Deploying applications in Microsoft Surface SP1

The surface has a launcher application which is launching applications registered with the Surface Shell.Launcher can be activated from any of the 4 access points located at corners of surface.

Registering Microsoft Surface Application
To register an application with Microsoft surface shell we have to copy the application’s xml definitions file into the %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs folder.This is the folder where surface looks for application definitions.It maintains a list of applications listed here to load on demand by launcher.

Application’s definition file is a simple xml file which describes the application.Common elements included in the definition are

Title : Title  of the application
Description:Description about application
Executable: Path to exe.Path need to be absolute.
IconImageFile:Icon of application.
Preview: Preview images

A sample xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ss:ApplicationInfo
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xmlns:ss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Surface/2007/ApplicationMetadata">
  <Application>
    <Title>Test Surface App</Title>
    <Description>This is a test Surface application.</Description>
    <ExecutableFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\SurfaceApplication1.exe</ExecutableFile>
    <Arguments></Arguments>
    <IconImageFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\Resources\icon.png</IconImageFile>
    <Preview>
      <PreviewImageFile>%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Surface\Programs\Resources\iconPreview.png</PreviewImageFile>
    </Preview>
  </Application>
</ss:ApplicationInfo>

Changing the Orientation or Surface application

Surface supports orientation of applications to 2 sides according to the seating position of the user.If we are developing applications we have to rotate our applications our self.Its done by checking the static property Microsoft.Surface.ApplicationLauncher.Orientation.
There is an event called Microsoft.Surface.ApplicationLauncher.OrientationChanged which fires when the user changes his side by clicking on the access buttons at the corresponding side.

Setting the Orientation
We need to have a RotateTransform in our application whose Angle ,we are going to change according to the Orientation.Normally we place the RotateTransform in the root element of the SurfaceWindow.

<s:SurfaceWindow x:Class="SurfaceApplication1.SurfaceWindow1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:s="http://schemas.microsoft.com/surface/2008"
    Title="SurfaceApplication1">
  <Grid Name="MenuGrid">
    <Grid.LayoutTransform>
      <RotateTransform x:Name="OrientationTransform" Angle="0"/>
    </Grid.LayoutTransform>
    <TextBlock Name="OrientationTextBox" HorizontalAlignment="Center"/>
   </Grid>
</s:SurfaceWindow>

Subscribe to the ApplicationLauncher.OrientationChanged event and set the Angle as per the ApplicationLauncher.Orientation property.

private void AddActivationHandlers()
{
    // Subscribe to surface application activation events
    ApplicationLauncher.ApplicationActivated += OnApplicationActivated;
    ApplicationLauncher.ApplicationPreviewed += OnApplicationPreviewed;
    ApplicationLauncher.ApplicationDeactivated += OnApplicationDeactivated;
    ApplicationLauncher.OrientationChanged += ApplicationLauncher_OrientationChanged;
}
void ApplicationLauncher_OrientationChanged(object sender, OrientationChangedEventArgs e)
{
    OrientationTransform.Angle = ApplicationLauncher.Orientation == UserOrientation.Top ? 180 : 0;
    OrientationTextBox.Text = ApplicationLauncher.Orientation.ToString();
}

Using Triggers to change the Orientation or Surface application based on ApplicationLauncher.Orientation.

Its clear like water that we can’t use EventTrigger to set the Angle of Transform.Another method is PropertyTrigger.Since the ApplicationLauncher.Orientation is not an AttachedProperty we can’t use that method too.Simply saying we have to write code in order to achieve.I am searching for a method which does the same using xaml alone.If anybody finds,please share with me.