New features in Silverlight 5 include Hardware Decode of H.264 media, which provides a significant performance improvement with decoding of unprotected content using the GPU; Postscript Vector Printing to improve output quality and file size; and an improved graphics stack with 3D support that uses the XNA API on the Windows platform to gain low-level access to the GPU for drawing vertex shaders and low-level 3D primitives.

In addition, Silverlight 5 extends the ‘Trusted Application’ model to the browser for the first time. These features, when enabled via a group policy registry key and an application certificate, mean users won’t need to leave the browser to perform complex tasks such as multiple window support, full trust support in browser including COM and file system access, in browser HTML hosting within Silverlight, and P/Invoke support for existing native code to be run directly from Silverlight. 

The post Silverlight 5 Available for Download Today appeared first on Blog IT.

You can follow this MSDN article that explains all that you need to implement Silverlight application library caching.

Basically, the Silverlight packages specifies assemblies as external parts of the application package (a zip file that contains the assembly dll). Then, it will download all of the required package parts specified on application manifest.

To do this, you just need to create a xml file named <assembly name without extension>.extmap.xml. It must have content similar like this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<manifest xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 

          xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

  <assembly>

    <name>System.Json</name>

    <version>2.0.5.0</version>

    <publickeytoken>31bf3856ad364e35</publickeytoken>

    <relpath>System.Json.dll</relpath>

    <extension downloadUri="System.Json.zip" />

  </assembly>

</manifest>

File Elements Description:

• name – Assembly name
• version – Assembly version
• publickeytoken – Key token which you used to sign the assembly.
• relpath – Assembly file name.
• extension – Uri where it’s possible to download the assembly package.

Note: You cannot use the application library caching on out-of-browser applications.

The post Using Application library caching appeared first on Blog IT.

• Only use images with 92 dpi (the designers are habituated to use images with 72 dpi, and they should only use images with 92 dpi because Silverlight always use this resolution).
• To import the design mockup to Expression Blend, the designer should use the RGB as the color model.

The post Silverlight tips for designers appeared first on Blog IT.

You just need to add the AcceptReturn property on your Text Box control as the following sample:

<TextBox x:Name="textBox1" AcceptsReturn="True"></TextBox>

The post How to create a Text Box control in Multiline mode appeared first on Blog IT.

Here are the links to the videos that I recommend you to see:

• How to get data to Silverlight control (What should i use?)

Networking and Web Services in Silverlight

• Silverlight on SharePoint:

Developer Patterns to Integrate Microsoft Silverlight 3.0 with Microsoft SharePoint 2010

• RIA Services:

Mastering Microsoft .NET RIA Services

Building Amazing Business Applications with Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft .NET RIA Services

• Expression Blend:

Microsoft Expression Blend 3 for Developers: Tips, Tricks and Best Practices

The post PDC09: Silverlight videos appeared first on Blog IT.

The beta version is now available here.

This framework version will include the following new interesting features:

• Print support
• Webcam and microphone support
• Audio and video local recording capabilities capture RAW video without requiring server interaction.
• Google Chrome support
• Rich Text Editing
• Performance optimizations mean Silverlight 4 applications start quicker and run 200% faster than the equivalent Silverlight 3 application.
• Read and write files to the user’s MyDocuments, MyMusic, MyPictures and MyVideos folder.
• Enhancements to networking allow cross-domain access without a security policy file.
• Right Click events

Some interesting links to learn more about Silverlight 4:

What’s New in Silverlight 4 Beta?

Getting Started with Silverlight 4 Beta

Microsoft Silverlight 4 Overview

Five Silverlight 4.0 features you cannot do without

Silverlight 4 Beta – A guide to the new features

The post Silverlight 4 announced appeared first on Blog IT.

Silverlight Timeline control:

http://timeline.codeplex.com/

Silverlight DataFilter control:

http://riadatafilter.codeplex.com

Silverlight Cover Flow:

http://silverlightcoverflow.codeplex.com/

The post Some interesting Silverlight controls on CodePlex appeared first on Blog IT.

A quickly and simple solution that i found to do it is the SPSilverlight web part, a web part that allows you to add a Silverlight control to SharePoint.

The only configuration that you need to known is the path where the XAP file is stored in SharePoint (on the layout’s folder, on the library…).

To use this web part you need to install the following package:

http://spilverlight.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=35120

The post Add Silverlight control to SharePoint appeared first on Blog IT.

The first restriction that i found is how can i set a shadow effect on some control? I' know it that i can do that, so I searched a little bit and i found a Gavin Wignall’s post which explains very well all the steps to set a shadow effect.

I think that are important to known the following configuration details that i found in the Gavin Wignall’s blog:

• BlurRadius – How blurred the shadow is.
• Color – Shadow color.
• Direction – The angle of the light source creating the Shadow Effect.
• Opacity – The strength of the shadow in terms of darkness.
• ShadowDepth – How far away from your object the Shadow will appear.

To add a shadow effect on control, you need to go to Effect configuration on Appearance configuration area and then click New. After that, you need to select DropShadowEffect into System.Windows.Media.Effects namespace.

I will continue to learn more about Expresion Blend, and if i find some interesting tips or tricks, i ensure that i will post.

