

    ' Create the ToolBoxControl

    Dim ctrl As New ToolboxControl()

    ' Create a collection of categories

    Dim categoryItems As New ToolboxCategory("category1")



   'Creating toolboxItems

    Dim tool As New ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.Prompt", "CustomActivities", Nothing, Nothing)

    Dim tool2 As New ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.Sequence", "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35", Nothing, "Sequence")

    Dim tool3 As New ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.TryCatch", "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35", Nothing, "MyTryCatchFinally")

    Dim tool4 As New ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.PrePostSequence", "CustomActivities", Nothing, "PrePostSequence")

    categoryItems.Add(tool)

    categoryItems.Add(tool2)

    categoryItems.Add(tool3)

    categoryItems.Add(tool4)

    ctrl.Categories.Add(categoryItems)

    Return ctrl

End Function

Building a Composite Activity Designer part(2 - 4)

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 7 Oct 2012 06:41:00 -0700

We will learn how to create a composite activity designer. We will use the metadata stored to override the designer of an activity from the workflow activity library. Also, We will add a text box in the hosted workflow designer to display the XAML source code while creating a workflow.

Default designer vs. Composite designer

Part 2 Creating a Custom Activity and its Designer

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Open the project from last post Building a Composite Activity Designer part(1 - 4) .
Create a new custom activity. To do this, right-click the CustomActivities project and select Add | New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box select the Code category and then select the Class template. Set the name to PrePostSequence.cs (C#) or PrePostSequence.vb (Visual Basic) and click Add.

Adding a custom activity (C#)
Adding a custom activity (Visual Basic)
Add the following namespace directive at the top of the PrePostSequence.cs (C#) or PrePostSequence.vb (Visual Basic) file:

C#

using System;

using System.Activities;

using System.Collections.Generic;

Visual Basic

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Implement the PrePostSequence custom activity. To do this, replace the empty class definition with the following code:

C#

public class PrePostSequence : CodeActivity

{

    public Activity Pre { get; set; }

    public Activity Post { get; set; }

    public List<Activity> Activities { get; set; }

    public PrePostSequence()

    {

        Activities = new List<Activity>();

    }

    protected override void Execute(CodeActivityContext context)

    {

        throw new NotImplementedException();

    }

}

Visual Basic

Public Class PrePostSequence

    Inherits CodeActivity

    Public Property Pre() As Activity

    Public Property Post() As Activity

    Public Property Activities() As List(Of Activity)

    Public Sub New()

        Activities = New List(Of Activity)()

    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Sub Execute(ByVal context As CodeActivityContext)

        Throw New NotImplementedException()

    End Sub

End Clas
Create an activity designer for the PrePostSequence activity. To do this, right-click the CustomActivities project and select Add New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box select the Workflow category and then the Activity Designer template. Set the name to PrePostSequenceDesigner.xaml and click Add. The Activity designer will open automatically.
Create the designer for the PrePostSequence custom activity. To do this, open the PrePostSequence in the XAML editor, and add the following code (shown in bold) removing the tags.

XAML

<sap:ActivityDesigner ...>

    <StackPanel>

        <Border BorderBrush="Green" BorderThickness="4" CornerRadius="5">

            <sap:WorkflowItemPresenter Item="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Pre, Mode=TwoWay}" HintText="Insert Pre Activities Here"/>

        </Border>

        <Border BorderBrush="Red" BorderThickness="4" CornerRadius="5">

            <StackPanel>

                <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="2" CornerRadius="5">

                    <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Center">Activities</TextBlock>

                </Border>

                <sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter Items="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Activities}" HintText="Insert Activities Here">

                    <sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter.SpacerTemplate>

                        <DataTemplate>

                            <Ellipse Fill="Red" Width="30" Height="30" />

                        </DataTemplate>

                    </sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter.SpacerTemplate>

                    <sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter.ItemsPanel>

                        <ItemsPanelTemplate>

                            <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal"/>

                        </ItemsPanelTemplate>

                    </sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter.ItemsPanel>

                </sap:WorkflowItemsPresenter>

            </StackPanel>

        </Border>

        <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="4" CornerRadius="5">

            <sap:WorkflowItemPresenter Item="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Post, Mode=TwoWay}" HintText="Insert Post Activities Here"/>

        </Border>

    </StackPanel>

</sap:ActivityDesigner>

The activity designer should look similar to the following figure:

Creating the activity designer
Warning
If an error is displayed on the XML editor window, fix it by building the solution (press CTRL+SHIFT+B).

