Create a Simple Scheduling Application

• Oct 15, 2019
• 6 minutes to read

This document provides instructions on how to create a simple scheduling application with the SchedulerControl.

Create a New Project

1. Create a new WPF Application project, name it SimpleSchedulingExample and open the MainWindow.xaml file in the Visual Studio Designer.

2. Add the SchedulerControl object to your project. You can do this by dragging the SchedulerControl item from the DX.19.1: Scheduling Toolbox tab to the canvas.

   

3. Right-click the SchedulerControl object and select Layout | Reset All in the context menu to stretch the SchedulerControl so that it fills the entire window.

Apply Theme

For visual consistency, convert the main window to the ThemedWindow…:

… and change the application theme to the Office 2016 Colorful theme.

Create a Data Model

We use DevExpress MVVM Framework to create a POCO ViewModel that provides data for an application.

The MedicalAppointment class instance is an Appointment:

MedicalAppointment.cs

public class MedicalAppointment {
    public static MedicalAppointment Create() {
        return ViewModelSource.Create(() => new MedicalAppointment());
    }
    internal static MedicalAppointment Create(DateTime startTime, DateTime endTime,
        int doctorId, string notes, string location, int categoryId, string patientName,
        string insuranceNumber, bool firstVisit) {

        MedicalAppointment apt = MedicalAppointment.Create();
        apt.StartTime = startTime;
        apt.EndTime = endTime;
        apt.DoctorId = doctorId;
        apt.Notes = notes;
        apt.Location = location;
        apt.CategoryId = categoryId; 
        apt.PatientName = patientName;
        apt.InsuranceNumber = insuranceNumber;
        apt.FirstVisit = firstVisit;
        return apt;
    }

    protected MedicalAppointment() { }

    public virtual int Id { get; set; }
    public virtual bool AllDay { get; set; }
    public virtual DateTime StartTime { get; set; }
    public virtual DateTime EndTime { get; set; }
    public virtual string PatientName { get; set; }
    public virtual string Notes { get; set; }
    public virtual string Subject { get; set; }
    public virtual int StatusId { get; set; }
    public virtual int CategoryId { get; set; }
    public virtual int Type { get; set; }
    public virtual string Location { get; set; }
    public virtual string RecurrenceInfo { get; set; }
    public virtual string ReminderInfo { get; set; }
    public virtual int? DoctorId { get; set; }
    public virtual string InsuranceNumber { get; set; }
    public virtual bool FirstVisit { get; set; }
}

MedicalAppointment.vb

Public Class MedicalAppointment
    Public Shared Function Create() As MedicalAppointment
        Return ViewModelSource.Create(Function() New MedicalAppointment())
    End Function
    Friend Shared Function Create(ByVal startTime As Date, ByVal endTime As Date, ByVal doctorId As Integer, ByVal notes As String, ByVal location As String, ByVal categoryId As Integer, ByVal patientName As String, ByVal insuranceNumber As String, ByVal firstVisit As Boolean) As MedicalAppointment

        Dim apt As MedicalAppointment = MedicalAppointment.Create()
        apt.StartTime = startTime
        apt.EndTime = endTime
        apt.DoctorId = doctorId
        apt.Notes = notes
        apt.Location = location
        apt.CategoryId = categoryId
        apt.PatientName = patientName
        apt.InsuranceNumber = insuranceNumber
        apt.FirstVisit = firstVisit
        Return apt
    End Function

    Protected Sub New()
    End Sub

    Public Overridable Property Id() As Integer
    Public Overridable Property AllDay() As Boolean
    Public Overridable Property StartTime() As Date
    Public Overridable Property EndTime() As Date
    Public Overridable Property PatientName() As String
    Public Overridable Property Notes() As String
    Public Overridable Property Subject() As String
    Public Overridable Property StatusId() As Integer
    Public Overridable Property CategoryId() As Integer
    Public Overridable Property Type() As Integer
    Public Overridable Property Location() As String
    Public Overridable Property RecurrenceInfo() As String
    Public Overridable Property ReminderInfo() As String
    Public Overridable Property DoctorId() As Integer?
    Public Overridable Property InsuranceNumber() As String
    Public Overridable Property FirstVisit() As Boolean
End Class

The Doctor class instance is a resource:

Doctor.cs

public class Doctor {
    public static Doctor Create() {
        return ViewModelSource.Create(() => new Doctor());
    }
    public static Doctor Create(int Id, string Name) {
        Doctor doctor = Doctor.Create();
        doctor.Id = Id;
        doctor.Name = Name;
        return doctor;
    }

    protected Doctor() { }

    public virtual int Id { get; set; }
    public virtual string Name { get; set; }
}

Doctor.vb

Public Class Doctor
    Public Shared Function Create() As Doctor
        Return ViewModelSource.Create(Function() New Doctor())
    End Function
    Public Shared Function Create(ByVal Id As Integer, ByVal Name As String) As Doctor

        Dim doctor_Renamed As Doctor = SimpleSchedulingExample.Doctor.Create()
        doctor_Renamed.Id = Id
        doctor_Renamed.Name = Name
        Return doctor_Renamed
    End Function

    Protected Sub New()
    End Sub

    Public Overridable Property Id() As Integer
    Public Overridable Property Name() As String
End Class

Create a View Model

Create a view model that exposes two ObservableCollection type collections which are used for data binding.

