Jalium.UI.Build 26.9.7

Jalium.UI

Jalium.UI is a Windows-first, GPU-accelerated UI framework for .NET 10. It combines a WPF-style object model, JALXAML markup, and a DirectX 12 renderer.

This repository contains the full framework stack: managed UI layers, native rendering backends, build-time tooling, packaging projects, and tests.

Project Status

• Active development (APIs can still evolve between minor versions)
• Primary target: Windows 10/11 x64
• Runtime target: .NET 10 (net10.0-windows)
• Rendering backend: DirectX 12

Why Jalium.UI

• GPU-native rendering pipeline with native backend integration
• Familiar UI programming model (DependencyObject, UIElement, panels, templates, resources)
• JALXAML markup and runtime parser (Jalium.UI.Markup.XamlReader)
• Build-time tooling via NuGet (Jalium.UI.Build, Jalium.UI.Xaml.SourceGenerator)
• Broad control surface including layout, text/input, navigation, data, docking, ink, and web host controls

Framework Composition

Managed Packages

Native Modules

Capability Overview

Layout and Visual Tree

• Core panels: Grid, StackPanel, Canvas, DockPanel, WrapPanel, UniformGrid
• Virtualization and presenters: VirtualizingStackPanel, DataGrid presenters/panels, tab/tool panels
• Window-level layout host, overlay layer, title bar composition, chrome integration

Controls

• Inputs: Button, TextBox, PasswordBox, NumberBox, AutoCompleteBox, ComboBox, Slider
• Data/navigation: TreeView, NavigationView, TabControl, DataGrid, menu/flyout family
• Rich scenarios: InkCanvas, DocumentViewer, WebView/WebBrowser, TitleBar, docking components

Input Pipeline

• Pointer and keyboard routing
• Touch and stylus pathways with plugin-style stylus infrastructure
• Scroll and manipulation related control behaviors

Markup and Tooling

• Runtime parsing: Jalium.UI.Markup.XamlReader
• Build integration through packaged MSBuild targets/tasks
• Source-generator package for compile-time assistance in JALXAML workflows

Razor Syntax In JALXAML

JALXAML supports Razor-style syntax as additive sugar on top of existing {Binding ...}:

• @Path
• @(expr)
• @{ ... }
• mixed text templates (for string/object targets)
• @if(expr){<Element />} block directives
• escapes: @@ and \@

Binding source resolution is DataContext first, then code-behind fallback.

Update behavior:

• Observable source (INotifyPropertyChanged / dependency property): real-time updates.
• Non-observable CLR source: one-time evaluation at load.

For syntax details and rules, see docs/razor-syntax.md.

Installation

Recommended (metapackage)

dotnet add package Jalium.UI

Granular install (advanced)

dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Core
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Media
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Input
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Interop
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Gpu
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Controls
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Xaml
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Build
dotnet add package Jalium.UI.Xaml.SourceGenerator

Quick Start (C#)

using Jalium.UI.Controls;

var app = new Application();

var window = new Window
{
    Title = "Hello Jalium.UI",
    Width = 960,
    Height = 640,
    Content = new StackPanel
    {
        Margin = new Thickness(24),
        Children =
        {
            new TextBlock { Text = "Jalium.UI", FontSize = 28 },
            new TextBlock { Text = "GPU-accelerated .NET UI framework", Margin = new Thickness(0, 8, 0, 16) },
            new Button { Content = "Start" }
        }
    }
};

app.Run(window);

Quick Start (JALXAML runtime parse)

using Jalium.UI.Controls;
using Jalium.UI.Markup;

var app = new Application();

var xaml = """
<Window xmlns="https://jalium.dev/ui" Title="JALXAML Window" Width="800" Height="500">
  <Grid>
    <StackPanel Margin="20">
      <TextBlock Text="Hello from JALXAML" FontSize="24"/>
      <Button Content="Click" Margin="0,12,0,0"/>
    </StackPanel>
  </Grid>
</Window>
""";

var window = (Window)XamlReader.Parse(xaml);
app.Run(window);

Build From Source

# Build the framework (through metapackage dependency graph)
dotnet build src/packaging/Jalium.UI.csproj -c Release

# Run tests
dotnet test tests/Jalium.UI.Tests/Jalium.UI.Tests.csproj -c Release

NuGet Packaging

# Pack metapackage + referenced packable projects
dotnet pack src/packaging/Jalium.UI.csproj -c Release -o artifacts/nuget

For per-project package output, run dotnet pack on each packable project under src/managed/Jalium.UI.* and src/packaging.

Repository Layout

Jalium.UI/
  src/
    managed/
      Jalium.UI/
      Jalium.UI.Core/
      Jalium.UI.Media/
      Jalium.UI.Input/
      Jalium.UI.Interop/
      Jalium.UI.Gpu/
      Jalium.UI.Controls/
      Jalium.UI.Xaml/
      Jalium.UI.Build/
      Jalium.UI.Xaml.SourceGenerator/
      Jalium.UI.Compiler/
    native/
      jalium.native.core/
      jalium.native.d3d12/
      jalium.native.browser/
    packaging/
      Jalium.UI.csproj
  tests/
    Jalium.UI.Tests/

Visual Studio Extension Notes

The VSIX can be installed into either:

• Normal instance: %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\18.0_<instanceId>\\Extensions
• Experimental instance (/rootsuffix Exp): %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\18.0_<instanceId>Exp\\Extensions

If .jalxaml IntelliSense only shows raw XML suggestions, verify the extension is installed in the same instance you are using.

Compatibility Notes

• Jalium.UI is not positioned as a drop-in WPF replacement yet.
• API names and behavior are intentionally close to familiar WPF concepts in many areas, but differences exist.
• Keep package versions aligned across all Jalium.UI.* packages.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. For large changes, include:

• motivation and design summary
• behavioral impact/risk
• validation steps (tests or manual verification)

Community

For discussions, questions, or community support, you can join the QQ group:

QQ: 1079778999

License

MIT. See LICENSE.