Building a Composite Activity Designer part(1 - 4)

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 6 Oct 2012 14:16:00 -0700

Default designer vs. Composite designer

Step 1 : Creating a Designer for the TryCatch Built-in Activity

We will open the starting solution for the exercise and create a designer for the TryCatch activity provided in the Activity Library.

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Open the project from last post Adding Controls to an Activity Designer
Add a new Activity Designer. To do this, right-click the CustomActivities project and select Add | New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box select the Workflow category and select the Activity Designer template. Set the name to MyTryCatchFinally.xaml and click Add. The activity designer will open automatically.

Adding an Activity Designer (C#)

Adding an Activity Designer (Visual Basic)
Create the designer for the TryCatch built-in activity. To do this, open the MyTryCatchFinally in the XAML editor, and add the following code (shown in bold) removing the tags.

XAML

<sap:ActivityDesigner ...>

    <StackPanel>

        <Border BorderBrush="Green" BorderThickness="4" CornerRadius="5">

            <sap:WorkflowItemPresenter Item="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Try, Mode=TwoWay}" HintText="Insert Try Activities Here"/>

        </Border>

        <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="4" CornerRadius="5">

            <sap:WorkflowItemPresenter Item="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Finally, Mode=TwoWay}" HintText="Insert Finally Activities Here"/>

        </Border>

    </StackPanel>

</sap:ActivityDesigner ...>

The activity designer should look similar to the following figure:

Creating the activity designer

Save the activity and close the file.

Adding Controls to an Activity Designer

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 4 Oct 2012 12:50:00 -0700

We will learn how to add a control (E.g. a text box) to customize the Activity Designer and then bind the control to one of the properties of the activity.

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Open the project from last post Creating a Basic Activity Designer. At this point we have a solution with two projects: one containing the Prompt activity to customize and the other with the Workflow designer hosted in a WPF application.
Add a StackPanel to the Activity Designer and place the ViewBox control inside. To do this, open BasicDesignerWithStyling.xaml (located under the CustomActivities project) and add the following code in the XAML view :

XAML

<StackPanel>

    <Viewbox x:Name="Group" Width="75" >

        ...

    </Viewbox>

</StackPanel>
Add a TextBox to the Activity Designer. To do this, add the following code(shown in bold) below the Viewbox control:

XAML

<StackPanel>

    <Viewbox x:Name="Group" Width="75" >

        ...

    </Viewbox>

    <TextBox Text="{Binding Path=ModelItem.Text, Mode=TwoWay}" />

</StackPanel>
Press CTRL+S to save the changes.
Press CTRL+F5 to run the application.

Adding a Prompt activity

Drag a Prompt activity from the Toolbox and drop it over the Sequence surface. The designer window should look similar to the following figure:
Enter some text in the activity text box, for example: “Hello World”. Then click over the Prompt activity surface. The PropertyInspector should reflect the new value of the activity’s Text property.

Changing Prompt activity Text property

Creating a Basic Activity Designer

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Oct 2012 04:34:00 -0700

We will create the basic styled Activity Designer and register it to use it for the Prompt activity.

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
On the File menu, point to New, and click Project.
like last post create WPF Project by chose WPF Project from list and name it CustomActivities and Solution name SecondApps.
Remove App.xaml and MainWindow.xaml from the project.
Add references to System.Activities.Design assemblies in the CustomActivities project. To do this, in Solution Explorer, right-click the CustomActivities project and select Add Reference. In the .NET tab of the dialog box that is displayed select:
◦ System.Activities.Presentation

Click OK to add the references.

Adding WorkflowModel.Design references
Add an Activity Designer to the CustomActivities project. To do this, right-click the CustomActivities project and point to Add and select New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box select the Workflow category and select the Activity Designer template. Type BasicDesignerWithStyling.xaml in the Name box.