The post Expression Blend 3: How to set a shadow effect on some control appeared first on Blog IT.

Today i will talk about Silverlight and Sharepoint 2007 integration. The problem with this integration is if i have a webpart that contains a Silverlight control, my webpart doesn’t appear. And then, How do you use Silverlight controls in the SharePoint site?

You have to ensure that your server environment is configured for SharePoint and Silverlight intregation. To do this, you should do the following:

1. Put the XAP files into the Sharepoint Site Bin Folder.
2. Change the MIME type in the IIS (Internet Information Services).
3. Change the web.config file in your root SharePoint Site.
4. Ensure that the System.Web.Silverlight dll is in your GAC (Global assembly cache).

Put the XAP files into the Sharepoint Site Bin Folder

You must have to put your XAP files into the Bin Folder, but exist other ways to deploy the that i will talk in the next post.

Steps:

• Add ClientBin Folder that contains XAP files in the Bin Folder.

Changing the MIME Type

You should add MIME support for Silverlight applications that you build and deploy to your SharePoint server.

Steps:

• Click Start, Administrative Tools, and then select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
• Under Web Sites in the IIS, click on the web application that represents your SharePoint site.
• Click “MIME Types”, and then click “Open Feature”.
• In the Mime Type View, click Add, add the file-type extension
  • type .xap as the “File name extension”
  • application/x-silverlight-2 (for Silverlight 2.0) or application/x-silverlight-app (for Silverlight 3.0) as the “MIME Type”.
• Click OK to add the new MIME type to IIS.

Editing the web.config File

By default, the web.config file of your SharePoint Site does not support Silverlight applications.

This is the most hardest Configuration’s step, because it is required to copy some configurations to the web.config file. To simplify that, i found a tool named stsadm.config in the CodePlex, that it will add all of the Silverlight configurations needed to the web.config of the Sharepoint Site.

Steps:

• Deploy stsadm.config’s solution writing deploy.stsadmwebconfig.cmd in the command prompt.
• You must use the following Xml configuration file

    1: <ConfigEntries owner="Administrator">
  
  
  
    2: <ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
    3: <Name>add[@verb='GET,HEAD'][@path='ScriptResource.axd'][@validate='false'][@type='System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35']</Name>
  
  
  
    4: <Path>configuration/system.web/httpHandlers</Path>
  
  
  
    5: <Value><![CDATA[<add verb='GET,HEAD' path='ScriptResource.axd' validate='false' type='System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35'/>]]></Value>
  
  
  
    6: <ModType>EnsureChildNode</ModType>
  
  
  
    7: </ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
    8: <ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
    9: <Name>add[@name='ScriptModule'][@type='System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35']</Name>
  
  
  
   10: <Path>configuration/system.web/httpModules</Path>
  
  
  
   11: <Value><![CDATA[<add name='ScriptModule' type='System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35'/>]]></Value>
  
  
  
   12: <ModType>EnsureChildNode</ModType>
  
  
  
   13: </ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
   14: <ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
   15: <Name>SafeControl[@Assembly='System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35'][@Namespace='System.Web.UI'][@TypeName='*'][@Safe='True']</Name>
  
  
  
   16: <Path>configuration/SharePoint/SafeControls</Path>
  
  
  
   17: <Value><![CDATA[<SafeControl Assembly='System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35' Namespace='System.Web.UI' TypeName='*' Safe='True' />]]></Value>
  
  
  
   18: <ModType>EnsureChildNode</ModType>
  
  
  
   19: </ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
   20: <ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
   21: <Name>SafeControl[@Assembly='System.Web.Silverlight, Version=2.0.5.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35'][@Namespace='System.Web.UI.SilverlightControls'][@TypeName='*'][@Safe='True'][@AllowRemoteDesigner='True']</Name>
  
  
  
   22: <Path>configuration/SharePoint/SafeControls</Path>
  
  
  
   23: <Value><![CDATA[<SafeControl Assembly="System.Web.Silverlight, Version=2.0.5.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" Namespace="System.Web.UI.SilverlightControls" TypeName="*" Safe="True" AllowRemoteDesigner="True" />]]></Value>
  
  
  
   24: <ModType>EnsureChildNode</ModType>
  
  
  
   25: </ConfigEntry>
  
  
  
   26: </ConfigEntries>
  

• Copy the previous xml file to C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\12\CONFIG.
• Run the following command in the command prompt (replace the SharePoint Site Url):

stsadm -o webconfig_apply -url http://createsrv:5003 -configfile SilverlightInSharepoint.xml

Add System.Web.Silverlight dll to GAC

This step does make sense for Silverlight 2.0 because the controls in the System.Web.Silverlight assembly were officially deprecated for Silverlight 3.0. If you are using Silverlight 3.0, you don’t need to add System.Web.Silverlight.dll to GAC.

Otherwise, if you are using Silverlight 2.0, you must need to add the assembly to the GAC. This assembly resides in the following path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Silverlight\v2.0\Libraries\Server.

Finally, your Silverlight control just appears in the Sharepoint.

The post Using Silverlight in Sharepoint 2007 – Configuration appeared first on Blog IT.