Hot Off the Presses: WinFX June CTP Is Here...
So I'm glad to announce that the WinFX June CTP has just arrived; you can find the download for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 here (the next Windows Vista CTP, due imminently, will also include this same release). As you may have heard at TechEd or from Somasegar's blog, we've made the decision to rename WinFX to .NET Framework 3.0. Nothing has changed about the contents of the product or the schedule - it simply reflects the fact that WPF, WCF and WF are a continuation of the .NET platform we've been building for the last five years or so. I highlight it simply because this is the first release that includes the final naming.
From a WPF perspective, there are only a few minor API breaking changes. I'm going through the process of updating some of our demos and samples right now, and so I'll continue to update this entry with any other common issues. Here are the ones that you might hit:
DefaultStyleKey
Currently, to have your style replace the system theme file, you need to set DefaultStyleKey property to null. We've now made DefaultStyleKey protected so that only component authors can specify the default style key. Instead of setting DefaultStyleKey to null, style authors should now set the new boolean OverridesDefaultStyle property to true.
| Old | <Setter Property="DefaultStyleKey" Value="{x:Null}" /> |
| New | <Setter Property="OverridesDefaultStyle" Value="True" /> |
NavigationWindow
NavigationWindow now no longer supports content directly - instead, you'll need to add a <NavigationWindow.Content> element to contain it.
| Old | <NavigationWindow> <Grid ... /> </NavigationWindow> |
| New | <NavigationWindow> <NavigationWindow.Content> <Grid ... /> </NavigationWindow.Content> </NavigationWindow> |
One nice addition to XamlPad that you'll notice when you install the new Windows SDK is a "Show Visual Tree" toolbar button. This is really fun - you can use it to see what the visual tree looks like, based on the logical tree expressed in XAML. This can be really handy when you want to override a default template for something like a button. The property tree explorer also allows you to inspect the properties set on various elements within the visual tree. I love this feature - although I want to spend less time in XamlPad and more in Expression Interactive Designer and Visual Studio, you can't beat a lightweight tool like XamlPad as a sandbox for experimentation. Here's a screenshot to whet your appetite:
I'll continue to update this entry with other breaking changes - feel free to leave a note in the comments if you're struggling to port some code forward because I've not covered it here, and I'll try and find the delta for you.
Comments
- Anonymous
June 23, 2006
Any idea if a new release of Expression will be forthcoming too? - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
PingBack from http://www.wackylabs.net/2006/06/winfx-june-ctp-released/ - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
La CTP (Community Technology Preview) de Juin du Framework .NET 3.0 (anciennement connu sous le nom WinFX)... - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
By starting that post with a "So", I think you've finally been completely assimilated into Redmond. :) - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
Hej folkens
Så er den nyeste CTP af WinFX blevet klar til download.... Det er juni CTP'en som nu ligger... - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
Hi Tim, the link to the June SDK on the download page you are referring to does not work.
Is there also an updated interactive Designer or is the old one compatible with the new SDK? - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
The comment has been removed - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
SDK link [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=40&p=1&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=8D09697E-4868-4D8D-A4CF-9B82A2AE542D&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f4%2f3%2f6%2f4369A25B-D3FC-4F0E-B90A-21A280C60B5F%2f6.0.5456.3.0.WindowsSDK_Vista_idw.DVD.Rel.img] not working. - Anonymous
June 23, 2006
I had problems getting MediaElement to work at all. Turns out the culprit was Windows Media Player 11 Beta. I got MediaElement to work on two machines by rolling back to WMP 10. - Anonymous
June 24, 2006
Hi Tim,
Can you please inform us what's new for WPF in the June 2006 CTP, especially with respect tot the May CTP?
Kind Regards,
Yuval - Anonymous
June 24, 2006
Sam and Jeroen, I believe they're preparing a release but no real news right now. The old one won't work unfortunately - this release isn't binary compatible with the Beta 2 release.
Tomi, thanks for the feedback. It runs with WMP 11 as part of Windows Vista, but I confess I haven't personally tested on Windows XP. We'll investigate on Monday and reply either to the blog or the email you sent privately.
Yuval, WPF is feature-complete at this stage. You're unlikely to see any additions to the platform itself at this stage, apart from hopefully improved performance and fewer bugs. On the other hand, the tools are continuing to evolve pretty quickly and you'll see continued improvements both in features and their ability to parse XAML edge cases as we get closer to release.
Thanks to you all for your comments.
Tim - Anonymous
June 25, 2006
The comment has been removed - Anonymous
June 27, 2006
The comment has been removed - Anonymous
June 28, 2006
Figured it out. I had other resources inside <DockPanel.Resources>. That was ok with the May CTP, but for June the other resources have to be inside the <ResourceDictionary> element.
It'd still be nice to have an explanation why this works though! ;o)