http://blogs.msdn.com/matt/archive/tags/Tools/default.aspxTags: Toolsen-USCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.msdn.com/matt/archive/2008/08/01/the-two-most-important-wpf-tools.aspxFri, 01 Aug 2008 18:49:00 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:8800484MattManela0http://blogs.msdn.com/matt/comments/8800484.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/matt/commentrss.aspx?PostID=8800484<P>I have been working a lot with WPF and I found the following two FREE tools to be extremely helpful.</P> <P>The first is:</P> <P><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx"><STRONG>XamlPadX</STRONG></A><STRONG> - (</STRONG><A title=http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx"><STRONG>http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx</STRONG></A><STRONG>)</STRONG></P> <P>This is an enhanced version of XamlPad which comes with the .NET SDK.&nbsp; This is a light weight tool which parses and renders XAML code visually.&nbsp; It adds (in addition to just rendering XAML) a command interpreter, visual tree explorer, add-in support and much more.</P> <P>I find this tool very usefull when I want to just play around with XAML and see how things render.&nbsp; It is quicker than firing up VS and using the Cider designer.</P> <P><A href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/llobo/archive/2007/12/19/xamlpadx-v3-0.aspx"><IMG style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" height=247 alt=image src="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/matt/WindowsLiveWriter/TwomostimportantWPFTools_7BAA/image_6.png" width=354 border=0 mce_src="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/matt/WindowsLiveWriter/TwomostimportantWPFTools_7BAA/image_6.png"></A> </P> <P>The other tool is:</P> <P><A href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/" mce_href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/"><STRONG>Snoop</STRONG></A><STRONG> - (</STRONG><A title=http://www.blois.us/Snoop/ href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/" mce_href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/"><STRONG>http://www.blois.us/Snoop/</STRONG></A><STRONG>)</STRONG></P> <P>Snoop is a visual debugger for WPF application.&nbsp; When any WPF application is running you can use snoop to view its visual tree and all the elements properties.&nbsp; You can search for any element, view its properties, change its properties and see how the application changes.</P> <P>This program really helps in understanding what is going on in your WPF application and finding problems.</P> <P><A href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/" mce_href="http://www.blois.us/Snoop/"><IMG style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" height=294 alt=image src="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/matt/WindowsLiveWriter/TwomostimportantWPFTools_7BAA/image_5.png" width=354 border=0 mce_src="http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/matt/WindowsLiveWriter/TwomostimportantWPFTools_7BAA/image_5.png"></A></P><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=8800484" width="1" height="1">ProgrammingWPFXAMLTools