CODE Magazine / Articles
UI Design
Articles filed under UI Design
Articles
Showing 1–50 of 50
-
Stages of Data: A Playbook for Analytic Reporting Using COVID-19 Data
Updated
Kevin uses Power BI mapping to track a constantly changing array of data about the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn how pick the right data; it doesn't all come from just a few sources.
-
.NET Core for the Desktop
Updated
Software vendors and conferences would tell you that the desktop is dead, but if you’re a working consultant, you know that’s not true. Mike dives into a great tool using WinForms to show you what you’ve been missing.
-
Create a Title Bar for User Controls
Updated
Those helpful buttons for minimize, maximize, and close functions need to be added to your WPF pages if you don’t want to crowd your user’s screen. Paul shows you how.
-
A Good Idea is Just the Start
Updated
If you ever thought you’d like to develop the Next Big Thing, you’ll need Q’s advice about how to get started and what to do before you start writing code.
-
A Data-Driven Menu System for Bootstrap
Did you know that you can create a simple one-line menu system using two C# classes and a little bit of Razor code in an MVC page to create a hierarchical menu structure for drop-down menus? Paul shows you how.
-
XAML Anti-Patterns: Layout SNAFUs
Just when you think a container is simple, your user resizes the screen and mayhem ensues. If you want to know what happened—or prevent it, better yet—read Markus’ piece about the XAML layout engine.
-
XAML Magic: Attached Properties
XAML properties don’t always behave as you think they might. Markus explains how they work and shows you some nifty ways to use these powerful tools.
-
CODE Framework: WPF Standard Themes
ByMarkus Egger
VFP Conversion Papers · Markus Egger Talks Tech · CODE Magazine · 2013 - September/October
Updated
Markus Egger surveys CODE Framework’s WPF standard themes, arguing that developers can rapidly build visually consistent, flexible applications by using ready-made themes rather than crafting UI from scratch. He inventories themes (Battleship, Metro, Workplace, Vapor, Geek) and highlights their layout automation, dynamic theme switching, and shared features like automatic view layouts, data templates, notifications, and printing. Through a sample magazine manager, he demonstrates how themes drive structure (menus, toolbars, windows, lists) with minimal code, enabling deep customization and future-proof, on-the-fly UI transformations.
-
Five Ways to Advance Your User Interface
Updated
Software applications have a lifespan. Some, like utility applications that do nothing more than patch an existing application to fix a bug, are quite short. Others, like games, live only slightly longer. Then there are those applications that live on for decades, such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop. Internal business applications that are used to automate and track processes often have long lifespans as well. As developers, we add to or adjust the application’s user interface to account for new features, but rarely do we reconsider the interface as a whole. Why? Likely because we get used to the original user interface we created and don’t see any reason to change it. But complacency is generally not viewed as a virtue.
-
Getting Rid of Your Code Behind
Updated
You know you should be moving code out from behind your forms, windows and web pages and into stand-alone classes. Everyone preaches that this is what to do, everyone shows you examples of ViewModel classes, but no one really shows you a real-world example of how to get rid of the code behind.
-
Intro to Metro
Updated
Ten years after the release of the .NET Framework, Microsoft is stirring the pot again with a new development platform that set’s to focus your talents on what everyone is betting is the next big thing, mobile devices; specifically in this case, tablets. The Windows Runtime, or WinRT, is the foundation for the development of applications designed to target Windows 8-driven touch-enabled devices, but what does that mean for .NET developers and their existing skill sets?
-
Windows Phone 7 Development Using MVVM and Unit Testing
In his article, John Baird introduces Windows Phone 7 development using the Silverlight framework combined with the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) design pattern and unit testing to create maintainable, testable mobile applications. He explains Silverlight’s layout, data binding, and templating features, and emphasizes MVVM’s separation of concerns to improve code quality and enable unit testing. Baird provides practical guidance on structuring WP7 projects with Models, Views, and ViewModels, illustrating these concepts through a sample expense-tracking app. The article sets a foundation for professional WP7 development and previews further exploration of MVVM frameworks and testing tools in a follow-up.
-
Six Silverlight ListBox Tips
Updated
The Silverlight ListBox is much more than you may think. When most people think of a ListBox they typically think of just a simple control that displays rows of text. However, the Silverlight ListBox is one of the most flexible controls you will find. I tend to think of the ListBox as similar to the ASP.NET Repeater control as it too is very flexible. In this article, I will show you six different ways to display data in a Silverlight ListBox.
-
-
The State of WPF and Silverlight
Markus Egger discusses the current State of WPF and Silverlight and the overall importance and acceptance of these technologies.
-
Accessibility 101
We know what you’re thinking: Why should I read an article about the fundamentals of accessibility?Well, if you already know the percentage of computer users who have disabilities, can name at least ten different categories of assistive technologies, and can describe the key concepts involved in designing an accessible application, then you can probably skip to the next article. However, if you’re unsure what accessible technology is, then take a few minutes and keep reading. You’ll learn about the main concepts around accessible technology, the people they help, and things you can do to help them interact smoothly and successfully with each other.
