Writing a Windows Sidebar Gadget in Silverlight-dead simple!
After my forays into writing Sidebar gadgets with WPF using Element host i have to admit i was not looking forward to tying it with silverlight.
The fact i started by downloading a couple of existing samples -that all failed didn't really boost my confidence much either.
In the end it turned out to be easier than anticipated. To the point it is almost not worth a blog entry....So what are the steps to creating a Sidebar gadget in Silverlight?
- Start Orcas > File New Silverlight Application. (If you don't have this option see: Orcas Install Woes -and Success
- Create New Gadget Directory in C:\Users\Your_name\appdata\local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets like Silverlight.Gadget
- Add the files Created by Orcas to this directory
- Add a Gadget.XML that points to the default Testpage.html created by Orcas (See below)
- Add the newly created gadget to the Windows Sidebar - Viola you are done!
Thursday i hope to record Scott Barnes creating one that will have options etc.
**************Sample Gadget.XML******************************
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<gadget>
<name>Silverlight Test</name>
<namespace><!--_locComment_text="{Locked}"-->microsoft.windows</namespace>
<version><!--_locComment_text="{Locked}"-->1.0.0.0</version>
<author name="Chuck">
<info url="http://blogs.msdn.com/charles_sterling" text="Chucks Blog"/>
</author>
<description>Silverlight Sample</description>
<icons>
<icon height="100" width="125" src="Icon.jpg"/>
</icons>
<hosts>
<host name="sidebar">
<base type="HTML" apiVersion="1.0.0" src="TestPage.html"/>
<permissions><!--_locComment_text="{Locked}"-->Full</permissions>
<platform minPlatformVersion="0.3"/>
<defaultImage src="Icon.jpg"/>
</host>
</hosts>
</gadget>
