Introduction

In this article we will see how to open a text file inside the Custom Message Box control of the Windows Phone toolkit. In our app we can use the default message box to show the alerts or messages to the user. But it is very limited. The WP8 toolkit removes the limitations of the default message box by providing a Custom Message Box control. So let's get started.

Custom Message Box

Custom Message Box is a control provided in the WP8 toolkit for customizing the interface and contents of the message box. It enables you to add various UI elements in the message box that is not possible in the default message box. This demo opens a text file inside the message box. This can be useful for showing a readme, about and so on.

In the following demo I have used the following properties of a Custom Message Box:

Apart from the properties, the following method is also used:

We have also used the dismissing event of the Custom Message Box. The Dismissing event is fired when the Custom Message Box is closing.

Before you can run the following demo you need to install the WP8 toolkit in your project. It's very easy to do this.

Installing WP8 Toolkit

Use the following procedure to install the WP8 toolkit using Nugget:

  1. Open your app project (either an existing one or a new one).

  2. From the toolbar select "Tools" -> "NuGet Package Manager" -> "Package Manager Console".

  3. Now in the package manager console type the following:

    Install-Package WPtoolkit

    After typing this you will probably see the log similar to this:

    install-package wptoolkit
    'WPtoolkit 4.2013.08.16' already installed.
    Adding 'WPtoolkit 4.2013.08.16' to Demo.
    Successfully added 'WPtoolkit 4.2013.08.16' to Demo.

  4. The next step is to add its reference in the XAML page. To do this just add this line:

    xmlns:toolkit="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Toolkit"

Demo

The following code demonstrates how to use the Custom Message Box with full screen enabled and customized content. Here in this demo I'm opening a text file inside the message box in full screen mode. So let's see how to code it.

XAML

<phone:PhoneApplicationPage

x:Class="Demo.MainPage"

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

xmlns:phone="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone"

xmlns:shell="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Shell;assembly=Microsoft.Phone"

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

xmlns:toolkit="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Phone.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Phone.Controls.Toolkit"

mc:Ignorable="d"

FontFamily="{StaticResource PhoneFontFamilyNormal}"

FontSize="{StaticResource PhoneFontSizeNormal}"

Foreground="{StaticResource PhoneForegroundBrush}"

SupportedOrientations="Portrait" Orientation="Portrait"

shell:SystemTray.IsVisible="True">

<!--LayoutRoot is the root grid where all page content is placed-->

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="Transparent">

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>

<RowDefinition Height="*"/>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

<!--TitlePanel contains the name of the application and page title-->

<StackPanel x:Name="TitlePanel" Grid.Row="0" Margin="12,17,0,28">

<TextBlock Text="Demo" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextNormalStyle}" Margin="12,0"/>

<TextBlock Text="Demo" Margin="9,-7,0,0" FontSize="40" />

</StackPanel>

<!--ContentPanel - place additional content here-->

<Button Content="show message box" Click="openMsgBox" Height="171" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Margin="0,0,0,258" Grid.Row="1"></Button>

</Grid>

</phone:PhoneApplicationPage>

C# Code Behind

using Microsoft.Phone.Controls;

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Net;

using System.Windows;

using System.Windows.Controls;

using System.Diagnostics;

using Microsoft.Phone.Tasks;

using System.Windows.Media;

using System.Windows.Media.Animation;

using System.IO;

namespace Demo

{

public partial class MainPage : PhoneApplicationPage

{

// Constructor

public MainPage()

{

InitializeComponent();

}

CustomMessageBox cmb;

private void openMsgBox(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

{

// create new Stack panel

StackPanel sp = new StackPanel() { Orientation = System.Windows.Controls.Orientation.Vertical };

string Text = getTextForLabel();

// add label in stack panal

sp.Children.Add(new TextBlock(){Text=Text, TextWrapping= TextWrapping.Wrap, Width=450, Height=800, FontSize=20});

// Create new Custom Message Box instance

cmb = new CustomMessageBox()

{

// Set its content to our Stack Panel

Content = sp,

Opacity = 0.9,

// Left button of message box Button

LeftButtonContent = "Close",

// Right button of message box

RightButtonContent = "Copy",

// To enable full screen

IsFullScreen=true

};

//Handling Message close

cmb.Dismissing += cmb_Dismissing;

//Show the message box...

cmb.Show();

}

void cmb_Dismissing(object sender, DismissingEventArgs e)

{

if (e.Result==CustomMessageBoxResult.RightButton)

{

Clipboard.SetText(cmb.Content.ToString());

}

MessageBox.Show("Copied!");

}

private string getTextForLabel()

{

using(StreamReader s=new StreamReader("sample.txt"))

{

return s.ReadToEnd();

}

}

}

}

The Show method is used to launch the task.

Output