🧪 [Experiment] CanvasLayout - A virtualized canvas for ItemsRepeater

[michael-hawker]

Approved from Toolkit

See previous work here:

• Also Related to Experiment 🧪 [Experiment] CanvasView - Template and Manipulation enabled Canvas #212
• A CanvasView Control WindowsCommunityToolkit#3716
• A CanvasView Control WindowsCommunityToolkit#854

Problem Statement (copied from Discussion):

I find myself writing this control over and over in various projects and it's never very good. I'd love a control that would be a sibling to ListView or GridView only it was backed by a 2D Canvas instead of an ItemsStackPanel.

Overview

This experiment adds the following components:

• CanvasLayout an experimental early prototype layout for ItemsRepeater to provide a virtualized canvas.

Using

You can try it out via the NuGet Packages here:

• UWP: https://dev.azure.com/dotnet/CommunityToolkit/_artifacts/feed/CommunityToolkit-Labs/NuGet/CommunityToolkit.Labs.Uwp.CanvasLayout
• WinUI 3: https://dev.azure.com/dotnet/CommunityToolkit/_artifacts/feed/CommunityToolkit-Labs/NuGet/CommunityToolkit.Labs.WinUI.CanvasLayout

Read more about Preview Packages here.

CommunityToolkit members can also try it out with Codespaces.

TO DO

• Verify pattern for ItemsRepeater is properly implemented
  • Investigate issues with scrolling
  • Investigate platform differences

Implementation Requirements

Not all these items are required to submit a PR. This list is here to help track what is remaining to implement before a technical review and discussion of moving into the main repository can occur.

• Working Prototype
• Feature Complete
• Documentation
• Samples
• Tests
• Community Feedback / Usage Testimonies

Tested Platforms

• UWP
• WinAppSDK / WinUI 3
• Web Assembly (WASM)
• Android
• iOS
• MacOS
• Linux / GTK

Technical Review

These items can sometimes be done ahead of time, but are usually started and completed after all implementation details are finished.

• Accessibility Audit
• API/Naming Review
• Code Quality/Style
• Dependency Review
• Design/Style Review
• Final Approval