Creating Vista

Gadgets:

Using HTML, CSS and JavaScriptwith Examples in RSS, AJAX, ActiveX (COM) and Silverlight™

Copyright © 2008 by Sams PublishingAll rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-wise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed withrespect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution hasbeen taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsi-bility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from theuse of the information contained herein.This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth inthe Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available athttp://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32968-5ISBN-10: 0-672-32968-9Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataLal, Rajesh.Creating Vista gadgets : using html, css and javascript with examplesin rss, ajax, activex (com) and silverlight / Rajesh Lal.p. cm.ISBN 978-0-672-32968-5 (pbk.)1. Microsoft Windows (Computer file) 2. Operating systems (Computers)3. User interfaces (Computer systems) I. Title.QA76.76.O63L3546 2008005.4'46--dc222008016280Printed in the United States of AmericaFirst Printing April 2008

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Introduction

ith the broadest ever worldwide release of a PC operat-ing system, in 2007 Windows Vista opened the door to anera of gadget development. Gadgets, which reside on theWindows Vista Sidebar, are small, lightweight, and can bevery useful applications. The Sidebar is a brand new plat-form for innovation and it gives users a unique way tointeract with information.This book is for people who want to create feature-rich andprofessional-looking Vista Sidebar gadgets. It’s a guide fordesigners, developers, and anyone else who has a basicknowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and wants toleverage this new and innovative platform. It’s for anyonewho wants to create a gadget for his company, or for aprogrammer with a great idea to implement on a Sidebargadget platform, or even for a hobbyist programmer, whowants to try his hand on a gadget platform. This book isintended to give you ideas for

what

you can do with thisnew platform and

how

you can do it.

What’s in the Book

This book starts with a brief background on gadgets, andthen gives a broad and clear view of the architecture of gadget development. Gadget design considerations are animportant part of this book and they go side by side withalmost all the chapters that deal with gadget development.Once you’ve read up on the concept and scope of gadgetdevelopment, the book helps you create a gadget calledMyBlog. During this process the text elaborates on thearchitecture, design constraints, and implementationdetails for the gadget and then details some standard prac-tices applicable to all gadget development. The last sectiondeals with more advanced gadget examples that utilize.NET, XML, XHTML, CSS, Ajax, and Microsoft Silverlight.This book is divided into three broad sections.

Section 1:The Foundation

The four chapters in this first section give a thorough back-ground of Sidebar gadgets. The section explains the typesof gadgets, the architecture, and the technology behind the