Adding the Activity Designer item to the project (C#)

Adding the Activity Designer item to the project (Visual Basic)
Add the code to BasicDesignerWithStyling.xaml to add a XAML drawing inside the Prompt activity. To do this, follow these steps:
a.       Open the file and using the XAML view remove the empty <Grid> element:

Section of the XAML code to be replaced

b.       Paste the following code in the XAML view of the designer:

XAML

<sap:ActivityDesigner ... >

    <Viewbox x:Name="Group" Width="75">

        <Canvas Width="143.047" Height="159.025">

            <Ellipse x:Name="Ellipse" Width="32.3333" Height="28.3334" Canvas.Left="20.9435" Canvas.Top="8.66254" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000"/>

            <Path x:Name="Path" Width="21.3251" Height="32.8953" Canvas.Left="53.6983" Canvas.Top="41.0262" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Data="F1 M 57.1983,44.5262L 71.5234,64.9118L 57.1983,70.4215"/>

            <Path x:Name="Line" Width="42.8127" Height="34.5482" Canvas.Left="68.5744" Canvas.Top="55.3513" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Data="F1 M 72.0744,86.3994L 107.887,58.8513"/>

            <Path x:Name="Line_0" Width="45.0165" Height="20.2231" Canvas.Left="74.635" Canvas.Top="77.3898" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Data="F1 M 78.135,94.1129L 116.152,80.8898"/>

            <Path x:Name="Path_1" Width="45.5675" Height="17.4684" Canvas.Left="74.635" Canvas.Top="102.734" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Fill="#FFFFFFFF" Data="F1 M 78.135,106.234L 110.642,115.05L 116.702,116.702"/>

            <Path x:Name="Path_2" Width="39.5069" Height="30.1405" Canvas.Left="69.6763" Canvas.Top="114.304" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Fill="#FFFFFFFF" Data="F1 M 73.1763,117.804L 95.7658,133.782L 105.683,140.945"/>

            <Path x:Name="Path_3" Width="20.2231" Height="33.4463" Canvas.Left="33.8636" Canvas.Top="88.4091" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="7" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000" Data="F1 M 50.5868,91.9091L 37.3636,106.234L 49.4848,118.355"/>

            <Rectangle x:Name="Rectangle" Width="143.047" Height="159.025" Canvas.Left="0" Canvas.Top="0" Stretch="Fill" StrokeThickness="2" StrokeLineJoin="Round" Stroke="#FF000000"/>

        </Canvas>

    </Viewbox>

</sap:ActivityDesigner>

BasicDesignerWithStyling code after adding the drawing
Press CTRL + S to save the changes and close the file. Press CTRL + SHIFT + B to build the solution.
Create new code file name it Prompt.cs by right-click the CustomActivities project and point to Add and select New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box select the code from Installed Templates and select the Code File add this code on it:

C#

namespace CustomActivities

{

using System;

using System.Activities;

using System.Activities.Statements;

public class Prompt : CodeActivity

{

public string Text { get; set; }

public string Response { get; set; }

protected override void Execute(CodeActivityContext context)

{

throw new NotImplementedException();

}

public static Activity GetSimpleSequence()

{

return new Sequence

{

Activities =

{

new Prompt(),

new Assign()

}

};

}

}

}

Visual Basic

Public Class Prompt

Inherits CodeActivity

Public Property Text() As String

Public Property Response() As String

Protected Overrides Sub Execute(ByVal context As CodeActivityContext)

Throw New NotImplementedException()

End Sub

Public Shared Function GetSimpleSequence() As Activity

Dim sequence As New Sequence()

sequence.Activities.Add(New Prompt())

sequence.Activities.Add(New Assign())

Return sequence

End Function

End Class
Create a new WPF Project in SecondApps solution by right-click Add new Project name it HostingApplication .
Now you need to make the HostingApplication aware of the new custom designer. To do this, start by right-clicking MainWindow.xaml in Solution Explorer, select View Code and add the following namespace directive:

C#

using CustomActivities;
using System.ComponentModel;

using System.Activities.Presentation.Metadata;

Visual Basic

Imports CustomActivities
Imports System.ComponentModel

Imports System.Activities.Presentation.Metadata
Write code to associate the BasicDesignerWithStyling activity designer to the Prompt activity. Add the following lines in the RegisterMetadata method, which should look like this:

private void RegisterMetadata()

{

    (new DesignerMetadata()).Register();

    AttributeTableBuilder builder = new AttributeTableBuilder();

    // Register Custom Designers.

