I have already described in my earlier articles how to use Share Contract in Windows Store apps using C# and also given the details of all the data formats that you can share to others via email by using Share Contract.

Today I will describe the Share Contract with the WebView control. We can also share the content of a WebView control using Share Contract. WebView may contain either the HTML format data or it may contain the Navigate URL of a website.

Applications that use the WebView can share the contents of the WebView control via the Share contract. To share the content of a WebView control, select some part of the WebView content and share this using Share Contract.

The following are the steps to share the selected content of a WebView control using Share Contract in C#/XAML.

Step 1

Create a new Windows Store Application using C#.

Step 2

Here I design my MainPage.xaml with buttons to share content and an WebView control. I give some URL of that control to show the webpage.

  1. <Page
  2. x:Class="ShareContentwithWebViewControl.MainPage"
  3. xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  4. xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  5. xmlns:local="using:ShareContentwithWebViewControl"
  6. xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
  7. xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
  8. mc:Ignorable="d">
  9. <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="Red" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,50,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top">
  10. <Grid.RowDefinitions>
  11. <RowDefinition Height="800"/>
  12. <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
  13. </Grid.RowDefinitions>
  14. <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Margin="0,10,0,0" Grid.Row="1">
  15. <Button x:Name="ShareContent" Content="Share Content" Margin="0,0,10,0" Click="Share_Click"/>
  16. </StackPanel>
  17. <Border BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="#FF707070" Grid.Row="0" Margin="10,0,0,0">
  18. <Grid>
  19. <WebView x:Name="WebView7" Width="1000" Height="800"/>
  20. </Grid>
  21. </Border>
  22. </Grid>
  23. </Page>
Step 3

In the .cs file you need to add the neccessary namespaces to your app so you can create and process the objects related to sharing.

  1. using Windows.ApplicationModel.DataTransfer;
Step 4

Now, we open the view for Share on button click using the GetForCurrentView() method of the DataTransferManager class.

  1. private void Share_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
  2. {
  3. dataTransferManager = DataTransferManager.GetForCurrentView();
  5. DataTransferManager.ShowShareUI();
  6. }
Step 5

Create an Event handler of the DataRequested event in the click event. This event occurs when you share the content.

  1. dataTransferManager.DataRequested += dataTransferManager_DataRequested;
Step 6

Here is the coding of the DataRequested event that we defined previously.

First I get the DataPackage object from the webview control that contains the the selected contents; see:
  1. DataRequest request = args.Request;
  3. DataPackage p = WebView7.DataTransferPackage;

Check if any content is selected or not. If selected give it to the DataRequest object to share to other people via email; that is done with:

  1. if (p.GetView().Contains(StandardDataFormats.Text))
  2. {
  3. p.Properties.Title = "WebView Sharing Excerpt";
  5. p.Properties.Description = "This is a snippet from the content hosted in the WebView control";
  7. request.Data = p;
  9. }
  10. else
  11. {
  12. request.FailWithDisplayText("Nothing to share");
  14. }
Here is the full code

  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.IO;
  4. using System.Linq;
  5. using Windows.ApplicationModel.DataTransfer;
  6. using Windows.Foundation;
  7. using Windows.Foundation.Collections;
  8. using Windows.UI.Xaml;
  9. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
  10. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives;
  11. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Data;
  12. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Input;
  13. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Media;
  14. using Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation;
  15. namespace ShareContentwithWebViewControl
  16. {
  17. public sealed partial class MainPage : Page
  18. {
  19. public MainPage()
  20. {
  21. this.InitializeComponent();
  22. }
  23. DataTransferManager dataTransferManager = null;
  24. protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
  25. {
  26. WebView7.Navigate(new Uri("http://www.c-sharpcorner.com"));
  27. }
  28. private void Share_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
  29. {
  30. dataTransferManager = DataTransferManager.GetForCurrentView();
  31. dataTransferManager.DataRequested += dataTransferManager_DataRequested;
  32. DataTransferManager.ShowShareUI();
  33. }
  34. void dataTransferManager_DataRequested(DataTransferManager sender, DataRequestedEventArgs args)
  35. {
  36. DataRequest request = args.Request;
  37. DataPackage p = WebView7.DataTransferPackage;
  38. if (p.GetView().Contains(StandardDataFormats.Text))
  39. {
  40. p.Properties.Title = "WebView Sharing Excerpt";
  41. p.Properties.Description = "This is a snippet from the content hosted in the WebView control";
  42. request.Data = p;
  43. }
  44. else
  45. {
  46. request.FailWithDisplayText("Nothing to share");
  47. }
  48. }
  49. }
  50. }
Step 7

Now my app is ready to share contents of the WebView control through Share Contract. Run the app, select the content from the WebView control and press the button.

Share-Content-of-WebView-In-Windows-Store-Apps.jpg

Give the Email Id and send it.

Share-Contract-With-WebView-Control-In-Windows-Store-Apps.jpg