Using WPF Controls

You can use Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) controls in your Windows Forms-based applications. Although these are two different view technologies, they interoperate smoothly.

The Windows Forms Designer provides a visual design environment for hosting Windows Presentation Foundation controls. A WPF control is hosted by a special Windows Forms control that is named ElementHost. This control enables the WPF control to participate in the form's layout and to receive keyboard and mouse messages. At design time, you can arrange the ElementHost control just as you would any Windows Forms control.

You can also use Windows Forms controls in your WPF-based applications. For more information, see WPF Designer.

In This Section

• How to: Copy and Paste an ElementHost Control at Design Time
  Shows how to copy a Windows Presentation Foundation control on a Windows Form.

• Walkthrough: Arranging WPF Content on Windows Forms at Design Time
  Shows how to use the Windows Forms layout features, such as anchoring and snaplines, to arrange Windows Presentation Foundation controls.

• Walkthrough: Changing Properties of a Hosted WPF Element at Design Time
  Shows the workflow between the Windows Forms Designer and the WPF Designer for Visual Studio for changing properties on WPF controls.

• Walkthrough: Creating New WPF Content on Windows Forms at Design Time
  Shows how to create a Windows Presentation Foundation control for use in your Windows Forms-based applications.

• Walkthrough: Copying and Pasting an ElementHost Control into Separate Windows Forms
  Shows how to copy a Windows Presentation Foundation control from one Windows Form to another.

• Walkthrough: Assigning WPF Content on Windows Forms at Design Time
  Shows how to select the Windows Presentation Foundation control types you want to display on your form.

• Walkthrough: Styling WPF Content
  Shows the workflow between the Windows Forms Designer and the WPF Designer for applying styles to Windows Presentation Foundation controls.

Reference

• ElementHost
  Describes a class which you can use to host Windows Presentation Foundation controls in your Windows Forms-based applications.

• WindowsFormsHost
  Describes a class which you can use to host Windows Forms controls in your Windows Presentation Foundation-based application.

Related Sections

• Migration and Interoperability
  Describes interoperation between the Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Forms technologies.

• WPF Designer
  Describes how to design Windows Presentation Foundation controls in Visual Studio.