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Updated Wiki: Home

jaredbienz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:28:24 GMT

VIEWS or the Virtual Earth Map Control for Silverlight?

VIEWS was developed before the Virtual Earth Map Control for Silverlight was released. The Virtual Earth Map Control integrates much more tightly with the Silverlight runtime and provides you the ability to geographically align any visual element with the map. Therefore, the official Silverlight Map Control is recommended for the majority of Silverlight projects. However, VIEWS may still prove advantageous for mixed-mode (JavaScript + Silverlight) applications or where functionality is required that the AJAX control provides and the Silverlight control does not.

The official Map Control for Silverlight is currently available through Microsoft Connect. Chris Pendleton also provided a great introduction to the control at Mix 2009.

Description

The Virtual Earth Wrapper for Silverlight (VIEWS) is a wrapper around the JavaScript Virtual Earth control that allows a developer to write a complex Virtual Earth Mashup using a managed language for all client-side scripting. This is accomplished by using the CLR (Common Language Runtime) support in Silverlight 2.0 (or later), and allows coding in C#, VB, Python, or other languages. Many developers already are using a managed language in ASP.NET for server-side tasks, now the same managed language can be used on the client-side as well, leveraging existing knowledge, and providing more continuity and consistency to the end-to-end solution.

See a demo of VIEWS on Channel 9!

Documentation

We plan to provide additional documentation, but for now your best resource still remains the Virtual Earth SDK. We tried hard to strike the right balance between staying true to the SDK and providing a proper managed interface.

For example, VEMap is still called VEMap, but the onchangeview event was renamed to ViewChanged. Another example is the implementation of the map events themselves. In JavaScript a VEMapEvent is passed to a method and the method returns true if the event has been handled. In our managed wrapper, VEMapEvent has been changed to VEMapEventArgs and this class exposes a Boolean Handled property. Finally, .Net naming conventions were followed, meaning that a lower case ‘x’ field will have become an uppercase ‘X’ property. We welcome your feedback on these changes.

Getting Started

Please see the Getting Started page for instructions on getting VIEWS up in running in your own Silverlight projects.

Contributing to VIEWS

We welcome contributions from the community. Here are a few ways you can help:

Submit bug reports to the Issue Tracker
Submit feature requests to the Issue Tracker
Volunteer to fix a bug or implement a feature <- Highly recommended :)
If you would like to submit a bug fix or feature but aren't an ongoing contributor, please:

Zip up your code and post them as an attachment to the work item.
Follow the Assignment Agreement Instructions to become a code contributor (only needs to be done once, not for every submission).

Please Note: By posting your submission to the Issue Tracker, you agree to do so under the CodePlex TOU.

Special Thanks

VIEWS was originally created by Adam Eversole as an internal Microsoft Research project. The wrapper was further refined and published by Jared Bienz.

Thank you Adam and Microsoft Research for contributing this effort to the community!

Updated Wiki: Assignment Agreement Instructions

jaredbienz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:31:34 GMT

We sincerely thank you for your interest in contributing to the VIEWS project. To ensure that code contributed is free from any conflicting license we ask that you complete an assignment form. This is only required once and not for every contribution you make.

Completing the Assignment Form

Start an e-mail to ssiadmin@microsoft.com
In the e-mail, state that you want to complete an assigment agreement for the CodePlex project 'VIEWS'
Be sure to include your full name
An e-mail reply will include the agreement and instructions to submit it electronically
After you submit the agreement, a VIEWS project lead will be notified and will get in touch with you

Remember: This process only needs to be completed once. Thank you for taking to contribute to the VIEWS project.

If you have any questions regarding this assignment agreement or how to fill it out, please contact Sara Ford.

Updated Wiki: Home

jaredbienz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:17:47 GMT

Description

Documentation

VIEWS vs. Virtual Earth Map Control for Silverlight

Please note that VIEWS is not the Virtual Earth Map Control demoed by Chris Pendleton in his Virtual Earth Session at MIX. That control is still on the way but it may be some time yet before we see it. The Virtual Earth Map Control will be more tightly integrated with the Silverlight runtime and XAML. When it becomes available, it will be recommended for apps that are written entirely in Silverlight managed code. Since VIEWS is a wrapper around the JavaScript map control, however, VIEWS may still prove advantageous for mixed-mode (JavaScript + Silverlight) applications. As of today (6/30/2008), VIEWS is the only option for fully managed control of Virtual Earth from Silverlight.

