Archive
Microsoft AI solutions
* AI business solutions: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/solutions/practice-areas/artificial-intelligence
* AI platform: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/ai-platform/
at the section «Open and comprehensive platform» (scroll down) and see the three tabs AI tools/AI frameworks/AI related infrastructure
* Azure (cloud) Machine Learning: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/machine-learning/
– Machine Learning service (TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Jupyter etc.)
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/machine-learning-service/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/service/
– Machine Learning Studio (visual drag-drop/flow based)
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/machine-learning-studio/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/studio/
– Data Science VM (collection of third-party Machine Learning tools)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/data-science-virtual-machine/
* Azure DataBricks (Apache Spark-based BigData analytics): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/databricks/
* Visual Studio AI extensions:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/data-science-virtual-machine/
* Visual Studio Code (cross-platform IDE) AI extensions:
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ai-tools-vscode
* Bots (Conversational):
* Cognitive Services: (pre-trained models for Speech, Face recognition, generating Q&A from unstructured text etc.)
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/
* AI blog: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/topics/artificial-intelligence/
* more resources for developers:
https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/isv-resource-hub/develop-or-migrate-your-app
Gotcha: MediaElement Source=null releases stream, SetSource(null) fails
This is my contribution to:
If you use MediaElement, make sure you don’t get bitten by this one: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc626563(v=vs.95).aspx
ArgumentNullException – The mediaStreamSource is null.
…After calling this method, MediaElement.Source returns null. If this is called and MediaElement.Source is set, the last operation wins.
If a MediaElement is removed from the UI tree while is has an opened MediaStreamSource, subsequent calls to SetSource may be ignored. To ensure featureSetSource calls will work, set the Source property to null before detaching the MediaElement from the UI tree.
naturally one would expect, if they only use SetSource(somestream) to use SetSource(null) to release the resources. Nope, they thought "better", you have to use Source=null instead to release resources and SetSource(null) throws ArgumentNullException
that is what I call a design bug (breaks the rule of "least expected" behavior and causes bugs that bite you at runtime only [unless somebody has made a static analysis rule to catch such a thing – would need metadata of course that some argument can’t be null, like in Code Contracts])
I managed to introduce this bug while refactoring some code in ClipFlair Studio‘s AudioRecorder control the other day 😦
Note that you can’t use at MediaElement something like Source = stream to open a Stream, since that is a Uri property (not an Object property to also accept Stream) and you have to use SetSource(stream) instead, so you’d also expect to be able to use SetSource(null) to release the resources.
Update: Fixed this in AudioRecorderView class (uses MVVM pattern) of AudioRecorderControl, at Audio property’s "set" accessor it needed the following null-guarding pattern:
if (mediaStreamSource != null)
player.SetSource(mediaStreamSource);
//must set the source once, not every time we play the same audio,
//else with Mp3MediaSource it will throw DRM error
else
player.Source = null;
HowTo: Load a XAML ResourceDictionary from a .NET assembly
Copying here my answer at:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wpf/thread/11a42336-8d87-4656-91a3-275413d3cc19
What seems to work for me is the following (copying from the source code of http://ClipFlair.codeplex.com [check out the FlipPanel project under “Client” subfolder])
note
I’m using Build Action = "Page" and Custom Tool="MSBuild:Compile" at the properties of Themes\DropDownTheme.xml and Themes\RotateHorizontalTheme.xaml, as was for Themes\Generic.xaml. Seems to work OK (probably this is faster at runtime compared to setting Build Action to Resource and telling it to not build it)
according to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/145752/what-are-the-various-build-action-settings-in-vs-net-project-properties-and-wh the Build Action = "Page" compiles the XAML into BAML (this seems to also apply to Silverlight 5)
* FlipPanel project, Themes\Generic.xaml
<ResourceDictionary
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FlipPanel;assembly=FlipPanel">
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary
Source="/FlipPanel;component/Themes/RotateHorizontalTheme.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<Style TargetType="local:FlipPanel">
<Setter Property="Template"
Value="{StaticResource FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalTemplate}"/>
</Style>
</ResourceDictionary>
* FlipPanel Project, Themes\RotateHorizontalTheme.xaml
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FlipPanel;assembly=FlipPanel"> <ControlTemplate x:Key="FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalTemplate"
TargetType="local:FlipPanel"> <Grid> ... </Grid> </ControlTemplate> <Style x:Key="FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalStyle" TargetType="local:FlipPanel"> <Setter Property="Template"
Value="{StaticResource FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalTemplate}"/> </Style> </ResourceDictionary>
* FlipPanel Project, Themes\DropDownTheme.xaml
<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FlipPanel;assembly=FlipPanel"> <ControlTemplate x:Key="FlipPanel_DropDownTemplate"
TargetType="local:FlipPanel"> <Grid> ... </Grid> </ControlTemplate> <Style x:Key="FlipPanel_DropDownStyle" TargetType="local:FlipPanel"> <Setter Property="Template"
Value="{StaticResource FlipPanel_DropDownTemplate}"/> </Style> </ResourceDictionary>