-
Creating Accessibility-aware Silverlight 2 Content
Updated
If you haven't heard, accessibility is one of the most important aspects of a Web site experience.By using the accessibility features in Silverlight™ 2, you can provide the best experience for all users. Building a rich Internet experience can be a daunting task when you have to balance a cool visual design with usability.
-
Creating UI Automation Client Applications
Sometimes an application needs to interact with the user interface (UI) of a second application.The first application might be a test application that drives the UI of the target to run through some automated tests. It might describe the UI out loud, as an aid to users that are blind. It might be a speech application that allows users to give vocal commands. In each of these cases, the application needs a way to inspect and interact with the UI of the system and other running applications.
-
Making Custom Controls Accessible
Updated
While custom controls are introduced every day, not all of them are easily accessible.This article provides a quick summary of Microsoft® technologies that help make Win32-based custom controls programmatically accessible. Techniques range from implementing UI Automation, to creating or overriding properties with Dynamic Annotation, to using the new IAccessibleEx interface to close the gap between UI Automation and Microsoft Active Accessibility®.
-
Microsoft Accessibility Testing Tools vs. the Ten-ton Gorilla of Accessibility Guidelines Compliance
Close your eyes, ignore your mouse, navigate with your keyboard, and rely on your ears alone. Now try to use an application you’ve built or tested. Can you?The few informal tests described in this article can expose a plethora of usability and accessibility shortcomings, oversights, and other issues in your application. But how do you test, assess, and rectify them?
-
Open Accessibility
Creating a natural user interface requires designers, testers, and developers working in concert to develop the right support that makes multi-modal access to an operating system and applications possible.To assist in this work through the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), Microsoft® released its UI Automation Specifications with a Community Promise and released testing tools as open source projects via CodePlex. Microsoft is committed to interoperable accessibility.
-
What’s New in Windows 7 Automation API
Windows® 7 offers end-to-end accessibility with better performance, seamless interoperability, and improved framework design.
-
Windows Automation API 3.0 Overview
Updated
While general accessibility requirements (such as font colors in UI rendering) are important, programmatic access to the graphical user interface (GUI) is a crucial element to improving accessibility.On the Windows® operating system, Microsoft® Active Accessibility® and User Interface (UI) Automation support this programmatic access. This article provides a quick overview of Windows Automation API 3.0 featured in Windows 7.While general accessibility requirements (such as font colors in UI rendering) are important, programmatic access to the graphical user interface (GUI) is a crucial element to improving accessibility.On the Windows® operating system, Microsoft® Active Accessibility® and User Interface (UI) Automation support this programmatic access. This article provides a quick overview of Windows Automation API 3.0 featured in Windows 7.
-
Writing a UI Automation Provider for a Win32-based Custom Control
Updated
Do you have a complex custom control that you want to make programmatically accessible, but you aren’t sure how? Custom controls, by their nature, tend to be very diverse: each is typically written for a specific purpose, making it difficult to generalize implementation details. How do you know what to implement? You should consider supporting accessibility for any custom control that performs its own rendering and input management-routing mouse and keyboard input-within the HWND that it owns.
-
Virtual Earth-What's New in the Latest Release
Now in its sixth major release, Virtual Earth offers an entire world of opportunities for innovative Web-based mapping.Microsoft’s premier Web-based mapping solution has undergone upgrades to it user interface, compatibility, and functionality making it an ideal time to get started with the platform or upgrade your existing application. Let’s explore what’s new and what has changed in this latest release.
-
WPF Meets the iPhone
Updated
The iPhone is one of the most compelling and exciting user interfaces to appear on any consumer electronic device, with many innovations that make it a pleasure to use. How can you deliver a similar experience with your .NET applications?This article demonstrates how you can implement these features in your .NET applications in a step-by-step format as you recreate the iPhone interface using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) technology with both Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Expression Blend.
-
Adding Smart Tags to Windows Forms Controls
Updated
One new features in Visual Studio 2005 is the support for smart tags. A smart tag is a panel that displays next to a control and contains a list of commonly used properties.
-
Create a Custom DataGridView Column
Updated
Creating custom column types for the DataGridView control isn’t nearly as tricky as it once was.In this article, you’ll learn how to take advantage of inheritance to create your own bar graph column in a grid cell.
-
-
Best Practices in Game Design for the Ultra-Mobile PC
Updated
The Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) expands the market for PC games that run on Microsoft® Windows® XP, as long as developers consider certain design requirements to ensure a good user experience. In most cases, a single version of games can span both the UMPC and traditional PC platforms.
-
Introduction to Windows Touch Technology in Windows Vista
I think we’re making progress toward the goal of bending computers to conform to human factors rather than bending my human factors to conform to the way computers accept input.Ultimately, our brains will be plugged directly into “the grid,” but until then, users still have to learn how to type, control a mouse, and press buttons in certain sequences. The arrival of the Windows Vista™ operating system with Microsoft® Windows® Tablet and Touch Technology is another step toward really natural computing.