Getting Started

Please see the Getting Started page for instructions on getting VIEWS up in running in your own Silverlight projects.

Contributing to VIEWS

We welcome contributions from the community. Here are a few ways you can help:

Submit bug reports to the Issue Tracker
Submit feature requests to the Issue Tracker
Volunteer to fix a bug or implement a feature <- Highly recommended :)
If you would like to submit a bug fix or feature but aren't an ongoing contributor, please:

Zip up your code and post them as an attachment to the work item.
Follow the Assignment Agreement Instructions to become a code contributor (only needs to be done once, not for every submission).

Please Note: By posting your submission to the Issue Tracker, you agree to do so under the CodePlex TOU.

Special Thanks

Updated Wiki: Assignment Agreement Instructions

jaredbienz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:53:36 GMT

Thank you for your interest in contributing to the VIEWS project. In order to have your contributions included in future versions, please complete the assignment form covering your contributions.

You caon obtain a copy of the agreement from the VIEWS homepage.

Filling out the Assignment Agreement

In the title of the agreement, before "Assignment Agreement," please enter "VIEWS"
In initial paragraph, please enter your full legal name in the space labeled "You"
In paragraph #1, please enter "VIEWS" in the space labeled "Project"
At the bottom of the agreement, please fill in your full legal name, signature and date on the designated lines at the end of the agreement. Please be sure to enter the date of your signature on the line labeled Date, below the signature line.
If authorization is required from any entity other than you, the individual, please have authorized representatives from the entity(s) complete the Name, Signature, By, Title and Date lines in the spaces provided below your own signature.

Submitting the Assignment Agreement:

Please print and sign the agreement, then contact the project coordinator Jared Bienz. Jared will be able to accept a scanned copy via e-mail. We're sorry for the somewhat complicated process and we hope to have an electronic version of this in the future.

If you have any questions regarding this assignment agreement or how to fill it out, please contact Sara Ford.

Updated Wiki: Home

jaredbienz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:39:50 GMT

Description

Documentation

VIEWS vs. Virtual Earth Map Control for Silverlight

Getting Started

Please see the Getting Started page for instructions on getting VIEWS up in running in your own Silverlight projects.

Contributing to VIEWS

We welcome contributions from the community. Here are a few ways you can help:

Submit bug reports to the Issue Tracker
Submit feature requests to the Issue Tracker
Volunteer to fix a bug or implement a feature <- Highly recommended :)
If you would like to submit a bug fix or feature but aren't an ongoing contributor, please:

Zip up your code and post them as an attachment to the work item.
Fill out the Project Assignment Agreement form and follow the Assignment Agreement Instructions to send it to us (only needs to be done once, not for every submission).

Please Note: By posting your submission to the Issue Tracker, you agree to do so under the CodePlex TOU.

Special Thanks

Updated Wiki: Home

jaredbienz — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:44:17 GMT

Description

Documentation

VIEWS vs. Virtual Earth Map Control for Silverlight

Getting Started

Please see the Getting Started page for instructions on getting VIEWS up in running in your own Silverlight projects.

Special Thanks

Updated Wiki: Getting Started

jaredbienz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:22:30 GMT

Getting Started

In Script / HTML:

Add a reference to the JavaScript map control in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
</head>

Copy views.js to your web project.
Add a reference to views.js in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="views.js"></script>
</head>

Add a DIV to your page and give it a name.

<body>
    <div id='mapContainer' style="position:relative; width:640px; height:480px;"></div>
</body>

Create a local JavaScript variable called silverlight and set it to the Silverlight instance. This variable is used in views.js and can be set in the onLoad event from the Silverlight plugin.

<body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var silverlight = null;
        function pluginLoaded(sender,args)
        {
            silverlight = document.getElementById('Silverlight');
        }
    </script>
 
    ...
 
