Yet another blog about WPF, Surface, SL, MVVM, NUI....

Today we are going to learn how we can uses the powerful data binding of WPF even on non-WPF objects.

The problem: when to use this solution ?

Sometimes you need to use the databinding with an object that you have not created and you can't use inheritance.

For example I wanted to use a Mogre Camera and build some WPF animation with it and I couldn't because :

• WPF animation needed a DependencyProperty to manipulate,
• I couldn't derive the Mogre.Camera class and add it the correct things because I got the camera from a factory object (the sceneManager).

Then I couldn't use the WPF animation to move my camera... next is how I solve it.

A solution: mine and surely not the best

Here is the solution i use:

1. Create a proxy DependencyProperty inside a DependencyObject, for example your main windows.
2. Override the OnPropertyChanged handler.
3. Update the aimed attribute inside the handler.

To control my camera, I created this DependencyProperty inside my windows:

public static readonly DependencyProperty CameraPositionProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("CameraPosition", typeof(Point3D), typeof(SurfaceWindow1), new PropertyMetadata(new Point3D(0, 0, 0)));
 
      public Point3D CameraPosition
      {
         get
         {
            return (Point3D)GetValue(CameraPositionProperty);
         }
         set
         {
            SetValue(CameraPositionProperty, value);
         }
      }

Then I added this override :

protected override void OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
      {
         base.OnPropertyChanged(e);
         if (e.Property.Name.Equals("CameraPosition"))
         {
            _ogre.Camera.SetPosition((float)((Point3D)e.NewValue).X, (float)((Point3D)e.NewValue).Y, (float)((Point3D)e.NewValue).Z);
            _ogre.Camera.LookAt(Vector3.ZERO);
         }
      }

And my usual question :

Does someone have a better idea to perform the same ?

Hello, Here is my first post about WPF and Mogre, maybe it will helps some people... The subject of today is "How to use a screenshot of a WPF elements and put it as an texture on your Mogre object"...

Why ? Because WPF enable you to create very rich interface and so great image to place on you differents elements...

By the way, I let you follow the link at the end of the post to learn how to blend Mogre in WPF and how to take a screenShot of a WPF visual.

The steps to follow are these :

1. Create a screenshot of the WPF visual (any visual can be used),
2. Put the bitmap in a stream and then to a buffer,
3. Use some unsafe code to create a Mogre MemoryStream and a mogre image,
4. Use this image to create a texture,
5. Use this texture in a material,
6. Put it on the mesh of your choice

Create a screenshot of the WPF visual

The original code is from thomas lebrun and can be found in any good WPF book :

Visual theVisual = this ; //Put the aimed visual here.
double width = Convert.ToDouble(theVisual.GetValue(FrameworkElement.WidthProperty));
double height = Convert.ToDouble(theVisual.GetValue(FrameworkElement.HeightProperty));
if (double.IsNaN(width) || double.IsNaN(height))
{
throw new FormatException("You need to indicate the Width and Height values of the UIElement.");
}
RenderTargetBitmap render = new RenderTargetBitmap(
      Convert.ToInt32(width),
      Convert.ToInt32(this.GetValue(FrameworkElement.HeightProperty)),
      96,
      96,
      PixelFormats.Pbgra32);
// Indicate which control to render in the image
render.Render(this);
Stream oStream = new MemoryStream();
PngBitmapEncoder encoder = new PngBitmapEncoder();
encoder.Frames.Add(BitmapFrame.Create(render));
encoder.Save(oStream);
oStream.Flush();

Put the bitmap in a stream and then to a buffer

//Back to the start of the stream
 oStream.Position = 0;
 
//read all the stream
BinaryReader oBinaryReader = new BinaryReader(oStream);
byte[] pBuffer = oBinaryReader.ReadBytes((int)oBinaryReader.BaseStream.Length);
oStream.Close(); //No more needed
TextureManager.Singleton.Remove(sName); //Remove eventually texture with the same name

Create the texture

unsafe
         {
            GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(pBuffer, GCHandleType.Pinned);
            byte* pUnsafeByte = (byte*)handle.AddrOfPinnedObject();
            void* pUnsafeBuffer = (void*)handle.AddrOfPinnedObject();
 
            MemoryDataStream oMemoryStream = new MemoryDataStream(pUnsafeBuffer, (uint)pBuffer.Length);
            DataStreamPtr oPtrDataStream = new DataStreamPtr(oMemoryStream);
            oMogreImage = oMogreImage.Load(oPtrDataStream, "png");
 
            TextureManager.Singleton.LoadImageW(sName, ResourceGroupManager.DEFAULT_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME, oMogreImage);
 
            //handle.Free();
         }

Use this texture in a material

Here is the code of how you can create a material with this texture:

_dynamicMaterial = MaterialManager.Singleton.Create(SCREENSHOT_MATERIAL_NAME, ResourceGroupManager.DEFAULT_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME);
Pass pass = _dynamicMaterial.GetTechnique(0).GetPass(0);
 
TextureUnitState tus = pass.CreateTextureUnitState(SCREENSHOT_TEXTURE_NAME);
_dynamicMaterial.GetTechnique(0).GetPass(0).AddTextureUnitState(tus);

Then you just have to use it as a normal texture...

An example:

Here is a little screenshot of the results. I display a cube with the face using as a texture a screenshot of the window in which it is....

Link: how to blend Mogre in WPF