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(typeof(Prompt), new DesignerAttribute(typeof(BasicDesignerWithStyling)));

    // Apply the metadata

    MetadataStore.AddAttributeTable(builder.CreateTable());

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub RegisterMetadata()

    Dim dm As New DesignerMetadata()

    dm.Register()

    Dim builder As New AttributeTableBuilder()

    ' Register Custom Designers.

    builder.AddCustomAttributes(GetType(Prompt), New DesignerAttribute(GetType(BasicDesignerWithStyling)))

    ' Apply the metadata

    MetadataStore.AddAttributeTable(builder.CreateTable())

End Sub
Press CTRL+S to save the changes and close the file.
Set the HostingApplication project as startup project. To do this, right-click HostingApplication project in Solution Explorer and select Set as StartUp Project.
Press CTRL+F5 to run the application.
With the application running, drag and drop a Prompt activity to the Sequence. The window should look similar to the following figure.

Adding the customized Prompt activity to the designer

Create the Property Inspector In WPF

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 2 Oct 2012 04:20:00 -0700

From last post we will create the Property Inspector window and include it in the WPF grid. To do this, in Solution Explorer right-click the MainWindow.xaml files, choose View Code. Modify the code by following these steps:

Place the PropertyInspector window to the rightmost column of the WPF grid. To do this, add a private method AddPropertyInspector to the MainWindow class.

C#

private void AddPropertyInspector()

{

    Grid.SetColumn(wd.PropertyInspectorView, 2);

    grid1.Children.Add(wd.PropertyInspectorView);

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub AddPropertyInspector()

    Grid.SetColumn(wd.PropertyInspectorView, 2)

    grid1.Children.Add(wd.PropertyInspectorView)

End Sub

End Sub

Add a call to the AddPropertyInspector method created in the previous step. To do this, add the following code (shown in bold) to MainWindow class constructor.

C#

public MainWindow()

{

    InitializeComponent();

    this.RegisterMetadata();

    this.AddDesigner();

    this.AddToolBox();

    this.AddPropertyInspector();

}

Visual Basic

Public Sub New()

    InitializeComponent()

    Me.RegisterMetadata()

    Me.AddDesigner()

    Me.AddToolBox()

    Me.AddPropertyInspector()

End Sub
Press CTRL+S to save the changes
Press CTRL+F5 to build and run the solution and verify that the PropertyInspector window is created in the rightmost column of the grid.

The WPF application hosting the WorkflowDesigner, the Toolbox and the PropertyInspector

Creating the Toolbox and the Property Inspector Windows In WPF

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 15:37:00 -0700

We will create the Toolbox and Property Inspector windows, and add them to the Workflow Designer.

From last post create the Toolbox and include it in the WPF grid. To do this, in Solution Explorer right-click the MainWindow.xaml file and choose View Code. Modify the code by following these steps:
a.       Add a factory method named GetToolboxControl that creates a ToolboxControl, adds a Toolbox Category Items Collection named category1 inside it, and assigns two items to it:

¨       CustomActivities.Prompt activity.

¨       System.Activities.Statements.Sequence activity.

C#

private ToolboxControl GetToolboxControl()

{

    //Create the ToolBoxControl

    ToolboxControl ctrl = new ToolboxControl();

    //Create a collection of category items

    ToolboxCategory categoryItems = new ToolboxCategory("category1");

    //Creating toolboxItems

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool =

        new ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.Prompt",

"CustomActivities", null, null);

    ToolboxItemWrapper tool2 = new ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.Sequence",

        "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35",

        null, "Sequence");

    //Adding the toolboxItems to the category.

    categoryItems.Add(tool);

    categoryItems.Add(tool2);

    //Adding the category to the ToolBox control.

