First Steps with Telerik UI for WinUI by Installing with NuGet Package

NuGet is a popular .NET package manager. Progress maintains the Telerik NuGet Feed for registered users and you can include the Telerik UI for WinUI suite in your project as well as update to the latest available version from there. Installing the Telerik UI for WinUI library with NuGet works both for Windows and MacOS machines.

This tutorial describes how to get up and running with the Telerik UI for WinUI library by downloading and installing the controls with NuGet.

• First, you will set up your WinUI project and create the WinUI application.
• Next, you'll install the Telerik UI for WinUI library by using the Telerik NuGet feed, declare the namespace, and define the DataGrid control.
• Then, you will show some sample data in the DataGrid.
• Finally, you will add styles to the DataGrid and populate it with data.

Step 1: Set Up Your WinUI Project

1. Install Windows 10, version 1809 (build 17763) or later.

2. Install Visual Studio 2019, version 16.9 or later.

   Currently, Visual Studio 2019, version 16.9, supports part of the WinUI 3 features. To access all WinUI 3 tooling features, install Visual Studio, version 16.10 Preview.

   Include the following workloads and components:

   • The Universal Windows Platform development workload.
   • The Windows 10 SDK (10.0.19041.0) individual component.
   • The Windows App SDK (previously called Project Reunion) for Visual Studio, version 1.2.2.

3. Create a Telerik account.

For the complete instructions and additional information on setting up your development environment, check out the following Microsoft help articles:

• Install tools for Windows app development
• Windows UI Library (WinUI)
• Windows App SDK
• Update existing projects to the latest release of the Windows App SDK

Step 2: Create the WinUI Application

1. Open Visual Studio.

2. Select Create a new project.

3. Search for "winui" and select Blank app, Packaged (WinUI in Desktop).

   NuGet Installation: Create New WinUI Application

   

4. Click Next. Configure the project and create it.

Currently, to create a WinUI project in UWP, you need to use the WinUI Preview 4 version.

Step 3: Add the Telerik NuGet Package Source to Visual Studio

Now, let's add the Telerik UI for WinUI package through the Telerik NuGet feed. To use the available packages, you need to have an active Telerik account and to authenticate.

1. In Visual Studio, select Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Settings.

2. Select Package Sources.

3. Select +.

4. In the Name box, enter Telerik NuGet.

5. In the Source box, enter https://nuget.telerik.com/v3/index.json. Click OK.

   NuGet Installation: Add the Package Source

   

The NuGet v2 server at https://nuget.telerik.com/nuget will be sunset in November 2024. The new v3 protocol offers faster package searches and restores, improved security, and more reliable infrastructure. To redirect your feed to the NuGet v3 protocol, all you have to do is to change your NuGet package source URL to https://nuget.telerik.com/v3/index.json.

Step 4: Install the Telerik WinUI NuGet Package

Now, you need to add the Telerik package to the WinUI solution project that you created:

1. In Visual Studio, select Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Manage NuGet Packages for Solution....

2. In the Package source drop-down, select Telerik NuGet.

3. Select the Browse tab and then enter Telerik.WinUI.Controls in the search box.

   If this is the first time you use the Telerik NuGet feed, you must enter your Telerik account credentials in the authentication popup.

4. Choose the desired NuGet package from the list, and then select the required check boxes to install it in your project.

   • If you are not a Telerik UI for WinUI commercial license holder, select the Telerik.WinUI.Controls.Trial package.

   • If you are a Telerik UI for WinUI commercial license holder, select the Telerik.WinUI.Controls package.

5. Click Install to add the Telerik controls to your application.

   NuGet Installation: Select Telerik UI for WinUI Controls Package

   

As a result, a reference to Telerik.WinUI.Controls will appear under the References node in the Visual Studio Solution Explorer. Now you are ready to add a Telerik control to your application.

Step 5: Add Styles to the DataGrid

In order for the DataGrid to receive some styles, you need to merge the Generic.xaml ResourceDictionary in App.xaml as demonstrated in the following example.

<Application.Resources> 
    <ResourceDictionary> 
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> 
            <XamlControlsResources xmlns="using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls" /> 
            <ResourceDictionary Source="ms-appx:///Telerik.WinUI.Controls/Themes/Generic.xaml"/> 
            <!-- Other merged dictionaries here --> 
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> 
        <!-- Other app resources here --> 
    </ResourceDictionary> 
</Application.Resources> 

Step 6: Declare the Namespace and Define the DataGrid

Let's add the Telerik UI for WinUI DataGrid control—declare its namespace and then define the control.

1. In MainPage.xaml, add the following line to declare the namespace:

       xmlns:telerikGrid="using:Telerik.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid" 
   

2. Add the following code to define the DataGrid:

       <telerikGrid:RadDataGrid x:Name="dataGrid" /> 
   

   As a result, MainPage.xaml will look as demonstrated in the following example.