    <div id="silverlightControlHost" style="position:absolute; width:300px; height:480px; left:645px; top:0px; z-index:2">
        <object data="data:application/x-silverlight," type="application/x-silverlight-2-b2" style="width:300px;height:480px;border-width:0;" id="Silverlight">
            <param name="onLoad" value="pluginLoaded" />
            ...
        </object>
    </div>
</body>

In Silverlight:

Add a reference to ScriptInterop.dll and VIEWS.dll to your Silverlight project.
Handle the Loaded event of your Silverlight startup page (usually Page.cs). You can subscribe to the Loaded event in the Page constructor.

public Page()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(Page_Loaded);
}

Inside the Page_Loaded event, create a new VEMap instance and pass the name of the DIV you created above.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
}

Finally, register the Silverlight wrapper instance with JavaScript as the variable SLMAP. This connects the JavaScript event handling in views.js up to the Silverlight wrapper so that map events are routed properly back into managed code.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
    HtmlPage.RegisterScriptableObject("SLMAP", map);
}

Please note that all of these steps are illustrated in the SilverlightMap sample included in source control. In fact, the SilverlightMap sample uses a separate controller class (SLController.cs) to cleanly separate map control logic from basic UI logic.

Updated Wiki: Getting Started

jaredbienz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:00:19 GMT

Getting Started

In Script / HTML:

Add a reference to the JavaScript map control in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
</head>

Copy views.js to your web project.
Add a reference to views.js in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="views.js"></script>
</head>

Add a DIV to your page and give it a name.

<body>
    <div id='mapContainer' style="position:relative; width:800px; height:600px;"></div>
</body>

Create a local JavaScript variable called silverlight and set it to the Silverlight instance. This variable is used in views.js and can be set in the onLoad event from the Silverlight plugin.

<body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var silverlight = null;
        function pluginLoaded(sender,args)
        {
            silverlight = document.getElementById('SilverlightMainPane');
        }
    </script>
 
    ...
 
    <object data="data:application/x-silverlight," … id="SilverlightMainPane">
        <param name="onLoad" value="pluginLoaded" />
        ...
    </object>
</body>

In Silverlight:

Add a reference to ScriptInterop.dll and VIEWS.dll to your Silverlight project.
Handle the Loaded event of your Silverlight startup page (usually Page.cs). You can subscribe to the Loaded event in the Page constructor.

public Page()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(Page_Loaded);
}

Inside the Page_Loaded event, create a new VEMap instance and pass the name of the DIV you created above.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
}

Finally, register the Silverlight wrapper instance with JavaScript as the variable SLMAP. This connects the JavaScript event handling in views.js up to the Silverlight wrapper so that map events are routed properly back into managed code.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
    HtmlPage.RegisterScriptableObject("SLMAP", map);
}

Updated Wiki: Getting Started

jaredbienz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:49:13 GMT

Getting Started

In Script / HTML:

Add a reference to the JavaScript map control in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
</head>

Copy views.js to your web project.
Add a reference to views.js in the page where your Silverlight application will be shown.

<head>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.1"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="views.js"></script>
</head>

Add a DIV to your page and give it a name.

<body>
    <div id='mapContainer'></div>
</body>

Create a local JavaScript variable called silverlight and set it to the Silverlight instance. This variable is used in views.js and can be set in the onLoad event from the Silverlight plugin.

<body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var silverlight = null;
        function pluginLoaded(sender,args)
        {
            silverlight = document.getElementById('SilverlightMainPane');
        }
    </script>
 
    ...
 
    <object data="data:application/x-silverlight," … id="SilverlightMainPane">
        <param name="onLoad" value="pluginLoaded" />
        ...
    </object>
</body>

In Silverlight:

Add a reference to ScriptInterop.dll and VIEWS.dll to your Silverlight project.
Handle the Loaded event of your Silverlight startup page (usually Page.cs). You can subscribe to the Loaded event in the Page constructor.

public Page()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(Page_Loaded);
}

Inside the Page_Loaded event, create a new VEMap instance and pass the name of the DIV you created above.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
}

Finally, register the Silverlight wrapper instance with JavaScript as the variable SLMAP. This connects the JavaScript event handling in views.js up to the Silverlight wrapper so that map events are routed properly back into managed code.

void Page_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    map = new VEMap("mapContainer");
    HtmlPage.RegisterScriptableObject("SLMAP", map);
}