WPF: How to set Storyboard.SetTargetProperty by reference for BlurEffect in C# or enable IntelliSense?

Question

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Situation: I set Storyboard.SetTargetProperty for BlurEffect by string.
Problem: It feels not easy, because IntelliSense doesn't work for string.
Workaround: I feel i can do it by in a complex way, but the goal is to do, for example, just like i do with Line position setting it by reference.
Questions:
1. How to set it by reference easy without complexity?
2. How can i know what property path to use?
3. How to enable IntelliSense?
Notes:
1. It must be done in C# using Storyboard, not XAML.
2. Setting by reference works fine, for example, for Line position, but the same doesn't work for BlurEffect at all.
Code:

C#

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        this.Loaded += MainWindow_Loaded;
    }

    Line line;
    BlurEffect blur;

    void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Canvas canvas = new Canvas();
        canvas.Background = Brushes.Black;
        this.Content = canvas;

        blur = new BlurEffect();
        blur.Radius = 20;

        line = new Line();
        line.Stroke = Brushes.White;
        line.X1 = 0;
        line.Y1 = 0;
        line.X2 = 100;
        line.Y2 = 100;
        line.Effect = blur;

        canvas.Children.Add(line);

        Animation();
    }

    private void Animation()
    {
        DoubleAnimation da = new DoubleAnimation();
        da.To = 0;
        da.Duration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);

        Storyboard sb = new Storyboard();
        Storyboard.SetTarget(da, line);
        Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(da, new PropertyPath("Effect.Radius")); // How to set by reference?
        sb.Children.Add(da);
        sb.Begin();
    }
}

> as any dependency property that is of double format is valid for animation.
The next code doesn't work:

C#

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        this.Loaded += MainWindow_Loaded;
    }

    BlurEffect blur;

    void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Canvas canvas = new Canvas();
        canvas.Background = Brushes.Black;
        this.Content = canvas;

        blur = new BlurEffect();
        blur.Radius = 20;

        Line line = new Line();
        line.Stroke = Brushes.White;
        line.X1 = 0;
        line.Y1 = 0;
        line.X2 = 100;
        line.Y2 = 100;
        line.Effect = blur;

        canvas.Children.Add(line);

        Animation();
    }

    private void Animation()
    {
        DoubleAnimation da = new DoubleAnimation();
        da.To = 0;
        da.Duration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0);

        Storyboard sb = new Storyboard();
        Storyboard.SetTarget(da, blur);
        Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(da, new PropertyPath(BlurEffect.RadiusProperty));
        sb.Children.Add(da);
        sb.Begin(); // Doesn't animate.
    }
}

But when i call BeginAnimation on a BlurEffect instance, it works.
Code:

C#

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        this.Loaded += MainWindow_Loaded;
    }

    BlurEffect blur;

    void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Canvas canvas = new Canvas();
        canvas.Background = Brushes.Black;
        this.Content = canvas;

        blur = new BlurEffect();
        blur.Radius = 20;

        Line line = new Line();
        line.Stroke = Brushes.White;
        line.X1 = 0;
        line.Y1 = 0;
        line.X2 = 100;
        line.Y2 = 100;
        line.Effect = blur;

        canvas.Children.Add(line);

        Animation();
    }

    private void Animation()
    {
        DoubleAnimation da = new DoubleAnimation();
        da.To = 0;
        da.Duration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0);
        blur.BeginAnimation(BlurEffect.RadiusProperty, da); // Works.
    }
}

Posted 7-Sep-15 21:02pm

Ziya1995

Updated 8-Sep-15 1:54am

v14

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Comments

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 6:23am

I guess you can do this:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/integrate/explore/explore-vside-vsi.aspx

Perhaps not the easiest solution but .... :laugh:

Ziya1995 8-Sep-15 6:54am

> Perhaps not the easiest solution but .... :laugh:
No, it is not what i want.
Turns out it is impossible without extensions or 3rd party tools.

So how can i know what property path to use?
For example, how could i know in this case that i should write "Effect.Radius"?
How can i get a list of property paths?
Is there a place on msdn describing all of them?

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 7:15am

I think you are asking the wrong questions here, as any dependency property that is of double format is valid for animation. You would simply have to check the animation type with the property that you want to animate, and perhaps also its to and/or from values are withing the boundaries of the property you want to animate.

Ziya1995 8-Sep-15 7:27am

> as any dependency property that is of double format is valid for animation.
Not, it is not true and that is a problem.
BlurEffect.RadiusProperty is not valid for animation.
I can animate Line.X2Property, but not BlurEffect.RadiusProperty in the same way using Storyboard.
If you can animate BlurEffect.RadiusProperty using Storyboard, you can post the code.

The question remains:
How can i know about property paths?

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 7:33am

Not true:
http://bursjootech.blogspot.de/2008/06/grayscale-effect-pixel-shader-effect-in.html

All PixelSHader Effects deriving from the ShaderEffects class are dependencyproperties

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 7:36am

You should know that animations work because of binding, and binding only works with dependency properties, so you are simply wrong here.

