Xbox controls

Microsoft.Xbox.dll has the controls the dashboard-style apps are built from. Use them with xmlns:xbox="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Xbox.Controls;assembly=Microsoft.Xbox" and a Microsoft.Xbox reference. The API reference documents every member; this page covers what you need to get them working.

Their default styles come from the platform's theme. Some colors assume a light background (the Pivot headers are dark grey), so override templates where they don't fit.

Pivot

Sections side by side, one shown at a time, with the neighbours peeking in at the edges. The shoulder buttons switch sections.

<xbox:Pivot x:Name="Sections">
  <xbox:Pivot.HeaderTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
      <TextBlock Text="{Binding}" FontSize="32" Foreground="#FFEBEBEB" />
    </DataTemplate>
  </xbox:Pivot.HeaderTemplate>
  <xbox:PivotItem Header="browse">
    <Grid>...buttons in rows and columns...</Grid>
  </xbox:PivotItem>
  <xbox:PivotItem Header="search">...</xbox:PivotItem>
</xbox:Pivot>
  • D-pad focus inside a section: each PivotItem moves it through the Grid it contains with the D-pad (AutoGridNav, on by default). Give it a Grid with the controls in rows and columns.
  • Focus when switching: focus the first control yourself in SelectionChanged.
  • Lazy loading: LoadingPivotItem and UnloadingPivotItem are raised for items within two positions of the selection, so you can load section content on demand.
  • Only one per page: a Pivot contains a SwipeViewer, and only one SwipeViewer can be active at a time. Don't put two Pivots, or a Pivot and a ContinuousList, on one page.

Samples: samples\ui\XboxControls, and samples\apps\CatalogBrowser, which builds its sections in code.

Rune

Text entry made for the TV: a strip of characters the user scrolls through with the D-pad and picks with A. X deletes and Y closes. It shows as a popup while IsOpen is true.

<xbox:Rune x:Name="SearchRune" EmptyTextString="search for something" />

SearchRune.IsOpen = true;
SearchRune.Focus();
SearchRune.TextChanged += delegate { Search(SearchRune.Text); };

A Rune also accepts text typed on a SmartGlass companion device. Under xenia the SmartGlass keyboard calls are missing, which only shows up in the log; typing with the controller works.

Legend

The A/B/X/Y hints at the bottom of the screen. See Input and focus.

MediaTransport

The Xbox video player's chrome: a transport bar, timeline, status and busy indicator, wired to a player. See Media.

  • Set MediaAssetId before playback. Every command reports it, and commands throw InvalidOperationException without it.
  • Needs GamerServices, for its screen-saver control; use it inside an XboxApplicationFrame.

ContinuousList

A horizontally paged list for long rows of items. It pages with the shoulder buttons, the D-pad, the remote's previous/next or a swipe, and raises ItemsInViewChanged. It contains a SwipeViewer, so the one-per-page rule applies.

Transitions

Page transitions and staggered element animations: see App model.

Speech: VuiBar and VuiCommand

Voice commands need a Kinect sensor, which xenia doesn't have, so none of this has been tested. From the code:

  1. XboxApplicationFrame's template hosts the one VuiBar; creating a second one throws.
  2. Build a VuiGrammar whose phrases' semantic values match each VuiCommand.SemanticValue, call LoadGrammar, add the commands, then StartRecognition. Grammars can't be loaded while recognition is running.
  3. Setting Localization.Culture unloads every grammar, the app's included; load them again afterwards.

Kinect-only controls

NuiTimeline scrubbing, SwipeViewer, DepthPIP and Rune gestures respond to the Kinect hand cursor. Without a sensor they still show, and the controller works with them.