Views for Silverlight

FanPanel

This panel positions it's children along the z-axis with a focal element, which is always centered in the view. There are several options available to customize the look and feel of the panel, including x and y offsets, rotation, and fading.

The FanPanel can be used as the items panel of a ListBox, or another Selector control, where the focal item is bound to the selected item. When a new item is selected, the elements smoothly animate to their new location.

ZapPanel

This panel allows child elements to be positioned in sequential order, either horizontally or vertically, while keeping a focal item centered in the view. Includes support for wrapping items around, to produce a circular effect.

SwitchPanel

This panel delegates the positioning of child elements to one or more child panels, which allows the layout logic to be dynamically changed during runtime. When used with a ListBox, or another ItemsControl, the layout logic can be changed without having to regenerate or reparent any item containers.

AnimatedCanvas

This panel allows child elements to be precisely positioned using coordinates that are relative to the panel's bounds. Child elements are always allotted their desired size, as the panel does not impose any size restrictions.

This panel can be used as a drop-in replacement for the native Silverlight Canvas panel.

AnimatedDockPanel

This panel allows child elements to be positioned either horizontally or vertically, relative to each other. Specifically, child elements are positioned or "docked" to a specified edge of the panel.

Special handling can be applied to the last child element. It can be set to fill any remaining space, which is the default behavior. Alternatively, it can be docked like other elements.

AnimatedStackPanel

This panel allows child elements to be positioned in sequential order, either horizontally or vertically. Support for logical scrolling is included, so elements can be scrolled completely into, out of, the view

This panel can be used as a drop-in replacement for the native Silverlight StackPanel panel.

AnimatedWrapPanel

This panel allows child elements to be positioned in sequential order, either horizontally or vertically, breaking content to the next row or column at the edge of the containing box. Subsequent ordering happens sequentially from top to bottom or from right to left, depending on the orientation.

An additional feature allows the empty space between items to be evenly distributed, which makes it more visual appealing.

Custom Panels

Building panels with custom layout logic is just as easy as before, with the added benefit of the fluid animations. A complete tutorial and sample code is provided for building a "random" panel, which randomly positions it's elements.

In addition, any custom panels can be used in the SwitchPanel, along side the built-in animated panels.

Use as Items Panel

All the animated panels can be dropped into any control that derives from ItemsControl, such as the ListBox.

Animations

Arrange Rectangle

The arrange rectangle of each element can be smoothly animated from one position/size to another. The position and size can be animated together or not at all. As with all the built-in animations, you can customize or disable various features or completely replace them.

Fade Elements In/Out

Elements that were added or removed from the panel can have their opacity property animated. This animation can be combined with other animations or used independently, and is fully customizable.

Render Transform

Easily animate the rotation, scaling, or translation of elements entering or leaving the panel. Quickly combine the various animations in any manner to produce a desired effect, or mix in your own animations. These animations are designed to ensure that any custom render transform is preserved, even while running. The settings for entering or leaving elements can be customized independently, giving each a unique look.

Custom Animations

All the built-in animations leverage the native Silverlight animations, such as DoubleAnimation. In addition, the construction of the storyboards used to animate the elements in the panels can be completely altered. Alternatively, you can override the built-in animations to tweak a few animations, or inject a few new timelines.