Ziya1995 8-Sep-15 7:43am

You didn't post the code and i don't see how to make it work.
But i posted the code and you can see it doesn't animate (see my updated question).
If i am wrong, you can fix it giving the solution.
If you want, i also can post the code of animating Line.X2Property, where the same principle works which doesn't work with BlurEffect.RadiusProperty.

> All PixelSHader Effects deriving from the ShaderEffects class are dependencyproperties
I know and that is why i feel strange why my code doesn't work for BlurEffect.RadiusProperty, but for Line.X2Property.

You say it works, but my code doesn't work, if it works for you, you can post your working code and i mark it as solution.
You can say i am wrong, but it doesn't solve the problem, to solve it you can post the working code.

Notes:
1. It must be done using Storyboard.
2. When i call BeginAnimation on a BlurEffect instance, it works.

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 8:00am

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms742537(v=vs.90).aspx

Ziya1995 8-Sep-15 8:01am

> https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms742537(v=vs.90).aspx
It is for BlurBitmapEffect, not for BlurEffect.

Why can't you just fix my code or post the working code that you have?
You say it works, give me links not having the solution, don't post the code which is easy to write.
You say it works, where is your code which works?
If you don't have a solution, let me know.
What is wrong? How can i help to solve the problem?

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 8:19am

IT works if you register the namescope. I did something simular a while back:
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/be5d98f0-0ce8-4c89-96ab-e6e0619107ce/animating-line-in-code?forum=wpf

And you definatly need a unique name to mtarget a storyboard to a control:
http://www.codeproject.com/Questions/669937/WPF-Animation-Moving-a-control

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 8:24am

>It is for BlurBitmapEffect, not for BlurEffect.
That is correct, but the only thing that is different is that the BitmapEffects are done in the CPU while the new Effects are done in the GPU. Everything else is pretty much as it should be now.

I believe you need the namescope in order to get the animations working.

Ziya1995 8-Sep-15 8:27am

Great, it worked.
I also will accept my own solution, because yours is not C#.

Kenneth Haugland 8-Sep-15 9:06am

Yeah, you can do it from the blur instance directly, but that is often not the way you want to do it, as it makes it difficult to do multiple animation at the same time. I think the namescope is only needed to pinpoint the object that you want to do animation on.

From the VS developers:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nickkramer/archive/2006/06/06/618514.aspx

2 solutions

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This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Kenneth Haugland · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-08T02:16:00

This works:

VB

Imports System.Windows.Media.Animation
Imports System.Windows.Media.Effects

Class MainWindow

    Dim blur As New BlurEffect
    Dim line As New Line()
    Dim myStoryboard As New Storyboard()

    Private Sub Window_Loaded(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
        Dim canvas As New Canvas()
        canvas.Background = Brushes.Black
        Me.Content = canvas

        blur = New BlurEffect()
        blur.Radius = 1

        line.Stroke = Brushes.White
        line.X1 = 0
        line.Y1 = 0
        line.X2 = 100
        line.Y2 = 100
        line.Effect = blur

        canvas.Children.Add(line)

        Animation()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Animation()
        ' NameScope.SetNameScope(Me, New NameScope())

        ' Create BitmapEffects that will be animated.
        Dim myBlurBitmapEffect As New BlurEffect()

        ' Assign the BlurBitmapEffect a name so that
        ' it can be targeted by a Storyboard.
        Me.RegisterName("myBlurBitmapEffect", myBlurBitmapEffect)

        myBlurBitmapEffect.Radius = 0


        line.Effect = myBlurBitmapEffect

        Dim da As New DoubleAnimation()
        da.To = 20
        da.Duration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)

        ' Set the animation to target the Radius property
        ' of the object named "myBlurBitmapEffect."
        Storyboard.SetTargetName(da, "myBlurBitmapEffect")
        Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(da, New PropertyPath(BlurEffect.RadiusProperty))

        myStoryboard.Children.Add(da)

    End Sub

    Private Sub Window_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseButtonEventArgs)
        myStoryboard.Begin(Me)
    End Sub
End Class

Ziya1995 · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-08T02:31:00

RegisterName solved the problem.
Code (C#):

C#

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        this.Loaded += MainWindow_Loaded;
    }

    BlurEffect blur;

    void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Canvas canvas = new Canvas();
        canvas.Background = Brushes.Black;
        this.Content = canvas;

        blur = new BlurEffect();
        blur.Radius = 20;

        Line line = new Line();
        line.Stroke = Brushes.White;
        line.X1 = 0;
        line.Y1 = 0;
        line.X2 = 100;
        line.Y2 = 100;
        line.Effect = blur;

        canvas.Children.Add(line);

        Animation();
    }

    private void Animation()
    {
        DoubleAnimation da = new DoubleAnimation();
        da.To = 0;
        da.Duration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0);

        string name = "blur";
        RegisterName(name, blur);

        Storyboard sb = new Storyboard();
        Storyboard.SetTargetName(da, name);
        Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(da, new PropertyPath(BlurEffect.RadiusProperty));
        sb.Children.Add(da);
        sb.Begin(this); // Animates.
    }
}

WPF: How to set Storyboard.SetTargetProperty by reference for BlurEffect in C# or enable IntelliSense?

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WPF: How to set Storyboard.SetTargetProperty by reference for BlurEffect in C# or enable IntelliSense?

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