10 Essential Controls from the WinRT XAML Toolkit You Should Know

10 Essential Controls from the WinRT XAML Toolkit

1. AutoCompleteTextBox

   • TextBox with built-in dictionary-based suggestions, keyboard navigation, and customizable suggestion templates.

2. CameraCaptureControl

   • Live camera preview, photo/video capture, device selection (front/back), and simple API to integrate camera features.

3. AnimatingContainer

   • Container that animates child elements (rotate, zoom, cascade) for lively UI transitions without manual storyboards.

4. AlternativeFrame / AlternativePage

   • Navigation frame and page pair that support asynchronous page transitions, preloading, and built-in transitions (dissolve, flip, push, wipe).

5. CascadingTextBlock

   • TextBlock replacement that animates individual characters (fade/translate) for attention-grabbing text effects.

6. CalendarControl (WinRT XAML Calendar)

   • Feature-rich calendar view (month/week/day), date selection modes, and customization for scheduling UIs.

7. Data Visualization (Charts)

   • Collection of chart controls (line, bar, pie, scatter) for plotting data with configurable axes, series, and styling.

8. Gauge Controls

   • Radial and linear gauges with configurable ranges, needles, ticks, and value animations for dashboards.

9. Debugging Tools

   • Utilities and visual helpers (e.g., visual tree inspectors, layout debugging aids) to diagnose XAML layout and rendering issues.

10. AsyncUI Extensions

    • Not a single visual control but a set of UI extension methods (WaitFor events: image load, storyboard completion, element load/unload, selector change, WebView navigation) that simplify async