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Archives / 2007 / September

  • Hosting a Windows Form Control in a web page

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    Although it is not the most common use of it, it is possible to host a Windows Form Control in a Web Page and run it from within Internet Explorer. This allows to build powerful client side functionality with all the advantages of using the .Net framework and executing the control in the client side. Of course there are some restrictions that cannot be left aside. At least the .Net framework must be installed on the client for the control to run. In addition, it is possible that some permission must be granted to the control, too, depending on the actions the control will take on the client machine.

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  • WPF Accessibility

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    Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) provides a very interesting API for Accessibility called Microsoft UI Automation. It allows programmatic access to most user interface elements on the desktop, addressing the needs of assistive technology products and also for User Interface (UI) tests automation.

    The framework provides solutions for both accessibility providers and clients, and it is conformed of four main components (see UI Automation Overview):

    1. The Provider API (UIAutomationProvider.dll and UIAutomationTypes.dll) defines a set of interfaces that are implemented by UI Automation providers, objects that provide information about UI elements and respond to programmatic input.
    2. The Client API (UIAutomationClient.dll and UIAutomationTypes.dll) is a set of types for managed code that enables UI Automation client applications to obtain information about the UI and to send input to controls.
    3. The UI Automation Core (UiAutomationCore.dll) has the underlying code that handles communication between providers and clients.
    4. The UIAutomationClientsideProviders.dll that has a set of UI Automation providers for standard legacy controls. (WPF controls have native support for UI Automation.) This support is automatically available to client applications.

    We will typically use the Provider API to create support for our WPF custom controls, since they don't provide accessibility support by default. We will use the Client API for creating applications that need to communicate with UI elements and eventually automate the use of other program's UI.

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