    ctrl.Categories.Add(categoryItems);

    return ctrl;

}

Visual Basic

Private Function GetToolboxControl() As ToolboxControl

' Create the ToolBoxControl

Dim ctrl As New ToolboxControl()

' Create a collection of categories

Dim categoryItems As New ToolboxCategory("category1")

' Creating toolboxItems

Dim tool As New ToolboxItemWrapper("CustomActivities.Prompt", "CustomActivities", Nothing, Nothing)

Dim tool2 As New ToolboxItemWrapper("System.Activities.Statements.Sequence", "System.Activities, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35", Nothing, "Sequence")

'Adding the toolboxItems to the category.

categoryItems.Add(tool)

categoryItems.Add(tool2)

'Adding the category to the ToolBox control.

ctrl.Categories.Add(categoryItems)

Return ctrl

End Function

b. Place the Toolbox control to the leftmost column of the WPF grid. To do this, add a private method AddToolbox to the MainWindow class.

private void AddToolBox()

{

ToolboxControl tc = GetToolboxControl();

Grid.SetColumn(tc, 0);

grid1.Children.Add(tc);

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub AddToolBox()

Dim tc As ToolboxControl = GetToolboxControl()

Grid.SetColumn(tc, 0)

grid1.Children.Add(tc)

End Sub

c. Add a call to the AddToolbox method created in the previous step. To do this, add the following code (shown in bold) to the MainWindow class constructor.

public MainWindow()

{

InitializeComponent();

this.RegisterMetadata();

this.AddDesigner();

this.AddToolBox();

}

Visual Basic

Public Sub New()

InitializeComponent()

Me.RegisterMetadata()

Me.AddDesigner()

Me.AddToolBox()

End Sub

d. Press CTRL+S to save the changes.

2. Press CTRL+F5 to build and run the solution and verify that the toolbox is created in the leftmost column of the application window and that items dragged from the toolbox can be dropped on the Workflow Designer surface.

The WPF application hosting the WorkflowDesigner and the Toolbox

Hosting the Workflow Designer

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 04:01:00 -0700

We will configure the WPF Grid that will contain the Workflow Designer. Then, We will create the WorkflowDesigner instance programmatically, and add a Sequence activity with designer support to it. As a consequence, you will be able to host the Workflow Designer in the WPF application.

In last post open the MainWindow.xaml file in design mode. To do this, double-click the MainWindow.xaml file.

Viewing MainWindow.xaml in the designer
Adjust the size of the window. To do this, select MainWindow.xaml in the designer, press F4 to display the Properties window and in the Layout section set the Width to a value of 800 and the Height to a value of 600.

Setting the window’s size
Set the Grid name. To do this, select the Grid panel in the designer, and set the Name property to grid1.

Setting the Grid’s Name property
Set the window layout using the Grid panel. To do this, in the Properties window click the ellipsis next to the ColumnDefinitions property to open the Collection Editor.
Add three columns to the grid layout, and set their width. In the Collection Editor, use the Add button to insert three columns in the layout. Set the Width property of the middle column to the value 4*. Click OK to add the columns and close the editor saving the changes.
The resulting XAML code is shown below.
XAML

<Grid Name="grid1">

    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

        <ColumnDefinition />

        <ColumnDefinition Width="4*" />

        <ColumnDefinition />

    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

</Grid>
Note: The first column will contain the Toolbox, the second column will host the Workflow Designer, and the third column will be used for the Property Inspector.
Write code to host the Workflow Designer programmatically. To do this, in Solution Explorer right-click the MainWindow.xaml file and choose View Code. Modify the code by following these steps:
a. Add the following namespace directives:

C#

using System.Activities.Core.Presentation;

using System.Activities.Presentation;

using System.Activities.Presentation.Toolbox;

using System.Activities.Statements;

Visual Basic

Imports System.Activities.Core.Presentation

Imports System.Activities.Presentation

Imports System.Activities.Presentation.Toolbox

Imports System.Activities.Statements

b . (For Visual Basic users only) Add a class constructor invoking the initialization of the window. To do this, add the following Sub New procedure to the MainWindow class.

