Can non-Metro Windows apps (ex: Explorer) be built with the new WinRT, or must they still be Win32 based?
I asked this during the 'Ask the Experts' session at //Build/. The answer was "Yes, within reason. Not all of the WinRT api's will function when called from desktop apps - for example any metro specific ones will fail. No explicit list of which ones work from desktop (non-metro) apps is available."
Edit:
It appears that the documentation has been updated to provide a list of WinRT api's available from the desktop.
From "Dev Center - Metro style apps"
A sticky posted by moderator on Thursday, November 03, 2011 1:16 AM
We have received a number of inquiries in this area.
The documentation will be expanding as the Windows 8 project
progresses to include more API specific details. It is possible to
use WinRT from Desktop applications. WinRT APIs may be tied to Metro
style apps, Desktop apps or potentially available to both. The
documentation will list which environments (Desktop, Metro style or
both) a given API works in. Note: Custom WinRT components are only
supported in Metro style applications. They are not supported in
Desktop applications.
Related
The new Microsoft Edge browser has built-in support for Adobe Flash. The updated WebView control in the Windows 10 SDK utilizes Microsoft Edge as its engine.
I am trying to figure out how to enable the WebView control to render Adobe Flash content from a website in a Universal Windows App (either a Hosted Web App or a Packaged Web App).
Any ideas or pointers would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
WebView doesn't use Edge as the engine but uses IE11. Quote from the docs - "WebView always uses Internet Explorer 11 in document mode".
It also doesn't support any plugins or such, which would include Flash.
Full run of caveats from the control doc:
It does not support any ActiveX controls or plugins like Microsoft
Silverlight or Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Additionally,
WebView does not support some HTML5 features including AppCache,
IndexedDB, programmatic access to the Clipboard, and geolocation.
More "tidbit" reading up at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.ui.xaml.controls.webview.aspx .
Enjoy. Hope this helps. Healy in Tampa.
On Universal application, the webview is using edge now but it does not change anything regarding plugins.
Here is what it says from the MSDN :
In apps compiled for Windows 10, WebView uses the Microsoft Edge
rendering engine to display HTML content. In apps compiled for Windows
8 or Windows 8.1, WebView uses Internet Explorer 11 in document mode.
It does not support any ActiveX controls or plugins like Microsoft
Silverlight or Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
I am currently evaluating building an app that uses the Windows Store architecture (formerly known as Metro). This app will target not just Windows Phone devices, but also Windows 10 desktop.
One function of the app would be to drag-and-drop files onto the app from File Explorer. An example scenario would be to click-and-hold on a JPEG image and drag it into the app, which would then process the file. This would provide the user with another option instead of going through file dialogs.
I can find plenty of resources about using drag-and-drop inside Windows Store apps, but it seems there's no information about drag-and-drop from a "normal" Windows desktop app, such as File Explorer.
With Windows 10, Store apps are promoted to proper windows, rather than fullscreen apps, so this functionality seems to be a bit more useful in this environment.
This comment seems to suggest that it isn't supported, but is dated two years ago and refers to Windows 8. Is this still the case with Windows 10?
Here is video tutorial and simple example on GitHub.
How does Google Chrome make a hybrid app (i.e. one that works on the desktop and one that works out of the Modern UI, and that are switchable)? What new Windows API do they call?
The only applications that can be "hybrid" are browsers. See here (link to Microsoft whitepaper on making a browser desktop and metro enabled).
1) What I have understood that if you develop a application in metro style, it work in desktop, tablet and also phone?
2) I can understand if I use a standard template like grid template for developing my metro style app, that grid view will be converted to listview because of visual state transitions and will work in Windows phone. but my doubt is if we use a blank app template and develop whatever UI I developed as per client requirement will it be able to render or show up in windows phone?
A WinRT app (I assume that is what you mean by Metro) will run on the desktop/tablet and theoretically a Windows Phone 8 device without code changes. First, note that we are talking about Windows Phone 8 (not the current Windows Phone 7) and that it runs, not that the UI layout will be exactly right.
You can design the app however you like, whether it conforms to the Metro design or some other look altogether. If it is developed on WinRT, it should be code compatible with the phone as well.
Does windows phone 7 have a similar component likes UITableview in iPhone?
I am trying to find an api mapping published by Microsoft, but to no avail.
I welcome any comments.
Your best bet would be to bind the data to a ListBox.
Here is an example.
You may be interrested in http://windowsphone.interoperabilitybridges.com/
It includes details on getting up to speed on Windows Phone 7 development for people familliar with developing for other platforms. (Including iOS.)
Tim is correct that you will most likely end up using a ListBox, but here is a bit of a longer answer:
I believe you are referring to the iOS to Windows Phone API mapping tool, which helps map common iOS APIs to their Windows Phone equivalents. Unfortunately in this case it will not provide a direct answer to your question, as iOS and Windows Phone take different approaches to the UI layer:
Apple enforces a strict MVC pattern on each of its views. In fact, they provide a set of base view controller classes which already support much of the behaviors you see in typical iPhone applications. The most common of these include UITableViewController, UINavigationViewController, UITabBarController and the standard UIViewController.
Windows phone 7 does not require you to use an MVC pattern, and therefore does not include the standard views that are available in iOS. Instead it is left up to you to choose and implement whatever UI pattern that you choose. Many choose the MVVM Pattern, but even then there are multiple toolkits you can use (This one seems pretty popular).
To start, with most users will just use the graphical designer built into Visual Studio to drag and drop controls onto each page of their application. If you want to learn more I recommend watching the Windows Phone 7 Development for Absolute Beginners series or 31 days of Windows Phone 7 series. Most Silverlight XAML layout and APIs techniques are available in Windows Phone, so 31 days of Silverlight may also help.