Silverlight Overviews and How-to Topics

Microsoft Silverlight provides developers with a unified programming model for building rich Web user experiences that incorporate UI and media. The topics in this section describe Silverlight programming concepts and explain how to build Silverlight-based applications with graphics, audio, video, and animation.

Fundamentals

Topic	Description
Events	Explains how to work with events, which notify the application of changes in Silverlight state and user input.
Mouse Support	Explains how to respond to mouse actions, such as moving or clicking the mouse.
Keyboard Support	Explains how to respond to keystroke actions.
Downloading Content on Demand	Explains how to use the Downloader object, which downloads application data, such as XAML content, JavaScript content, and illustrations.
Text and Fonts Overview	Describes how you can create and format text, apply transforms, and download fonts for your Silverlight-based application.
Error Handling	Describes the different ways in which you can provide error-handling support in your Silverlight-based application.
Error Messages	Provides a series of error message tables associated with Silverlight error events.
URL Access Policy	Provides a summary of Silverlight URL access policies for cross-domain access, cross-zone access, cookie access, and so on.
Accessibility	Provides an overview of techniques to make your Silverlight-based applications more accessible.
Performance Tips	Lists some tips for ensuring that your Silverlight-based applications run fast and smoothly.
How to: Create a Timer	Describes how to use the Storyboard object to make function calls at every frame or at a time interval of your choice, effectively providing the functionality of a timer.

Working with Objects

Topic	Description
Silverlight Object Models	Describes how Silverlight scripting applications expose their functionality through a browser-based Document Object Model (DOM) and a Silverlight-specific object model.
Object Positioning	Shows you how to control the position of objects (for example, shapes, text, and media) within your Silverlight-based application.
Referencing and Modifying Objects	Explains how to access and modify objects in your Silverlight-based application at run time.
Constructing Objects at Run Time	Describes how to create XAML objects dynamically, and then add them to the existing Silverlight object hierarchy. You can create a single Silverlight object, such as a TextBlock, or an entire tree of Silverlight objects.
How to: Drag and Drop Objects	Describes how to move objects around in a Silverlight-based application by using drag and drop.
How to: Crop an Object	Describes how to crop an object by clipping out an area of the object display.

Working with XAML

Topic	Description
XAML Syntax	Describes the different ways to declare objects and set properties in XAML.
XAML Namescopes	Discusses the concept of a namescope in XAML, and how namescope concepts are relevant to your usage of the FindName, CreateFromXaml, and Name APIs.
Using Inline XAML	Discusses how to specify the content for a Silverlight plug-in as inline XAML rather than as a URI to a self-contained XAML file.

Deployment and Customization

Topic	Description
Instantiating a Silverlight Plug-in	Describes the JavaScript helper files that enable you to initialize and create Silverlight plug-in instances on a Web page.
Optimizing Installation Experience	Provides best practices and methods for providing an integrated and branded installation experience for new users of Microsoft Silverlight.
Writing Event Handlers for the OnLoad Event	Describes how to use the OnLoad event, which occurs after the XAML content in the Silverlight plug-in has been loaded. You can handle this event and make any final adjustments to the Silverlight content, using the Silverlight object model.
Specifying and Retrieving Custom Initialization Parameters	Describes how to specify your own parameter values during initialization by using the initParams initialization parameter. These parameter values can be retrieved at run time by accessing the plug-in's InitParams property.
Resizing a Silverlight Plug-In	Explains how to set and retrieve the size of a Silverlight plug-in, and determine when the plug-in was resized.
Full-Screen Support	Explains how you can display the Silverlight plug-in in full-screen or embedded mode.
Localized Deployment	Introduces how to deploy localized (for example, German, French, and so on) Silverlight runtimes.
Ink Support for Annotations, Blogging, and Games	Describes various uses for ink in your Silverlight-based applications.

Graphics

Topic	Description
Shapes and Drawing	Provides an overview of how to draw with Shape objects. A Shape is a type of UIElement that enables you to draw a shape to the screen.
Imaging	Provides an introduction to working with images.
Brushes	Describes how to use Silverlight brush objects to paint with solid colors, linear gradients, radial gradients, and illustrations.
VideoBrush	Describes how to use a VideoBrush to paint an area with a video.
Geometries	Describes how to use the Silverlight Geometry object to define shapes, and compares Geometry objects with Shape elements.
Path Markup Syntax	Describes the Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) usage syntax for describing paths.
Transforms	Describes how to use the 2-D transform classes to rotate, scale, move (translate), and skew objects.

Audio and Video

Topic	Description
Audio and Video Overview	Introduces the multimedia features of Silverlight and describes how to integrate sound and video into your Silverlight pages.
Supported Media Formats and Protocols	Describes the formats and protocols supported by the MediaElement object.
MediaElement States	Describes how to detect the current state of the MediaElement object and provides information about transitions between media states.

Animation

Topic	Description
Animation Overview	Provides an overview of the Silverlight animation types and usage, including how to create Storyboard and Trigger objects.
Interactive Animations	Describes how to interactively control Storyboard animations.
Working with Animations Programmatically	Describes how to manipulate animations dynamically by using JavaScript.
Key-Frame Animations	Introduces you to key-frame animations.