Overview

Skin files in MediaPortal 2 are written in XAML language. That language is also used in Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation, so if you are know WPF, you will feel familiar with MediaPortal's MPF.

Details

Skin file format

MediaPortal 2 uses XAML as skin file language. XAML is an XML based language which is used to define UI elements, data binding, events and other features.
The XAML files are interpreted by a XAML engine which was implemented especially for MediaPortal 2. For a further explanation of the XAML engine, read the Skin Engine page.
The control library used by MediaPortal 2 is similar to Microsoft WPF. We call it MediaPortal Presentation Foundation (MPF). Many classes of the WPF library are also available in MPF, but not all. There are also some additional classes in MPF.

Learning XAML

There are many tutorials and books available on XAML.
Some online examples:

• dotnetslackers.com
• wpf-tutorials.com
• xamldev.com
• xamllog.com
• Search for Windows Presentation Foundation on the Microsoft MSDN

XAML design tools

There is a number of graphical design tools you can use to create XAML files. I suggest to use those tools at the beginning, or to fulfill special tasks (creating animations etc.). For the daily skinning use, you should edit the XAML files by hand, because this gives you a better feeling for what you are doing, and it produces much cleaner and better performing code. Personally, I use PSPad with XML highlighting to edit XAML files. Tools which also support editing XAML files are for example:

• Microsoft Expression
• Adobe Illustrator
• XamlPadX

Using these tools you can graphicly design your skin (or parts of it) and when you are done, you can export your work to XAML files and integrate it into MediaPortal 2 skin files.