Visual Basic

Public Sub New()

InitializeComponent()

End Sub

c . Declare a private member field to hold an instance of the WorkflowDesigner. To do this, add the following code (shown in bold) to the Window1 class.

public partial class MainWindow : Window

{

private WorkflowDesigner wd;

public MainWindow()

{

InitializeComponent();

}

Visual Basic

Class MainWindow

Private WithEvents wd As WorkflowDesigner

Public Sub New()

InitializeComponent()

End Sub

End Class

d . Create an instance of the WorkflowDesigner, add a Sequence activity to it, and place it in middle column of the WPF grid. To do this, add the following AddDesigner method to MainWindow class.

private void AddDesigner()

{

//Create an instance of WorkflowDesigner class

this.wd = new WorkflowDesigner();

//Place the WorkflowDesigner in the middle column of the grid

Grid.SetColumn(this.wd.View, 1);

//Load a new Sequence as default.

this.wd.Load(new Sequence());

//Add the WorkflowDesigner to the grid

grid1.Children.Add(this.wd.View);

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub AddDesigner()

'Create an instance of WorkflowDesigner class

Me.wd = New WorkflowDesigner()

'Place the WorkflowDesigner in the middle column of the grid

Grid.SetColumn(Me.wd.View, 1)

'Load a new Sequence as default.

Me.wd.Load(New Sequence())

'Add the WorkflowDesigner to the grid

grid1.Children.Add(Me.wd.View)

End Sub

e . Add designer support to the Sequence class by calling the register method of the DesignerMetadata class. This will allow you to drop activities inside the Sequence activity. To do this, add the following private method to MainWindow class.

private void RegisterMetadata()

{

(new DesignerMetadata()).Register();

}

Visual Basic

Private Sub RegisterMetadata()

Dim dm as New DesignerMetadata()

dm.Register()

End Sub

f. In the MainWindow class constructor, add calls (shown in bold) to the methods declared previously to register the metadata for designer support and create the WorkflowDesigner.

public MainWindow()

{

InitializeComponent();

this.RegisterMetadata();

this.AddDesigner();

}

Visual Basic

Public Sub New()

InitializeComponent()

Me.RegisterMetadata()

Me.AddDesigner()

End Sub

g . Press CTRL + S to save the changes.

7 . Set the HostingApplication project as the startup project. To do this, right-click the HostingApplication project in Solution Explorer and select Set as StartUp Project.

8 . Press CTRL+F5 to build and run the solution and verify that the Workflow Designer is hosted in the application window.

Creating a new WPF

allaboutteck.net@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:32:00 -0700

Creating a new Windows Presentation Foundation Application

you will create an empty WPF application using the WPF Application Visual Studio template, and add to the solution the FirstApp project .

Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
Create a new project in Visual Studio 2010 of type WPF Application like this image.

Create WPF Application in C#
To do this, point to New on the File menu, and then click Project. Click Windows in either Visual C# Installed Templates list. In the Templates pane, click WPF Application, and make sure that .NET Framework 4.0 is selected as the target runtime. Finally, set the project's name to FirstApp, set the location, and then click OK.
If you use Visual Basic you will do the same step 2 and 3 but chase Visual Basic from Installed Templates list like that

Create WPF Application by VB.net
If you want to change the target framework of the FirstApp to .NET Framework 3.5. In Solution Explorer , right-click the FirstApp project and select Properties.
For C# projects, click the Application tab and select the .NET Framework 3.5 option in the Target Framework dropdown list like that.

Changing the target framework in C# projects

For Visual Basic projects, select the Compile tab and click the Advanced Compile Options button. In the Advanced Compiler Settings dialog box select the .NET Framework 3.5 option of the Target Framework dropdown list and click OK like that.

Changing the target framework in Visual Basic projects

Click Yes in the Target Framework Change message box to confirm that you want to change the target framework.

To add references to Workflow assemblies. To do this, in Solution Explorer right-click the FirstApp project and select Add Reference. In the Add Reference dialog box, switch to the .NET tab and select:

◦       System.Activities

◦       System.Activities.Core.Presentation

◦       System.Activities.Presentation

Click OK to add the references like this.

Adding references to WorkflowModel assemblies