I’ve been receiving a lot of questions regarding the possibility of usage S# in a declarative way directly from xaml rather than from code behind. Such approach is extremely valuable when dealing with BPM-like usages and dynamic forms that are presented by raw Xaml stored in database and instantiated via XamlReader.
In this article I’m going to show you how easy it can be to embed a S# script into Xaml and execute it dynamically. For this purpose I will be using some blocks of the new upcoming “S# Silverlight Toolkit” that will be available soon as a part of the S# package. The toolkit will be distributed as a free addition with source code provided.
For the sake of simplicity I’m going to show the very basic injection of S# scripts into Xaml markup. I will be using Silverlight 3 for this purpose. The sample code will be updated to Silverlight 4 as soon as S# 2.0 reaches RTM.
1. Required Assembly References
You will need adding references to the following assemblies:
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Orbifold.SSharp.dll
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Orbifold.SSharp.Silverlight.Toolkit.dll (you can find it in the form of source code within the sample solution attached at the end of the article)
2. Required Namespace Declaration
You will need to declare 3 additional namespaces
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“sys” pointing to the “System” namespace in “mscorlib” to be able using basic .NET types from within Xaml;
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“scriptingRuntime” pointing to the “Orbifold.SSharp.Runtime” namespace to be able using “ScriptContext” from within Xaml;
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“scriptingToolkit” pointing to the “Orbifold.SSharp.Silverlight” namespace to be able using Silverlight facilities like “CodeBlock” and “ScriptManager” from within Xaml;
3. Introducing Script Execution Context for the Form
Obviously you will want providing some context variables or custom functions for the scripts executed by the form. For this purpose I’m declaring a ScriptContext instance in the resources section of the form:
Here’s the code behind I’ve used to initialize default script context for the form:
First of all you will need initializing Runtime Host. I’ve promoted the entire “System.Windows” assembly (via MessageBox type) to be able calling Message Boxes from within scripts.
Next I’ve got access to “defaultContext” declared in the markup and created a script variable “Form” pointing to the instance of this very Silverlight form. Additionally you may need assigning “ExecutionContext” attached property for the form if you want embedding scripts for the form-level events like “Loaded”.
4. Attaching S# Scripts to the UI elements
S# Silverlight Toolkit provides a set of facilities regarding script injection. You will need 2 of them for now: Code Block and Script Manager. CodeBlock class serves as a wrapper around plain S# script while Script Manager provides a set of attached properties (see Ramora Pattern) to wire UI elements with the S# runtime engine.
OnLoaded Attached Property
Allows you to associate a S# script with a FrameworkElement and execute it each time “FrameworkElement.Loaded” event is fired. Here’s a basic example:
ScriptManager.OnLoaded attached property setter accepts “CodeBlock” instance as a valid value. Every Code Block can contain a body of the S# script and can be optionally bound to the execution context.
The script above uses common Silverlight FrameworkElement.FindName method to find an element called “TextBox” and assigns its Text property to “Dynamically populated text!!!”.
ScriptManager.OnButtonClick attached property setter accepts “CodeBlock” instance as a value and wires a S# script with a “Button.Click” event:
Sample above shows a simple scenario of finding a TextBox element on the form and modifying its “Text” property.
ScriptManager.OnGotFocus attached property setter accepts “CodeBlock” instance as a value and wires a S# script with “UIElement.GotFocus” event:
5. Running Sample
After launching the sample you will see the following UI elements:
There is a Button and a TextBox controls. The text box will contain some text assigned by the Form-level script (ScriptManager.OnLoaded)
When clicking (and so focusing) the TextBox the “OnGotFocus” script will be executed:
When clicking a Button element the message box will appear and the TextBox.Text will be changed according to the “OnButtonClick” script:
Conclusion
The S# Silverlight Toolkit opens the door for more efficient and rich scripting for your applications. Being similar to ASP.NET development it provides facilities for dynamic invocation of your scripts during the UI life cycle, allows you storing the xaml in databases and instantiate the entire UI with corresponding scripts during runtime by means of XamlReader (note that all attached properties will be restored during form instantiation, and all event handlers will be re-assigned during XamlReader.Load process).
You can get the source code for this article here:
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Silverlight 4 sample (coming soon)
