Enterprise Library 5.0 Integration Pack for Silverlight

May 2011

Summary

Microsoft Enterprise Library is a collection of reusable application blocks that address common cross-cutting concerns in enterprise software development. The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 provides guidance and reusable components designed to encapsulate recommended practices that facilitate consistency, ease of use, integration, and extensibility. It also addresses the needs of those who would like to port their existing line of business (LOB) applications that already use Enterprise Library to Silverlight.

Overview

The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 includes:

• Caching Application Block, with support for:
  • In-memory cache
  • Isolated storage cache
  • Expiration and scavenging policies
  • Notification of cache purging
• Validation Application Block, with support for:
  • Multi-level complex validation
  • Attribute-based specification of validation rules
  • Configuration-based specification of validation rules
  • Simple cross-field validation
  • Self-validation
  • Cross-tier validation (through WCF RIA Services integration)
  • Multiple rule sets
  • Meta data type for updating entities with external classes in Silverlight
  • Rich set of built-in validators
• Logging Application Block, including:
  • Notification trace listener
  • Isolated storage trace listener
  • Remote service trace listener with support for batch logging
  • Implementation of a WCF remote logging service that integrates with the desktop version of the Logging Application Block
  • Logging filters
  • Tracing
  • Logging settings runtime change API
• Exception Handling Application Block, including:
  • Simple, configurable, policy-based mechanism for dealing with exceptions consistently
  • Wrap handler
  • Replace handler
  • Logging handler
• Unity Application Block – a dependency injection container
• Dependency injection container independence (Unity ships with the Enterprise Library, but can be replaced with a different container)
• Unity Interception mechanism, with support for:
  • Virtual method interception
  • Interface interception
• Policy Injection Application Block, including:
  • Validation handler
  • Exception Handling handler
  • Logging handler
• Flexible configuration options, including:
  • XAML-based configuration support
  • Asynchronous configuration loading
  • Interactive configuration console supporting profiles (desktop vs. Silverlight)
  • Translation tool for XAML configuration (needed to convert conventional XML configuration files):
    • Standalone command-line tool
    • Configuration console wizard
    • MSBuild task
  • Programmatic configuration support via a fluent interface
• StockTrader V2 Reference Implementation (RI)

Audience Requirements

This guidance and the reusable components are intended primarily for software developers and software architects developing Silverlight LOB applications. To get the greatest benefit from this guidance, developers and architects should have an understanding of the following technologies:

• Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Basic
• Silverlight

Familiarity with Enterprise Library will help, but is not required.

Note, this release does not target Silverlight for Windows Phone.

Contents of This Release

The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 contains the following:

• Binaries (pre-compiled, strong-named assemblies for all the source code)
• Source code
• Unit tests
• Documentation
• Reference implementation

System Requirements

Before you can use the Silverlight Integration Pack, the following must be installed:

• Support operating systems: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate with Service Pack 1; Windows Server 2003 R2; Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista with Service Pack 2; or Windows XP with Service Pack 3
• Silverlight 4 or Silverlight 5 Beta (Unity core is also supported on Silverlight 3)

For a rich development environment, the following are recommended:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 development system (any edition)
• Microsoft Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010

To use the Enterprise Library Configuration Console, the following is also required:

• Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 Optional Update 1 (installed automatically if using NuGet)

To run the unit tests, the following are also required:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Premium, Visual Studio 2010 Professional, or Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate edition
• Silverlight Unit Testing Framework (part of the Silverlight 4 Toolkit, April 2010)
• Moq v4.0

For the Remote Logging Service of the Logging Application Block, the following are also required:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 or Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0
• Logging Application Block of Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 Optional Update 1

For WCF RIA Services Validation Integration or WCF Data Services Integration, the following are required:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0
• Validation Application Block of Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 Optional Update 1

Getting Started

For information about getting started with the Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library, see Introduction to Enterprise Library Silverlight Integration Pack and Installing the Silverlight Integration Pack.

For information about getting started with Enterprise Library 5.0, see the Enterprise Library reference documentation and the Developer's Guide.

Community

The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library, like many patterns & practices deliverables, is associated with a community site: www.codeplex.com/entlib. On this community site you can provide feedback and connect with other users to share ideas. You can post questions and get support using the Enterprise Library discussion forum. You can also download additional content, such as extensions and training material. Community members can also help Microsoft plan and test future releases of Enterprise Library and other application blocks. Community-developed extensions to Enterprise Library and its integration packs are available on the EntLib Contrib site.

Feedback and Support

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? To provide feedback about this release, or to get help with any problems, please visit the Enterprise Library discussion forum and the Enterprise Library community site. The community site is the preferred feedback and support channel because it allows you to share your ideas, questions, and solutions with the entire community. The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library is a guidance offering designed to be reused, customized, and extended. Code-based guidance is shipped "as is" and without warranties. Customers can obtain support through Microsoft Premier Support Services for a fee, but the code is considered user-written by Microsoft support staff.

Authors and Contributors

The Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 was produced by the following individuals:

• Product/Program Management: Grigori Melnik (Microsoft Corporation)
• Architecture/Development:****Julian Dominguez and Chris Tavares (Microsoft Corporation), Fernando Simonazzi (Clarius Consulting), and Jérémi Bourgault (nVentive Inc.)
• Testing: Mani Krishnaswami and Hanz Zhang (Microsoft Corporation), Srinivasan Vijaya Rengan, Lavanya Selvaraj, Rajarajan Veluchamy, and Sathish Venkateswarlu (Infosys Technologies Ltd.)
• User Experience/Documentation: Erwin van der Valk (Erwin Adrianus Maria van der Valk), RoAnn Corbisier (Microsoft Corporation), Nancy Michell (Content Master Ltd.), and Rick Carr (DCB Software Testing, Inc.)
• Release Management: Grigori Melnik and Nelly Delgado (Microsoft Corporation), Richard Burte (ChannelCatalyst.com, Inc.), and Jérémi Bourgault (nVentive Inc.)

Many people contributed to this release. We are grateful to all of them!

Advisory Council

Ward Bell, Bob Brumfield, Brian Button, David Hill, Peter Kuhn, Jesse Liberty, Erik Mork, Daniel Piessens, Erik Renaud, Karl Shifflett, Joe Stagner, Francois Tanguay, and Shawn Wildermuth.

We would like to highlight the exceptional contributions of Daniel Piessens, the most active advisor and EntLib advocate!

Also, would like to recognize our Microsoft colleagues Jeff Handley for validating our WCF RIA Services Integration story, Steve Lasker for reviewing our Caching Application Block scenarios, David Fowler and Phil Haack for helping with the NuGet packaging and distribution strategy.

Community

Thanks to all who voted on the backlog, beta tested our early code drops and provided meaningful feedback. Also, we thank the attendees of the patterns & practices symposia, TechReady, TechEd and NT conferences who provided informal feedback.

Related Titles

• Microsoft patterns & practices Developer Center
• Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 Optional Update 1
• Unity for Silverlight 2.1
• Microsoft Enterprise Library home page
• Microsoft patterns & practices cloud development guidance

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Last built: July 8, 2011