Win Application Framework (WAF)

Successor of the WPF Application Framework

The Win Application Framework (WAF) is a lightweight Framework that helps you to create well-structured XAML Applications (MAUI, Xamarin, WPF, WinUI). It supports you in applying various architectural patterns:

• Layered Architecture
• Model-View-ViewModel Pattern
• DataModel-View-ViewModel Pattern

How to get started?

• WAF comes with realistic real-world sample applications. Please have a look at them. See Sample Applications below.
• The Wiki provides further guidance.

Supported Platforms

• *.Core (.NET 6.0 and .NET Standard 2.0): Support for all .NET based applications.
• *.Wpf (.NET 6.0 and .NET Framework 4.7.2): Extended support for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

NuGet Packages

Package	Usage	Successor of
System.Waf.Core	For all .NET based applications
System.Waf.Wpf	For WPF applications	waf
System.Waf.UnitTesting.Core	For unit testing of all .NET based applications
System.Waf.UnitTesting.Wpf	For unit testing of WPF applications	waf.testing

Features

System.Waf.Core

• Foundation
  • Cache: Provides support for caching a value.
  • Model: Base class that implements INotifyPropertyChanged.
  • ObservableList: Extends the ObservableCollection with support for INotifyCollectionChanging and INotifyCollectionItemChanged.
  • ObservableListViewCore: Provide change notifications for sorting and filtering.
  • SynchronizingList: Represents a collection that synchronizes all its items with the items of the specified original collection.
  • ThrottledAction: Throttling of multiple method calls to improve the responsiveness of an application.
  • ValidatableModel: Base class for a model that supports validation by implementing INotifyDataErrorInfo.
  • WeakEvent: Supports listening to events via a weak reference. This can prevent memory leaks. See WeakEvent page for more details.
• Applications
  • ApplicationInfo: Provides information about the running application.
  • (Async)DelegateCommand: An implementation of ICommand that delegates Execute and CanExecute.
  • RecentFileList: Most recently used (MRU) file list.
  • ViewModelCore: ViewModel base class with a simple approach to set the DataContext.
• Presentation
  • SettingsService: Load and save user settings as a XML file.

System.Waf.Wpf

• Foundation
  • DataErrorInfoSupport: Helper class for working with the legacy IDataErrorInfo interface.
• Applications
  • ViewModel: Extends the ViewModelCore class and automatically initializes the DataContext with the Dispatcher.
• Presentation
  • DispatcherHelper: Implementation for DoEvents.
  • ResourceHelper: Helper methods to manage resources in WPF.
  • ValidationHelper: Support for data validation tracking.
  • Converters
    • BoolToVisibilityConverter: Converts a boolean value to and from a Visibility value.
    • InvertBooleanConverter: Inverts a boolean value.
    • NullToVisibilityConverter: Check for null and return the associated Visibility value.
    • StringFormatConverter: Converts an object into a formatted string.
    • ValidationErrorsConverter: Converts a ValidationError collection to a multi-line string error message.
  • Services
    • FileDialogService: Shows an open or save file dialog box.
    • MessageService: Shows messages via the MessageBox.

System.Waf.UnitTesting.Core

• AssertHelper: Assertion helper methods for expected exceptions, CanExecuteChanged event and PropertyChanged event.
• UnitTestSynchronizationContext: Synchronization context for unit tests that simulates the behavior of a UI synchronization context.

Sample Applications

Name	Type	Description
Waf NewsReader	MAUI .NET 8	A simple and fast RSS and ATOM news feed reader. Platforms: Android, Windows and iOS Architecture: Layering, MVVM, Async patterns Sync feeds with multiple devices via MS Graph (OneDrive) OAuth authentication Responsive UI with Navigation pane Validation (Add feed view) Localized (English and German)
Waf Writer	WPF .NET 8	A basic word processing application. Architecture: Layering, MVVM Ribbon & Tabbed MDI (Multiple Document Interface) Animated transition between pages Most recently used file list (MRU) Message service, Open/Save dialog service Print preview & Print dialog Localized (English and German) UI testing with FlaUI and execution via GitHub Actions
Waf Book Library	WPF .NET 8	Supports the user to manage books. Borrowed books can be tracked by this application. Architecture: Layering, Extensions, MVVM, DMVVM Entity Framework with SQLite Validation rules Sort & Filter in the DataGrid Reporting via WPF FlowDocument & Print support UI testing with FlaUI and execution via GitHub Actions
Waf Information Manager	WPF .NET 8	A modular application that comes with a fake email client and an address book. Architecture: Layering, Modularization, MVVM Office format ZIP container shared with all modules (Package API and DataContractSerializer) Validation rules Extensible navigation view & context sensitive toolbar Wizard dialog
Waf Music Manager	WPF .NET 8	Fast application that makes fun to manage the local music collection. MS Store (MSIX), WinRT, Media playback, File queries & properties, Async/await, Drag & Drop
Waf DotNetPad	WPF .NET 8	Code editor for programming C# and Visual Basic. MS Store (MSIX), .NET Compiler Platform (Roslyn), AvalonEdit, Auto completion, Async/await
Waf File Hash Generator	WinUI 3 .NET 8	Simple tool that generates the hash values of one or more files. MS Store (MSIX), Async, Progress, Drag & Drop