Review of a Trading System Project

Introduction In late 2007 I wrote a series of articles on Microsoft’s Composite Application Block (CAB).  At that time I was running a team that was developing a user interface framework that used the CAB. We’re now four years on and that framework is widely used throughout our department.  There are currently modules from eleven …

Model-View-Presenter using the Smart Client Software Factory (Introduction To CAB/SCSF Part 25)

Introduction Part 23 and part 24 of this series of articles described the Model-View-Presenter pattern. This article explains how the Smart Client Software Factory supports this pattern by generating appropriate classes. Guidance Automation Packages in the Smart Client Software Factory We saw how we could use the Smart Client Application Guidance Automation Package to set …

Foundational Modules and Names as Constants (Intro to CAB/SCSF Part 21)

Introduction Part 19 and part 20 of this series of articles looked at business modules in the Smart Client Software Factory. This article looks at foundational modules briefly, and also discusses the pattern for handling names in the SCSF. Foundational Modules In part 18 of this series of articles we saw how we can use …

SCSF Business Modules: Start Up and the ControlledWorkItem (Introduction to CAB/SCSF Part 20)

Introduction Part 19 of this series of articles discussed business modules in a Smart Client solution generated using the Smart Client Software Factory. This article continues that discussion. The Load Method of a Business Module As discussed in the previous article, a business module has a class called ‘Module’ which inherits from class ModuleInit. We …

Business Modules and Interfaces in the SCSF Smart Client Solution (Introduction to CAB/SCSF Part 19)

Introduction Part 18 gave a brief introduction to the Smart Client Software Factory. This article continues that discussion by looking at business modules, and also examining how the various modules in a Smart Client solution are expected to interact. Recap on the Smart Client Application In part 18 we saw that a ‘Guidance Automation’ package …

Introduction to the Smart Client Software Factory (CAB/SCSF Part 18)

Introduction So far in this series of articles the focus has been on the core functionality of the Composite Application Block (CAB). No mention has been made of the Smart Client Software Factory (SCSF), in spite of the fact that the series is entitled ‘An Introduction to the Composite Application Block and the Smart Client …

Workspace Types (Introduction to the CAB/SCSF Part 17)

Introduction Part 16 of this series of articles explained in general terms why Workspaces are useful. It also examined the methods that are available on a Workspace via the IWorkspace interface. There are five Workspace types provided with the Composite Application Block framework: DeckWorkspace, ZoneWorkspace, TabWorkspace, MdiWorkspace and WindowWorkspace. This article looks in a little …

More Detail on Workspaces and SmartParts (Introduction to the CAB/SCSF Part 16)

Introduction Part 15 of this series of articles explained SmartParts in the CAB, and gave a very brief introduction to Workspaces. This article will continue with the same topics. In particular we will look in more detail at Workspaces. Workspaces Recap Part 15 explained the SmartParts can be most easily thought of as user controls …

Composite Application Block or WPF Composite Client?

I’ve had a question from a Greg Bayer this week about what my thoughts were on the Composite Application Block and Smart Client Software Factory (CAB/SCSF) ‘now that it appears that both are being put out to pasture by Microsoft’. My response became a little long to be posted as a comment. I suspect Greg …

Introduction to SmartParts and Workspaces (Introduction to CAB/SCSF Part 15)

Introduction Part 14 of this series of articles discussed UIExtensionSites. This article continues our discussion of user interface elements in the Composite Application Block by giving an introduction to SmartParts, and a very brief introduction to Workspaces. Part 16 will expand on this discussion. Workspaces and SmartParts are interlinked and to understand one you need …