Chapter 9. Laying out a more complex application

 

This chapter covers:

  • Planning a WPF application
  • Layering multiple layouts
  • Setting up menus and toolbars
  • The reason fast-food restaurants always give you 5 million napkins

It’s no secret that many applications are based on design concepts users are already familiar with. Some of this approach is purely practical—users can’t be expected (and typically don’t want) to learn significantly different ways of interacting with every program they use. Changing the fundamental building blocks of an application is a sure way to create some disenchantment with your users, and WPF gives a dangerous[1] level of ability to do that.

1 Maybe dangerous is a little strong, but then, if you’re writing a UI for a nuclear power plant or tanker navigation system, maybe it isn’t.

9.1. Creating the Desktop Wiki Project

9.2. Nesting layouts

9.3. Nested layouts

9.4. Summary