Mouse Buttons - Why Silverlight web development is not traditional?

I have been active on Silverlight forums for a few months now and  most of the developers I see have problems with understanding that Silverlight is not like traditional web development environment. And the approach they have to take frightens them because it is not traditional.  They have fixed a  development mind frame with with HTML/Graphics and Server pages and sometimes it doesn't suit well with the Silverlight architecture. There are some areas of web development that with the introduction of Silverlight architecture get void, and I am set to make points of all of them and discuss the reason. Instead of doing all of them in one post I'll try to post multiple entry concentrating on a single method each time.

Mouse Buttons.

The most basic traditional method that developers gets wrong, Silverlight doesn't support Middle-Mouse button, Right-Mouse button or Double Click and developers have expressed this as crippled functionality or nonsense among other things, But the question they ask why only one mouse button is to an extend valid, and I'll try to shed some light on the reasons.

To answer why, we have to answer why Silverlight? Why not AJAX? What Silverlight brings to the application that AJAX doesn't besides easy of development? I say cross-platform compatibility, but they say AJAX is also cross platform compatible, I say with Right Mouse, or Middle Mouse button it isn't.

Let me explain in more detail, AJAX came into existence with writing clever JavaScript programs and pushing JavaScript to its limits, there are however different approaches for different browses, something that works in IE doesn't work on FireFox and something that works both in IE/FireFox doesn't work on Mac-Safari so the developer building AJAX application have to target particular browsers and write their application, one of the first reasons I was attracted to Silverlight was this cross platform compatibility. Write one application and run them on all.

Ok, but what does this have to do with Mouse buttons? The reason is Mac with its tradition doesn't have more than one mouse button, and this button in Windows terminology is interpreted as Left Mouse button, however in the last few years user have adopted the Mac-Might Mouse which have more than one mouse button, but the traditional Mac have only a single mouse button, so if you create a web application that is cross platform you have be use that all the users irrespective of their platform Mac/ Windows, or browser IE/FF/Safari/Opera.

You would ask what about double click? I say how would you double click on Mobile device? Not all mobile devices that access Internet are touch screen, and even on touch screen its hard to double click, when working on Silverlight you have to think the big picture, not traditional windows method. Microsoft have showed interest for Silverlight on Mobile devices but as yet, no particular announcements have been made. But expect to change that with Silverlight 2.0 RTM (by summer 2008). 

If say Microsoft have incorporated Silverlight with extended mouse functionality, and the developers who doesn't understand this functionality and/or its limits went on to implement such behaviour with some serious business logic, the end user accessing the application who can't access such behaviour due to hardware limitations can't access  such business logic, rendering the application useless.

To wrap it all up, Silverlight doesn't have extended mouse functionality for the same reasons as Adobe Flash doesn't.

Silverlight - World Map

I have promised in my previous post about XAML World Map, it  is finally here. Boy it took more time than I thought it would, and it was painstakingly boring, well it is finally here and I have a sample application in Silverlight 1.1 alpha (using VB.NET) how to use the world map.

Few Facts about this XAML World Map

• Map not for Scale

• More than 150 countries are included.

• Each country is held by a canvas, and each child of the canvas is a path.

• Non-populated or relatively small countries are not included.

• I have tried my best to be accurate with country names, if there are any mistakes I would update it if brought to my notice.

• Country canvas's are named by ISO 3166 Country Codes standards, but since ("is", "in", "do" are reserved words other codes are used). 

Countries Not Included. (87)

Country Name	ISO
ÅLAND ISLANDS	AX
AMERICAN SAMOA	AS
ANDORRA	AD
ANGUILLA	AI
ANTARCTICA	AQ
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA	AG
ARUBA	AW
BAHAMAS	BS
BAHRAIN	BH
BARBADOS	BB
BERMUDA	BM
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA	BA
BOUVET ISLAND	BV
BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY	IO
CAPE VERDE	CV
CHRISTMAS ISLAND	CX
COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS	CC
COMOROS	KM
COOK ISLANDS	CK
CROATIA	HR
DJIBOUTI	DJ
FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS)	FK
FAROE ISLANDS	FO
FIJI	FJ
FRENCH POLYNESIA	PF
FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES	TF
GIBRALTAR	GI
GRENADA	GD
GUADELOUPE	GP
GUAM	GU
GUERNSEY	GG
HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS	HM
HOLY SEE (VATICAN CITY STATE)	VA
HONG KONG	HK
ISLE OF MAN	IM
JERSEY	JE
KIRIBATI	KI
LIECHTENSTEIN	LI
MACAO	MO
MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF	MK
MALDIVES	MV
MALTA	MT
MARSHALL ISLANDS	MH
MARTINIQUE	MQ
MAURITIUS	MU
MAYOTTE	YT
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF	FM
MONACO	MC
MONTENEGRO	ME
MONTSERRAT	MS
NAURU	NR
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES	AN
NEW CALEDONIA	NC
NIUE	NU
NORFOLK ISLAND	NF
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS	MP
PALAU	PW
PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, OCCUPIED	PS
PITCAIRN	PN
PUERTO RICO	PR
RÉUNION	RE
SAINT BARTHÉLEMY	BL
SAINT HELENA	SH
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS	KN
SAINT LUCIA	LC
SAINT MARTIN	MF
SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON	PM
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES	VC
SAMOA	WS
SAN MARINO	SM
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE	ST
SEYCHELLES	SC
SLOVENIA	SI
SOLOMON ISLANDS	SB
SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS	GS
SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN	SJ
TIMOR-LESTE	TL
TOKELAU	TK
TONGA	TO
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	TT
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS	TC
TUVALU	TV
UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS	UM
VANUATU	VU
VIRGIN ISLANDS, BRITISH	VG
VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S.	VI
WALLIS AND FUTUNA	WF