-
Purporting the Potence of Process
Do you ever feel like you’re beating your head against a wall? I know I do; quite often, in fact. It seems like developers spend half of their time bending technology to their purposes when the technology doesn’t really quite fit. Well, I’m actually thinking of one problem in particular right now, namely that of validation. Can you think of a more boring topic? There are few, but I think you can agree that it is an extremely important one in business software.
-
101 Windows Phone 7 Apps, Volume I: Developing Apps 1-50- Chapter 2 Flashlight -
This excerpt is from the new book, ‘101 Windows Phone 7 Apps, Volume I: Developing Apps 1-50’, authored by Adam Nathan, published April 2011, ISBN 0672335522, Copyright 2011. For more info, please visit the publisher site http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0672335522
-
Chapter 1: Microsoft Expression Blend
Taking aside the technical aspects of learning how to use Microsoft Expression Blend, there are many areas that are often disregarded within discussions about how Blend is-and should be-used in a real-world project sense. You may be a single person business or employee that needs to fill all the roles that Blend is best used for; or, you may be part of an enterprise size team.
-
Chapter 7 from Murach’s JavaScript and jQuery.
Now that you have the JavaScript skills that you need for using jQuery, you’re ready to learn jQuery. So, in chapter 7, you’ll learn a working subset of jQuery that will get you off to a fast start. And in chapter 8, you’ll learn how to use the jQuery effects and animations that can bring a web page to life.
-
First Sketches of an App: Planning the Design of a Mobile Application
You won't need a hammer or a screwdriver; maybe you'll need a tape measure—though preferably one in digital form on the top and side of your computer screen. Like any job, there's an established set of tools that most interaction and interface designers use to create their projects. Programs such as Photoshop, Balsamiq, xScope, and others are critical components of the interface-building process. In this chapter you'll find a general strategic outlay for planning the design of a mobile application. Using the steps and techniques presented, you'll be prepared for the different phases a design evolves through during its infancy, before a programmer writes the first lines of code.
-
Learning iOS Development Chapter 1: Hello, iOS SDK
Learning iOS Developmentis the perfect first book for every new iOS 7 developer. It delivers a complete foundation for iOS development, including an introduction to the Objective-C language, Xcode development tools, best-practice user interface development, and best practices for all aspects of app development and deployment. Throughout Learning iOS Development, you explore the iOS development process as you create and expand a handy car valet app. The hands-on projects enable you to create meaningful code as soon as possible, building confidence and mastery. The annotated code listings work with all the latest iOS technology, so you'll be ready to jump into this exciting development field. With Learning iOS Development, it's easy to learn at your own pace, on your own--or to deepen the knowledge you may be gaining in a classroom or workplace.
-
Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C#: Arranging UI Elements
The sizing and positioning of elements is called layout. Within the parent/child relationship between elements, this chapter focuses on the children, examining the common ways that you can control layout on a child-by-child basis.
-
WPF Control Development Unleashed: Building Advanced User Experiences
WPF Control Development Unleashed: Building Advanced User Experiences Chapter 2 The Diverse Visual Class Structure In the first chapter, we talked about how the construction of a framework like WPF is much like the construction of a house. If you don’t know why certain things are built the way they are, you are likely to use them improperly and break something.
-
A Silverlight to Illuminate the Path Ahead…
Updated
At Mix 2007 in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced Silverlight (formerly known as WPF/E) to much fanfare. Silverlight is very intriguing in concept, as it further travels the path previously laid out by WPF (Silverlight’s big brother), and it aims to bring the worlds of Windows and Web development, as well as the worlds of software development and graphical design, much closer together. As more and more details emerge (and the first released version is now available), it becomes clear that Silverlight is not just an intriguing concept, but it is for real! Markus discusses Silverlight concepts in this article.
-
Web Code is a Solved Problem: How about Fixing Web UI Next?
Updated
Originally published as a blog post - Fixing Web UI
-
.Finalize() - Wasting Energy, and Rotating Things
.Finalize() - Wasting Energy, and Rotating Things
-
Retaining Multiple Sets of User Settings
Updated
Retaining a single set of user settings for your application is easy.Retaining multiple sets of user settings is much more challenging.
-
An Overview of Windows Presentation Foundation
By now you should have heard of several new acronyms that are usually associated with Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn).
-
Multimedia Control
If you've ever tried to find classes in the .NET Framework that allow you to play audio and video, you may have noticed the gaping hole where this functionality should be.If you think Microsoft has finally gotten around to fixing this glaring omission in version 2 of the framework, you’re only partially correct. While some basic audio capabilities will be provided (as described later in this article,) they still leave a lot to be desired. On the other hand, the free MediaPlayer component provided with this article demonstrates a more feature-rich solution to your multimedia needs-and it’s compatible with all versions of the .NET Framework.
-
Providing User Assistance
Updated
In his article, Rob LaMora highlights the growing complexity of software and the resulting usability challenges due to a widening conceptual gap between users and designers. He emphasizes the importance of user assistance—both visible and interactive interface elements—as a key component of user-centered design that enhances user experience and productivity. Drawing on models like Microsoft's Inductive User Interface, LaMora advocates for thoughtful design, clear communication, and iterative user feedback to create more usable software. He concludes that prioritizing user assistance is essential for software success in today’s competitive market.