Showing posts with label wpf. Show all posts

Monday, December 21, 2009 View Comments

Take advantage of the new Windows 7 Taskbar #2 [Showcase : Bloginto7]

This is the part 2 of how to build a simple feed reader following the style of the Gmail Notifier Plus which uses basically the Windows 7 taskbar features.42001378_thumb
Part 1 was about the XAML part of the application, this part will show how to read the feeds asynchronously, how to change the ProgressBar and have an auto update features to read feeds.
First we need a prototype class to hold the feeds :

  1. namespace BlogInto_win7
  2. {
  3.     public class Feed
  4.     {
  5.         public int Id { get; set; }
  6.         public string Title { get; set; }
  7.         public string Link { get; set; }
  8.         public string PubDate { get; set; }
  9.         public string Author { get; set; }
  10.         public string Description { get; set; }
  11.         public string Votes { get; set; }
  12.     }
  13. }
Then we will need the following public variables to hold the feeds data, the current feeds shown and a timer for auto update.
Read more »

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Monday, July 27, 2009

BlogInto, the new bloginy desktop client is available


BlogInto is a desktop client that let you use bloginy from your desktop (like TweetDeck for twitter), it uses the bloginy API and some standalone functionalities to retrieve and show feeds and their associating information like user avatars and so on.


The current release is so basic, it's a beta version and it supports all the features available in the API so far. It’s built mainly on the .NET Framework using WPF and Linq.

If you have the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 you can download the non-installable version (140 Ko) or you can download the installable one (1 Mo) and benefits from automatic updates and shortcuts on the Start menu and the desktop.

Here are some screenshots of the application:


public feeds :

user specific feeds :

A 2 minutes video showing BlogInto and it's features :


  • Features of this version:
BlogInto 1.0 beta support the whole API provided by bloginy for the moment (which is still so limited) and here are the features it supports :
  1. Loading public feeds
  2. Loading user specific feeds
  3. Showing feeds details
  4. Showing a HTML representation of the feeds body
  5. Retrieving Avatars associated to users (not in the API)
  6. Portable code: execute without installing.
  • Download:
Installable version (1 Mo):

Non-Installable version (140 Ko):

  • Requirements:
We tested BlogInto on Windows 7 (main host), Winows Vista and Windows XP, but it would work normally under Windows 2003 and 2008 too.

The only component BlogInto need to run is the .NET Framework 3.5 sp1, if you run the installer of BlogInto it'll install the .NET framework 3.5 first if it's missing, but I suggest that you install it yourself then install BlogInto.

  • FeedBack :
Because we are running a beta testing, the application is designed to show errors as it encounters them and might also crashes without handling them (at least it didn't yet for me), means that it will show the whole exception message once it encounter an error, if you want help us improve the application, please send us that message along with a small description on how, and in which circumstances the error occurred, you can contact us from here : http://www.martani.net/2008/03/welcome-to-martani-fakhrou-blog.html
You may also leave a comment here indicating problems you might encounter.

  • FAQ: (you can skip what is between (...) )

1. The name:
Q : What a stupid name! XD
A : Well maybe, "bing" too is more stupid, but BlogInto stands for "Bloginy Into Bloginto" if that makes sense :)

2.Q Is running BlogInto without installing it means it's portable :
A. Kinda yes, Portable in the context of the .NET Framework, whenever you can run it, BlogInto also needs no installing (don't be happy Mono on Linux users :) it doesn't work there)

3.Q : What about Linux and Mac ("we" hate Microsoft):
A : For now BlogInto run only on the Windows operating system (don't be sad), but, the good news is that we work on the next version, maybe with the apparition of the API 2, and we will make it running on Silverlight instead of WPF, so Mac users, you are on our next list, Silverlight 3 is totally supported on Mac and Windows.

4. Security:
Q: What if you include a spyware or a Trojan with that "BlogONTO"
A: Update your antivirus.

(Q: what if you just steal information from my computer without any suspicious threats that make the AV awake
A: run it on a virtual PC, analyze traffic and tell me

Q: Ok, ok, but how I trust you?
A: dude! Shut up.)

5.Q: Why you are providing shorned URL's for the downloads?
A: I'm trying to keep an eye and do some statistics on how much the application was dowloaded, which period of time and so on.

6.Q: Cool!
A: Yeah :D

7. The source code:
Q. Is it open source, or at least can we see the code?
A: It's not open source, for now we will wait for the application to be complete (hence the API to be complete), so when we support automatic updates, sending new feeds, replies, comments, updating profiles and some other stuff, maybe we will consider making it available. For now you can see a little piece of code with Linq used in the application :


public Feed getFeed(int id)
{
var f = from n in feeds
where n.Id == id
select n;

if (f != null)
return f.First();
else
return null;
}


I hope you enjoy it.

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009 View Comments

Kaxaml, design WPF and silverlight applications with a strong editor

If you are looking for a lightweight editor to design WPF and silverlight application, or you have already done some job with XamlPad, then Kaxaml is the best tool for you.


It's shiped with a very nice UI with drag 'n' drop capabilities, intellisense and lots of other features that we find in Microsoft Expression Blen, and of course it's free.



for more information and downloads : http://www.kaxaml.com/

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