* FlipPanel.Silverlight.Demo project, FlipPanelTest.xaml
<UserControl x:Class="FlipPanelTest.FlipPanelTest"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:flip="clr-namespace:FlipPanel;assembly=FlipPanel" >
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary
Source="/FlipPanel;component/Themes/RotateHorizontalTheme.xaml" />
<ResourceDictionary
Source="/FlipPanel;component/Themes/DropDownTheme.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" Width="400">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="300"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition Height="300"></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<flip:FlipPanel x:Name="panel1" Grid.Row="0" BorderBrush="DarkOrange"
BorderThickness="3"
CornerRadius="4" Margin="10" Background="White"
Template="{StaticResource FlipPanel_DropDownTemplate}" >
<!-- Style="{StaticResource FlipPanel_DropDownStyle}" -->
<flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<StackPanel Margin="6">
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkOrange"
>This is the front side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button One"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Two"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Three"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Four"></Button>
</StackPanel>
</flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
<Grid Margin="6">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkMagenta"
>This is the back side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Grid.Row="2" Margin="3" Padding="10"
Content="Flip Back to Front" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
VerticalAlignment="Center" Click="cmdFlip1_Click"></Button>
</Grid>
</flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
</flip:FlipPanel>
<flip:FlipPanel x:Name="panel2" Grid.Row="1" BorderBrush="DarkOrange"
BorderThickness="3"
CornerRadius="4" Margin="10" Background="White"
Template="{StaticResource FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalTemplate}" >
<!-- Style="{StaticResource FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalStyle}" -->
<flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<StackPanel Margin="6">
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkOrange"
>This is the front side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button One"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Two"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Three"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Four"></Button>
</StackPanel>
</flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
<Grid Margin="6">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkMagenta"
>This is the back side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Grid.Row="2" Margin="3" Padding="10"
Content="Flip Back to Front" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
VerticalAlignment="Center" Click="cmdFlip2_Click"></Button>
</Grid>
</flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
</flip:FlipPanel>
<flip:FlipPanel x:Name="panel3" Grid.Row="2" BorderBrush="DarkOrange"
BorderThickness="3"
CornerRadius="4" Margin="10" Background="White" >
<!-- using default style here -->
<flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<StackPanel Margin="6">
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkOrange"
>This is the front side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button One"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Two"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Three"></Button>
<Button Margin="3" Padding="3" Content="Button Four"></Button>
</StackPanel>
</flip:FlipPanel.FrontContent>
<flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
<Grid Margin="6">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="3" FontSize="16"
Foreground="DarkMagenta"
>This is the back side of the FlipPanel.</TextBlock>
<Button Grid.Row="2" Margin="3" Padding="10"
Content="Flip Back to Front" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
VerticalAlignment="Center" Click="cmdFlip2_Click"></Button>
</Grid>
</flip:FlipPanel.BackContent>
</flip:FlipPanel>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Note that I decided to prefix names with "FlipPanel_", not sure if there’s some better way (using XAML namespaces somehow) to avoid any conflicts when merging the dictionaries and resolving the resouces with "{StaticResource …}"
Also note that in each theme file I also provide a Style (that sets the corresponding Template property of the FlipPanel conrol) that one can use instead of using the Template directly. At that Style more FlipPanel control properties could be set to values appropriate for that template (the template defines a skeleton and the style dresses the pirate [skeleton] as somebody cleverly pointed out).
Note that Generic.xaml merges and uses the templat from one of the themes. Couldmake copies of files similar to Generic.xaml and reference the same template but with different values in the Style for other properties to make variations without resorting to Copy/Paste when multiple Themes use the same Template but restyle it a bit.
Another important note is that at Generic.xaml you must not use x:Key="FlipPanel_DefaultStyle" or anyother key at the default style, or the command
public FlipPanel()
{
DefaultStyleKey = typeof(FlipPanel);
}
won’t load the default style (which is needed when you don’t provide a Template or Style value at the consumer XAML (FlipPanelTest.xaml). Probably one can modify it to load a style by name instead of just by type (probably the issue was that it found multiple named styles applying to that type [both FlipPanel_RotateHorizontalStyle and FlipPanel_DefaultStyle] in the Generic.xaml), but removing the Key and using an unnamed style seems to do the trick.
Microsoft Expression Blend – learning and community resources
Copying from Expression Blend 4 User Guide’s “Learning and community resources” section:
Apart from this User Guide, the following additional content and resources are available.
Expression Blend and other Expression Studio products
Expression community website (training, tutorials, videos, and webcasts)
Silverlight
System.Windows.Controls Namespace for Silverlight
Windows Presentation Foundation
George Birbilis @zoomicon 