C# WPF: Complex Shape objects on a Canvas? MVVM

Question

This is more of a "Is it possible (with a reasonable amount of time and work)" than a "how exactly is it possible" question. I'm getting into WPF at the moment and am interested in graphical applications in an MVVM approach. In the meaning of an ms-paint like application. Now I see that and how I can draw e.g. a ractangle on a canvas, store those rectangles in a list etc. But I am wondering if I can do that more advanced. For example extend the rectangle so I can give it more infos (I can't extend the rectangle itself since it's a sealed class), have existing shapes on the canvas able to drag them around, make the shapes complex (e.g. I double click one to open a new Window that represents the "inside" of that shape) etc.

Is such an application possible with a reasonable amount of work and time in WPF or would I rather use some different library/framework for this?

Answer 1

Yes, It is possible, Actually, you are listing CAD specifications, In fact, I work on this type of technology, so I'll suggest you some resources to have a clue..

1. Take a look at this project(WPF, 2D)

2. And this one(WPF, 3D)

3. And this one(WPF, 2D)

4. The previous projects are WPF-based, also, you might host a WinForm control in your WPF app, take a look at this one(WinForms, 2D)

---

If you change the specification a bit and say: "I don't want to edit the drawings on the canvas", then you could go with this option: convert your shapes to PathFigureCollection and EllipseGeometry objects, then construct Paths from these objects and add the Paths to the Canvas, this is a pure WPF approach. Indeed, you can add traditinal controls like TextBlocks as children to your Canvas, I have done such one like this..

Hope it helps.