Quick Start for WPF

In this article, you will learn how to download the DotNetBrowser library, get an evaluation license, and create, configure and run your first .NET WPF Application which loads and displays the DotNetBrowser Home Page.

Environment:
Windows 10, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, .NET Framework 4.6.

The sample solution which demonstrates how to embed lightweight or heavyweight controls into WPF applications can be downloaded here. The projects in this solution have NuGet dependencies which will be resolved automatically during build.

1. Download the library

To download DotNetBrowser library, navigate to http://www.teamdev.com/dotnetbrowser and click the Download button. Extract the downloaded dotnetbrowser-2.x.zip archive into the D:\Projects\DotNetBrowser\ directory.

2. Download the license

To get a free 30-day evaluation license, fill the web form and click the EVALUATE NOW button. You will receive an email with a link. Use this link to download your evaluation license which is dotnetbrowser.license file. Save the license file in the D:\Projects\DotNetBrowser\Library\ directory.

3. Create a WPF application

Create a new WPF.DotNetBrowser WPF Application C# Project or WPF Application Visual Basic Project in the D:\Projects\DotNetBrowser directory:

4. Add DotNetBrowser DLL assemblies

In the Solution Explorer, right-click References and select the Add References… menu item:

In the Reference Manager which opens, click the Browse button:

Select the DotNetBrowser.dll, DotNetBrowser.Core.dll, DotNetBrowser.Logging.dll, DotNetBrowser.Wpf.dll files and click Add:

Double-check all selected references are added and appear in the Reference Manager dialog and click OK:

DotNetBrowser.ChromiumXX.dll is found automatically if it is located in the same folder as DotNetBrowser.dll. You can also add it to your references, if the project is deployed using Microsoft Visual Studio. Both assemblies are required.

5. Add a license

In Solution Explorer, right-click WPF.DotNetBrowser, select Add > Existing Item and upload dotnetbrowser.license file you downloaded earlier. It appears at the bottom of the Solution Explorer:

Right-click dotnetbrowser.license and select Properties:

In the Properties panel which opens, select Embedded Resource as Build Action:

To embed the license key into your project programmatically, open the dotnetbrowser.license file in any text editor, such as Notepad, copy its content and insert a key string as shown below:

IEngine engine = EngineFactory.Create(
        new EngineOptions.Builder
        {
            LicenseKey = "your_licese_key"
        }
        .Build());

For more details on licensing, refer to this article.

6. Change the source code

Insert the following code into the MainWindow.xaml file:

<Window
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    xmlns:WPF="clr-namespace:DotNetBrowser.Wpf;assembly=DotNetBrowser.Wpf"
    x:Class="DotNetBrowserSample.MainWindow"
    mc:Ignorable="d"
    Title="MainWindow" Height="480" Width="800" Closed="Window_Closed">
    <Grid>
        <WPF:BrowserView Name="browserView" />
    </Grid>
</Window>

Use the code sample below for the MainWindow.xaml.cs file:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using DotNetBrowser.Browser;
using DotNetBrowser.ContextMenu;
using DotNetBrowser.Engine;
using DotNetBrowser.Handlers;

namespace DotNetBrowserSample
{
    /// <summary>
    ///     Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        private IBrowser browser;
        private IEngine engine;

        #region Constructors

        public MainWindow()
        {
            Task.Run(() =>
            {
                engine = EngineFactory.Create(new EngineOptions.Builder
                {
                    RenderingMode = RenderingMode.HardwareAccelerated
                }
                .Build());
                browser = engine.CreateBrowser();
            })
                .ContinueWith(t =>
                {
                    browserView.InitializeFrom(browser);
                    browser.Navigation.LoadUrl("https://teamdev.com/dotnetbrowser");
                }, TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());

            InitializeComponent();
        }

        #endregion

        #region Methods

        private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            browser.Dispose();
            engine.Dispose();
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

7. Run the application

To run the application, press F5 or click the Start button on the toolbar. The MainWindow opens: