Retrieving Appointments
,The Appointments class allows you to retrieve appointments that fall between two specified dates.
Note
To access the user’s appointments, the ID_CAP_APPOINTMENTS capability must be present in the WMAppManifest.xml file.
For more information on the phone’s security capability model, see Chapter 2.
To query the user’s appointments, define an Appointments instance as a field in a class, as shown:
Appointments appointments;
Instantiate the Appointments object, subscribe to its SearchCompleted event, and then call SearchAsync. The following excerpt demonstrates the retrieval of appointments that fall within the next six months:
void SearchAppointments()
{
appointments = new Appointments();
appointments.SearchCompleted += HandleSearchCompleted;
appointments.SearchAsync(DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now.AddMonths(6), null);
}
When the search completes, the specified event handler receives a list of matching Appointment objects. See the following excerpt:
void HandleSearchCompleted(object sender, AppointmentsSearchEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Results == null)
{
return;
}
Appointments = e.Results;
}
To determine the accounts from which appointments are available, use the Appointment class’s Accounts property.
Each appointment is represented by an Appointment object. The Appointment class provides various read-only properties, described in Table 14.2.
The Appointments.SearchAsync method is overloaded to allow you to restrict the retrieval of appointments from specific accounts. For example, to retrieve only those appointments associated with the user’s Windows Live account, use the following:
Account account = appointments.Accounts.Where(
x => x.Name == "Windows Live").First();
appointments.SearchAsync(
DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now.AddMonths(6), account, null);
Sample Appointments Page
The example for this section allows the user to retrieve the list of appointments for a specified period. The AppointmentsViewModel class, located in the downloadable sample code, contains a StartTimeInclusive property and an EndTimeInclusive property, which are used to specify the period (see Listing 14.13).
A DelegateCommand named SearchCommand calls the SearchAppointments method when it is executed. When the SearchCompleted handler is called, the Appointments property is populated with the result.
LISTING 14.13. AppointmentsViewModel Class
public class AppointmentsViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public AppointmentsViewModel() : base("appointments")
{
searchCommand = new DelegateCommand(arg => SearchAppointments());
}
Appointments appointments;
void SearchAppointments()
{
appointments = new Appointments();
appointments.SearchCompleted += HandleSearchCompleted;
appointments.SearchAsync(startTimeInclusive, endTimeInclusive, null);
}
void HandleSearchCompleted(object sender, AppointmentsSearchEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Results == null)
{
return;
}
Appointments = e.Results;
}
IEnumerable<Appointment> appointmentList = new List<Appointment>();
public IEnumerable<Appointment> Appointments
{
get
{
return appointmentList;
}
private set
{
Assign(ref appointmentList, value);
}
}
readonly DelegateCommand searchCommand;
public ICommand SearchCommand
{
get
{
return searchCommand;
}
}
DateTime startTimeInclusive = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-1);
public DateTime StartTimeInclusive
{
get
{
return startTimeInclusive;
}
set
{
Assign(ref startTimeInclusive, value);
}
}
DateTime endTimeInclusive = DateTime.Now.AddYears(1);
public DateTime EndTimeInclusive
{
get
{
return endTimeInclusive;
}
set
{
Assign(ref endTimeInclusive, value);
}
}
}
The view contains two Windows Phone Toolkit ListPicker controls that are bound to the viewmodel’s StartTimeInclusive and EndTimeInclusive properties (see Listing 14.14).
Results are displayed using a ListBox, whose ItemsSource property is bound to the viewmodel’s Appointments property. Each Appointment object is presented using a TextBlock to display its StartTime, Subject, and Details properties.
LISTING 14.14. AppointmentsView.xaml (excerpt)
<StackPanel x:Name="ContentPanel" Grid.Row="1">
<toolkit:DatePicker Value="{Binding StartTimeInclusive, Mode=TwoWay}"
Header="start"/>
<toolkit:DatePicker Value="{Binding EndTimeInclusive, Mode=TwoWay}"
Header="end"/>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Appointments}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Margin="0,0,0,20">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding StartTime}"
Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextNormalStyle}" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Subject}"
Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextLargeStyle}" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Details}"
Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextNormalStyle}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</StackPanel>
In addition, the view includes an AppBarIconButton that is bound to the viewmodel’s SearchCommand, as shown:
<u:AppBar>
<u:AppBarIconButton
Command="{Binding SearchCommand}"
Text="search"
IconUri="/Images/ApplicationBarIcons/AppBarSearch.png" />
</u:AppBar>
When the user taps the application bar button, appointments that fall within the specified date range are displayed at the bottom of the page (see Figure 14.38).
By using the Appointments and Contacts classes, you are able to further integrate your app with the social networking features of the phone.