What's the Best Way to Create a UWP XAML Form to Prompt for Name and Mailing Address? - xaml

Question

I want to create a standard Name and Address form like with multiple textboxs on a line to save space.
Is it better to start with Grids or Stack Panels and nest them? Is it better to create a custom control that combines TextBox and TextBlock?
I'll post my solution below. I was just curious if there's a better way to do this and what the merits of each method might be.
<!-- Snipplet of UWP XAML -->
<Grid Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<StackPanel Width="400" Background="Aqua" Padding="10"
BorderThickness="2" BorderBrush="Black" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="First Name"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="Last Name"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Background="White"
Text="John"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Background="White"
Text="Smith"/>
</Grid>
<TextBlock>Address1</TextBlock>
<TextBox Background="White" Text="1 Center St"/>
<TextBlock>Address2:</TextBlock>
<TextBox Background="White"/>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="4*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="City"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="State"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="2" Text="Zip"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Background="White"
Text="Townville"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Background="White"
Text="XX"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="2" Background="White"
Text="12345"/>
</Grid>
<TextBlock/>
<StackPanel
Orientation="Horizontal" FlowDirection="RightToLeft">
<Button Content="Ok" Margin="0,0,10,0"
Width="100" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Black"/>
<Button Content="Cancel"
Width="100" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Black"/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>

Answer 1

you can design your control as you want or you can make it separately on a UserControl but thing should be need to note here , you already put the text already on textbox instead of using placeholder text , so i change it in your code
<Grid Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<StackPanel Width="400" Background="Aqua" Padding="10"
BorderThickness="2" BorderBrush="Black" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="First Name"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="Last Name"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Background="White"
PlaceholderText="John"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Background="White"
PlaceholderText="Smith"/>
</Grid>
<TextBlock>Address1</TextBlock>
<TextBox Background="White" PlaceholderText="1 Center St"/>
<TextBlock>Address2:</TextBlock>
<TextBox Background="White"/>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="4*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="City"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="State"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="2" Text="Zip"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Background="White"
PlaceholderText="Townville"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Background="White"
PlaceholderText="XX"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="2" Background="White"
PlaceholderText="12345"/>
</Grid>
<TextBlock/>
<StackPanel
Orientation="Horizontal" FlowDirection="RightToLeft">
<Button Content="Ok" Margin="0,0,10,0"
Width="100" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Black"/>
<Button Content="Cancel"
Width="100" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Black"/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
and you can learn basics of uwp development from this link

Answer 2

In the interest of performance, having only one panel is better - see the UWP app developer docs on performance. Therefore, I would use a relative panel, ending up with something like this:
<RelativePanel>
<!-- Horizontal group -->
<TextBox x:Name="TxtBx1"/>
<TextBox x:Name="TxtBx2" RelativePanel.RightOf="TxtBx1"/>
<!-- Below the first group -->
<TextBox x:Name="TxtBx3" RelativePanel.Below="TxtBx1"/>
<!-- Another horizontal group -->
<TextBox x:Name="TxtBx4" RelativePanel.Below="TxtBx3"/>
<TextBox x:Name="TxtBx5" RelativePanel.RightOf="TxtBx4"/>
</RelativePanel>
But in all honesty, there is no 'correct' answer as such - it depends on what you rank more highly in your app, be it performance or code readability.