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Naveen Yajaman, Edward Jezierski, and Mohammad Al-Sabt, Microsoft Corporation; Blaine Wastell, Ascentium Corporation; Paul Slater and Nelly Delgado, Wadeware LLC, ThoughtWorks Inc.

April 2004

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Summary: This page provides an overview of the User Interface Process Application Block, Version 2.0. This block is a reusable code component that builds on the capabilities of the Microsoft .NET Framework to help you create both Web Forms- and Windows Forms-based applications. (134 printed pages)

Contents

Versions of the UIP Application Block
Who Should Read This Guide
What Is in This Guide
Feedback and Support
Contributors

Versions of the UIP Application Block

There are two versions of the UIP Application Block. Version 1.0 was released in June 2003 and version 2.0 was released in April 2004. The block provides you with a number of features that will help you develop user interface process components, and therefore distributed applications, more efficiently. The following features are in the first version of UIP and continue to be part of UIP version 2.

• Web session resume
• Web session transfer
• Reuse of code between application types
• Development of discrete tasks
• Storage of state in state persistence providers

The following features are new to UIP version 2:

• Expanded navigation management
• Additional state persistence providers
• Layout managers
• Enable back-button support
• Usability enhancements

Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#® .NET source code is supplied for version 1.0 of the UIP Application Block, together with QuickStart sample applications in each language that you can use to test common scenarios. For version 2.0 of the UIP Application Block, only Microsoft Visual C#® .NET source code is provided. However, the QuickStarts are supplied in both Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#® .NET languages. Version 2.0 of the UIP Application Block features significant functionality and usability enhancements over version 1.0.

Click here for more information on version 1.0 of the UIP Application Block.

Who Should Read This Guide

This guide is written for readers in one or more of the following categories:

• Software developers
• Architects

What Is in This Guide

This guide describes the design and features of the UIP Application Block and demonstrates how you can use the block in your applications.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the UIP Application Block

Chapter 1 introduces UIP concepts and discusses the goals and features of the UIP Application Block.

Chapter 2: Design of the UIP Application Block

To make the most of the UIP Application Block, you need to understand its design. Chapter 2 discusses the architecture of the block.

Chapter 3: Developing Applications with the UIP Application Block

After you understand the design of the UIP Application Block, you can start developing applications with it. Chapter 3 explains the process for building the block and modifying your application to use the block. The chapter also discusses the QuickStarts provided with the block.

Chapter 4: UIP Application Block Deployment and Operations

After you create applications that use the UIP Application Block, you will need to deploy them. Chapter 4 discusses the special considerations for deploying these applications, including prerequisites for deployment and security threats and countermeasures.

Appendix A: Extending the UIP Application Block

Using the UIP Application Block in a default configuration works well in most situations. However, there are times when you may want to customize certain parts of the block to be more specific to your needs. Appendix A provides guidance on extending the functionality of the block.

Appendix B: UIP Application Block Terminology

This appendix will help you understand many of the concepts and terminology used in the UIP Application Block and in this guide.

Feedback and Support

The UIP Application Block is designed to help you:

• Abstract all navigation and workflow code from the user interface.
• Enable the use of the same programming model for different types of application.
• Remove all state management from the user interface.
• Persist snapshot state across processes.

The example code is provided as source code that you can use "as is" or customize for your application. Support is available through Microsoft Product Support for a fee.

Contributors

Many thanks to the following advisors who provided invaluable contribution:

• Mike Two, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Jonathan Rasmusson, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Greg Layok, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Jean-Paul S. Boodhoo, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Paul Gale, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Thomas Tannahill, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Richard Hurst, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Wei Hong, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• Leslie Borrell, ThoughtWorks, Inc.
• David Hill, Microsoft Corporation
• Brian Pepin, Microsoft Corporation
• Mark Bolter, Microsoft Corporation
• Shawn Burke, Microsoft Corporation
• Brenton Webster, Microsoft Corporation
• Tim Osborn, Ascentium Corporation
• Prashant Bansode (Infosys Technologies Ltd)
• Guru Sundaram (Infosys Technologies Ltd)

Thanks also to the many contributors who assisted us in the production, in particular:

• Sharon Smith Jansen, Microsoft Corporation
• Tina Burden McGrayne, Entirenet
• Susan Filkins, Entirenet
• Claudette Iebbiano, Wadeware
• Sanjeev Garg, Satyam Computer Services

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