Countries Included (158)

Country Name	ISO
AFGHANISTAN	AF
ALBANIA	AL
ALGERIA	DZ
ANGOLA	AO
ARGENTINA	AR
ARMENIA	AM
AUSTRALIA	AU
AUSTRIA	AT
AZERBAIJAN	AZ
BANGLADESH	BD
BELARUS	BY
BELGIUM	BE
BELIZE	BZ
BENIN	BJ
BHUTAN	BT
BOLIVIA	BO
BOTSWANA	BW
BRAZIL	BR
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	BN
BULGARIA	BG
BURKINA FASO	BF
BURUNDI	BI
CAMBODIA	KH
CAMEROON	CM
CANADA	CA
CAYMAN ISLANDS	KY
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	CF
CHAD	TD
CHILE	CL
CHINA	CN
COLOMBIA	CO
CONGO	CG
CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE	CD
COSTA RICA	CR
CÔTE D'IVOIRE	CI
CUBA	CU
CYPRUS	CY
CZECH REPUBLIC	CZ
DENMARK	DK
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	DO*DOM
ECUADOR	EC
EGYPT	EG
EL SALVADOR	SV
EQUATORIAL GUINEA	GQ
ERITREA	ER
ESTONIA	EE
ETHIOPIA	ET
FINLAND	FI
FRANCE	FR
FRENCH GUIANA	GF
GABON	GA
GAMBIA	GM
GEORGIA	GE
GERMANY	DE
GHANA	GH
GREECE	GR
GREENLAND	GL
GUATEMALA	GT
GUINEA	GN
GUINEA-BISSAU	GW
GUYANA	GY
HAITI	HT
HONDURAS	HN
HUNGARY	HU
ICELAND	IS* ICE
INDIA	IN* IND
INDONESIA	ID
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF	IR
IRAQ	IQ
IRELAND	IE
ISRAEL	IL
ITALY	IT
JAMAICA	JM
JAPAN	JP
JORDAN	JO
KAZAKHSTAN	KZ
KENYA	KE
KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	KP
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF	KR
KUWAIT	KW
KYRGYZSTAN	KG
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC	LA
LATVIA	LV
LEBANON	LB
LESOTHO	LS
LIBERIA	LR
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA	LY
LITHUANIA	LT
LUXEMBOURG	LU
MADAGASCAR	MG
MALAWI	MW
MALAYSIA	MY
MALI	ML
MAURITANIA	MR
MEXICO	MX
MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF	MD
MONGOLIA	MN
MOROCCO	MA
MOZAMBIQUE	MZ
MYANMAR	MM
NAMIBIA	NA
NEPAL	NP
NETHERLANDS	NL
NEW ZEALAND	NZ
NICARAGUA	NI
NIGER	NE
NIGERIA	NG
NORWAY	NO
OMAN	OM
PAKISTAN	PK
PANAMA	PA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA	PG
PARAGUAY	PY
PERU	PE
PHILIPPINES	PH
POLAND	PL
PORTUGAL	PT
QATAR	QA
ROMANIA	RO
RUSSIAN FEDERATION	RU
RWANDA	RW
SAUDI ARABIA	SA
SENEGAL	SN
SERBIA	RS
SIERRA LEONE	SL
SINGAPORE	SG
SLOVAKIA	SK
SOMALIA	SO
SOUTH AFRICA	ZA
SPAIN	ES
SRI LANKA	LK
SUDAN	SD
SURINAME	SR
SWAZILAND	SZ
SWEDEN	SE
SWITZERLAND	CH
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC	SY
TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA	TW
TAJIKISTAN	TJ
TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF	TZ
THAILAND	TH
TOGO	TG
TUNISIA	TN
TURKEY	TR
TURKMENISTAN	TM
UGANDA	UG
UKRAINE	UA
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	AE
UNITED KINGDOM	GB
UNITED STATES	US
URUGUAY	UY
UZBEKISTAN	UZ
VENEZUELA	VE
VIET NAM	VN
WESTERN SAHARA	EH
YEMEN	YE
ZAMBIA	ZM
ZIMBABWE	ZW

Usage in Silverlight

The supported countries are loaded in an Array to create dynamic events on MouseLeftButtonUp, this is to avoid the long Handles phrase.  You can build your own application using this canvas, I didn't include Zoom/Scroll options because I just wanted to provide XAML and to show how to use the XAML from Silverlight. 

I'll update this source code with more information (e.g., area, country, flag etc.) using LINQ/VB XML functions after Silverlight 2.0 Beta is released.

Download

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

Source Code (Silverlight 1.1 Alpha) VB.NET - WorldMap.zip 

Not Satisfied?

Not satisfied with my work? Change the source code and please post a link in the comments.

Want to redesign yourself? There is the original Microsoft Expression Design file, use it to change it.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

WorldMap.Design

Hope you enjoy,  please leave your comments.

PS:  I would appreciate if anyone can host this for me, please provide me a link if you do. 

XAML World Map

A friend of mine send me this world map in Adobe Illustrator format and I converted it to XAML using Microsoft Design and I have giving few finishing touches in Blend, the paths are there but I wanted to convert the paths into canvas and give country names so there is a little work to be done, but instead of just publishing the XAML I decided to make a sample application on Silverlight 1.1 alpha.

I'll post the source code of the world map application typically showing you how to use the world map, along with the XAML. There is some work to be done and I'll try to finish it as soon as possible.

So please stay tuned but here is a sneak preview of the world map for you. Hope you enjoy.