<Page x:Class="GettingStarted.MainPage" 
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" 
        xmlns:local="using:GettingStarted" 
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
        xmlns:telerikGrid="using:Telerik.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid" 
        mc:Ignorable="d" 
        Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}"> 
    <Grid> 
        <telerikGrid:RadDataGrid x:Name="dataGrid" /> 
    </Grid> 
</Page> 

If you have chosen WinUI3 Desktop project type, this will be Window object instead of a Page object.

If you run the application at this point, you will see an empty data grid with no columns and rows. Now you'll learn how to display some data.

Step 7: Render the Sample Data

Since the DataGrid is a data-bound control, you have to create a data model and set the ItemsSource of the control to a collection of those models.

To define the Model and the ViewModel:

1. In MainPage.xaml.cs, add references to the Telerik.Core and System.Collections.ObjectModel namespaces:

       using Telerik.Core; 
       using System.Collections.ObjectModel; 
   

2. Add the code from the following example. It demonstrates a sample implementation of a model and ViewModel. The ViewModelBase class from the example is located in the Telerik.Core namespace and provides an implementation of the the INotifyPropertyChanged interface.

       public class Club : ViewModelBase 
       { 
           private string name; 
           private DateTime established; 
           private int stadiumCapacity; 
    
           public Club(string name, DateTime established, int stadiumCapacity) 
           { 
               this.name = name; 
               this.established = established; 
               this.stadiumCapacity = stadiumCapacity; 
           } 
    
           public string Name 
           { 
               get { return this.name; } 
               set 
               { 
                   if (value != this.name) 
                   { 
                       this.name = value; 
                       this.OnPropertyChanged("Name"); 
                   } 
               } 
           } 
    
           public DateTime Established 
           { 
               get { return this.established; } 
               set 
               { 
                   if (value != this.established) 
                   { 
                       this.established = value; 
                       this.OnPropertyChanged("Established"); 
                   } 
               } 
           } 
    
           public int StadiumCapacity 
           { 
               get { return this.stadiumCapacity; } 
               set 
               { 
                   if (value != this.stadiumCapacity) 
                   { 
                       this.stadiumCapacity = value; 
                       this.OnPropertyChanged("StadiumCapacity"); 
                   } 
               } 
           } 
       } 
    
       public class MyViewModel : ViewModelBase 
       { 
           private ObservableCollection<Club> clubs; 
    
           public ObservableCollection<Club> Clubs 
           { 
               get 
               { 
                   if (this.clubs == null) 
                   { 
                       this.clubs = this.CreateClubs(); 
                   } 
    
                   return this.clubs; 
               } 
           } 
    
           private ObservableCollection<Club> CreateClubs() 
           { 
               ObservableCollection<Club> clubs = new ObservableCollection<Club>(); 
               Club club; 
    
               club = new Club("Liverpool", new DateTime(1892, 1, 1), 45362); 
               clubs.Add(club); 
    
               club = new Club("Manchester Utd.", new DateTime(1878, 1, 1), 76212); 
               clubs.Add(club); 
    
               club = new Club("Chelsea", new DateTime(1905, 1, 1), 42055); 
               clubs.Add(club); 
    
               return clubs; 
           } 
       } 
   

   Step 8: Populate the DataGrid with Data

Each row in the DataGrid represents an object in the data source and each column shows the value for one property of the bound object.

The following example demonstrates how to display the sample data from Step 5 by setting the DataContext of the Window and the ItemsSource of the RadDataGrid.

<Page x:Class="GettingStarted.MainPage" 
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" 
        xmlns:local="using:GettingStarted" 
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
        xmlns:telerikGrid="using:Telerik.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid" 
        mc:Ignorable="d" 
        Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}"> 
    <Page.DataContext> 
        <local:MyViewModel /> 
    </Page.DataContext> 
    <Grid> 
        <telerikGrid:RadDataGrid x:Name="dataGrid" ItemsSource="{Binding Clubs}"/> 
    </Grid> 
</Page> 

If you chose a non-UWP option, the project creates a MainWindow.xaml instead of MainPage.xaml file. However, the Window object doesn't have a DataContext property. To handle this, use a Grid for the root element of the MainWindow and set the DataContext on the Grid instead.

Now, let's build and run the application.

Telerik UI for WinUI DataGrid Displaying Data

That was it! Now you are ready to dive more deeply into Telerik UI for Win UI and take full advantage of its slick functionalities!

Next Steps

• Available Product Files for Download
• Installation Approaches for Telerik UI for WinUI
• Usage Specifics for License Types

See Also

• Microsoft WinUI Samples Gallery