WPF or WinForms for this application?

[adshocker]

hi all,

i came across WPF as i was trying to look for a solution for an issue i am having with WinForms. i've been reading about WPF for a few days now and i was amazed by the designs of some samples i saw from another thread..

http://go.internet.com/?id=474X1146&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.devexpress.com%2Fblogs%2Fthinking%2FDXGrid%2520for%2520WPF.png (http://go.internet.com/?id=474X1146&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.devexpress.com%2Fblogs%2Fthinking%2FDXGrid%2520for%2520WPF.png)
http://go.internet.com/?id=474X1146&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.istartedsomething.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F01%2Flawson_1l.jpg

although i've also read that WPF is not meant for LOB applications but those articles and threads were quite old.

originally, i was using WinForms for developing an HR System with all the basic modules like Employee Management (Assignments etc) and Recruitment System.

i haven't got far yet as i'm still doing the System Administration part of it.

now that i've been exposed to WPF, i'm a little bit tempted to do this using it but not sure if it is feasible / recommended ?

of course there will be lots of data manipulation, need for controls like data gridview, combobox, textbox but as far as i've read, datagridview is not available in WPF. also the bindingnavigator and bindingsource doesn't seem to be used in it. i also use datasets, datatable, dataadapters, commands for data manipulation but i think these are still available in WPF. also, i normally have 1 mdi form and the rest are child forms. not sure if this is still available in WPF.

these were of course the most common objects i used in WinForms that made things easier for me. are there corresponding objects in WPF that functions similar to these of WinForms?

i'd appreciate any comments or suggestions as i do not want to start using WPF and then go to a dead end later?

also, please consider the following info:

i'm new to WPF.
i use visual studio 2008 express and oracle database 10g express.
i have poor designing skills and taste :D but of course i want to learn.

thanks

[mendhak]

There's a page on MSDN describing WPF controls and their WinForm equivalents (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms750559.aspx).

Before you decide to go WPF, remember your target audience. Will their PCs have the capabilities (http://www.fernicola.org/loquitor/index.php?/archives/21-guid.html)to support WPF (which depend on what you do in the app)?

[chris128]

WPF does not have any native support for MDI but you can do it yourself - that is the same for a few of the things you mentioned. As winforms has been around for so long it has matured and had a lot of time spent on it, WPF in contrast is still very new so there is still a few of the controls and systems that you are used to in winforms that are missing. Having said that, I havent come across any situations personally where this is a real problem because due to the massive amount of flexibility that WPF gives you when it comes to controls, you can modify an existing control (or make one from scratch) to work and look how you want it to.

So basically - yes you could use WPF, and personally I use it for all my new projects, but if you want to use it then be prepared for a lot of headaches and a rather steep learning curve while you get used to WPF. Also, because there is so much more you can do with the user interface design, I find it makes projects take twice as long because now you can spend loads of time on the UI as well as the code.

[adshocker]

thanks for the tips.