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Forms and User Displays
Form Development in Silverlight
Forms Development in Silverlight
Silverlight is a development platform that allows you to write and run applications for web, desktop, and mobile use. The Silverlight Designer provides the ability to integrate Silverlight forms in the Workflow Task List, Web Task List, and the Global Viewer in Workflow client.
Extend the Silverlight Designer Capabilities
The Silverlight Designer can be extended so that user-created controls or those from a third-party control vendor are available in the Silverlight Designer toolbox.
Add a custom control to the Silverlight Designer
The controls that appear in the Silverlight Designer toolbox are Silverlight controls. To add additional controls into the Designer toolbox, start with a Silverlight control from a commercial control vendor or create your own.

Workflow Products Documentation

Forms and User Displays
- Forms Introduction
- Designer Panels
- Display and Group Duplication
- Form Templates
- Basic Forms and Displays
- Web-Based Forms and Displays
- Existing Assembly Options
- Form Development in Visual Studio
- Form Development in Silverlight
  - Forms Development in Silverlight
    Silverlight is a development platform that allows you to write and run applications for web, desktop, and mobile use. The Silverlight Designer provides the ability to integrate Silverlight forms in the Workflow Task List, Web Task List, and the Global Viewer in Workflow client.
    - Create a Silverlight form for web-based content
      This procedure is an example of how to create a Silverlight form for use with web-based content.
    - Add a control to a Silverlight form
    - Image Controls in Silverlight Forms
      Due to restrictions, the Source property for an image control cannot be set in the XAML. When an image control is used in the Silverlight designer, the URI for the image source must be manually entered into the image control's Source property. The designer automatically configures the Source property in code behind.
    - Calendar controls in Silverlight Forms
      The Calendar control's Selected Date property displays the current date in the control. The DisplayDate property represents the date that will be displayed. If this is not set, then the Selected Date is displayed.
    - Edit code behind
      This procedure provides an example of how to edit the code behind in a Silverlight form.
    - Silverlight Form Restrictions
      There are several restrictions in place for the design of Silverlight forms.
    - Extend the Silverlight Designer Capabilities
      The Silverlight Designer can be extended so that user-created controls or those from a third-party control vendor are available in the Silverlight Designer toolbox.
      - Add a custom control to the Silverlight Designer
        The controls that appear in the Silverlight Designer toolbox are Silverlight controls. To add additional controls into the Designer toolbox, start with a Silverlight control from a commercial control vendor or create your own.
      - Restrictions and Tips for Creating a Silverlight Control
        When creating a custom control for Silverlight, follow the tips below for standards of use.
      - Custom Data Type Editors from Command Lines
        Custom data types and their property editors can be configured with two command line utilities: UpdateSilverlightAssembly and UpdateSilverlightDataType. These utilities are located in the program directory.
      - Custom Data Type Editors
        The following topics explain how to create and configure a custom data type editor.
      - Call into a class library
        To invoke code that was written in a separate Silverlight class library, a call must be placed to that class library.
      - Add a reference to a Silverlight assembly
        To add new controls to the Silverlight Designer toolbox or to call code in a separate assembly, specify the containing assemblies from the Display Editor.
      - Update a Silverlight reference
        To update a reference that was written in a separate Silverlight class library, a call must be placed to that class library.
      - Add custom submit, cancel, and enable to a form using the Designer
        The form can be configured so that the Workflow Task List Submit and Cancel buttons are not visible when the form is displayed in the Task List. You can also ensure that a form is only ready for submission after the appropriate operator interaction by enabling/disabling the Submit button.
      - Add custom auto submit and auto cancel to a Silverlight form using Visual Studio
        If a form is created in Visual Studio rather than the Designer, custom submit and cancel buttons can be configured.
      - Configure custom submit, cancel, and/or enable behavior in Silverlight forms
        Submitting or cancelling a form is determined during the design of the workflow containing the form.
      - Configure visibility of submit/cancel buttons for Silverlight forms hosted in the Task List
        To create custom submit and cancel buttons in yourSilverlightSilverlightStringObject form, you can configure the FormProperties class in order to set the visibility of the default buttons to false.
      - Configure visibility of the scroll bar for Silverlight forms hosted in the Task List
        To disable the horizontal and vertical scroll bars in forms used in a web-based Task List, you can configure the FormProperties class in order to set the visibility to false.
      - Special Considerations for Custom Cancel in Silverlight Forms
        The ability to cancel a form is determined during the design of the workflow containing the form.
      - Specify Parameter Metadata for Silverlight Forms
        When parameter metadata is extracted from a form, the following attributes are parsed:
      - Edit forms using Visual Studio 2010
        Take care when editing Designer-created forms in Visual Studio. It is possible to make changes that prevent the Designer from opening the project. The following notes will be helpful in creating changes that are compatible with the Designer.
      - Debug Content Created in the Silverlight Designer
        Content created in Silverlight can encounter bugs. This topic provides assistance in debugging your project.
      - Form Editing and Debugging
        When you are testing a workflow that contains a form activity, the Workflow Debugger can be used to view the inputs and outputs of the form. However, there are times when a greater level of information is desired to understand what is happening inside the form itself.

Add a custom control to the Silverlight Designer

The controls that appear in the Silverlight Designer toolbox are Silverlight controls. To add additional controls into the Designer toolbox, start with a Silverlight control from a commercial control vendor or create your own.

Procedure

To use an existing Silverlight control, follow the instructions in Add a reference to a Silverlight assembly.
To create your own control, create it in Visual Studio as a Silverlight class library project. Test it within Visual Studio to validate that the control works as it should before trying to use it in the Silverlight Designer. Then, follow the instructions in Add a reference to a Silverlight assembly.

Note: For either procedure, see Create a custom data type editor for the Silverlight Designer to customize the design-time experience with the control.