`DoubleAnimation`

WPF supports animation of elements. To move an element, we can use a canvas and adjust its position within the canvas.

We introduce the BeginStoryboard, Storyboard and DoubleAnimation elements. These are used with DoubleAnimation to specify the animation info.

Example

Animation can be implemented with C# code, but in the simplest case this is not necessary. Here I add a Canvas element to the Window.

And I specify a single Rectangle element, and adjust its Fill, Stroke, StrokeThickness, Width and Height.

Next I add a sub-element to the Rectangle called Rectangle.Triggers. This is complicated, but you just have to remember the elements.

Info The animation begins when the Loaded event is triggered on the Window. We use EventTrigger for this.

Then In BeginStoryboard, we add a Storyboard element. And in a nested DoubleAnimation, we specify how the animation occurs.

Finally We indicate the target element's name, what property it affects, From, To and a Duration.

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication28.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525"
        Loaded="Window_Loaded">
    <Canvas Name="Can1">
        <Rectangle Name="Rect1" Canvas.Left="10" Fill="LightSeaGreen"
                   Stroke="Bisque"
                   StrokeThickness="5"
                   Width="100" Height="100">
            <Rectangle.Triggers>
                <EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Window.Loaded">
                    <BeginStoryboard>
                        <Storyboard>
                            <DoubleAnimation
                                Storyboard.TargetName="Rect1"
                                Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Canvas.Left)"
                                From="10" To="100"
                                Duration="0:0:2"/>
                        </Storyboard>
                    </BeginStoryboard>
                </EventTrigger>
            </Rectangle.Triggers>
        </Rectangle>
    </Canvas>
</Window>

`Program` output

The rectangle will creep across the window towards the right. It does this in 2 seconds. You can change the Duration to make it slower or faster.

Info We can adjust the "From" and the "To" to change the animation's start and end values. These are used for the TargetProperty.

Tip Please add the parentheses around the TargetProperty in your XAML. If you do not, an error (a confusing one) will occur.

A discussion

There are other "Animation" elements. Similar to DoubleAnimation, we can employ DecimalAnimation to manipulate a floating-point property. ByteAnimation is similar.

And ColorAnimation can change a color, creating fade effects. These elements can make WPF seem excessively complicated.

With WPF, we gain a large set of graphical effects. This is a key advantage of WPF. With Storyboards, we can specify the nature of our animations.

DoubleAnimation

Example

Program output

A discussion

`DoubleAnimation`

`Program` output