MainViewModel.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;

namespace SimpleSchedulingExample {
    public class MainViewModel {
        public virtual ObservableCollection<Doctor> Doctors { get; set; }
        public virtual ObservableCollection<MedicalAppointment> Appointments { get; set; }

        protected MainViewModel() {
            CreateDoctors();
            CreateMedicalAppointments();
        }
        private void CreateDoctors() {
            Doctors = new ObservableCollection<Doctor>();
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id: 1, Name: "Stomatologist"));
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id: 2, Name: "Ophthalmologist"));
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id: 3, Name: "Surgeon"));
        }
        private void CreateMedicalAppointments() {
            Appointments = new ObservableCollection<MedicalAppointment>();
            Appointments.Add(MedicalAppointment.Create(
                startTime: DateTime.Now.Date.AddHours(10), endTime: DateTime.Now.Date.AddHours(11),
                doctorId: 1, notes: "", location: "101", categoryId:1, patientName: "Dave Muriel",
                insuranceNumber: "396-36-XXXX", firstVisit: true));
        }
    }
}

MainViewModel.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel

Namespace SimpleSchedulingExample
    Public Class MainViewModel
        Public Overridable Property Doctors() As ObservableCollection(Of Doctor)
        Public Overridable Property Appointments() As ObservableCollection(Of MedicalAppointment)

        Protected Sub New()
            CreateDoctors()
            CreateMedicalAppointments()
        End Sub
        Private Sub CreateDoctors()
            Doctors = New ObservableCollection(Of Doctor)()
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id:= 1, Name:= "Stomatologist"))
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id:= 2, Name:= "Ophthalmologist"))
            Doctors.Add(Doctor.Create(Id:= 3, Name:= "Surgeon"))
        End Sub
        Private Sub CreateMedicalAppointments()
            Appointments = New ObservableCollection(Of MedicalAppointment)()
            Appointments.Add(MedicalAppointment.Create(startTime:= Date.Now.Date.AddHours(10), endTime:= Date.Now.Date.AddHours(11), doctorId:= 1, notes:= "", location:= "101", categoryId:=1, patientName:= "Dave Muriel", insuranceNumber:= "396-36-XXXX", firstVisit:= True))
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Set the DataContext of the MainWindow to the MainViewModel instance:

XAML

xmlns:dxmvvm="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/mvvm"
DataContext="{dxmvvm:ViewModelSource local:MainViewModel}"

Provide Initial Settings

Use the SchedulerControl’s Smart Tag to specify SchedulerControl properties: set the SchedulerControl.GroupType property to SchedulerGroupType.Resource to group the view by resources, and set the SchedulerControl.FirstDayOfWeek property to FirstDayOfWeek.Monday so that Monday starts the Week View and Work Week View displays.

XAML

<dxsch:SchedulerControl GroupType="Resource" FirstDayOfWeek="Monday" />

Tip

All view types with default settings are available “out-of-the-box”. However, you can create any number of views with different types and settings. See the Manage Views section for more information.

Bind to Data

Bind the DataContext collections to the DataSource.AppointmentsSource (for MedicalAppointment objects) and DataSource.ResourcesSource (for Doctor objects) properties. Appointment and resource properties should be mapped to the MedicalAppointment and Doctor class properties, respectively. Specify mappings using the DataSource.AppointmentMappings and DataSource.ResourceMappings properties.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-create-a-simple-scheduling-application-t545377.

MainWindow.xaml

<dxsch:SchedulerControl.DataSource>
    <dxsch:DataSource AppointmentsSource="{Binding Appointments}" ResourcesSource="{Binding Doctors}">
        <dxsch:DataSource.AppointmentMappings>
            <dxsch:AppointmentMappings AllDay="AllDay"
                Description="Notes"
                End="EndTime"
                Id="Id"
                LabelId="CategoryId"
                Location="Location"
                RecurrenceInfo="RecurrenceInfo"
                Reminder="ReminderInfo"
                ResourceId="DoctorId"
                Start="StartTime"
                StatusId="StatusId"
                Subject="PatientName"
                Type="Type">
                <dxsch:CustomFieldMapping Mapping="InsuranceNumber" Name="InsuranceNumber" />
                <dxsch:CustomFieldMapping Mapping="FirstVisit" Name="FirstVisit" />
            </dxsch:AppointmentMappings>
        </dxsch:DataSource.AppointmentMappings>
        <dxsch:DataSource.ResourceMappings>
            <dxsch:ResourceMappings Caption="Name" Id="Id" />
        </dxsch:DataSource.ResourceMappings>
    </dxsch:DataSource>
</dxsch:SchedulerControl.DataSource>

Run the Project

Double-click an appointment to edit it, right-click an appointment to change its label or status, or select a time cell and start typing to create a new appointment with the specified subject.

Next Steps

You can create and modify appointment, adjust the layout and switch views. However, appointments do not persist after closing the application because the Scheduler control operates in unbound mode. To save changes, bind the Scheduler to an external data source as illustrated in the How to: Bind Scheduler to Data using the Entity Framework Code First Approach example.

The Scheduler control has the necessary windows and dialogs available out-of-the-box. You can use the approach illustrated in the How to: Customize Editing and Recurrence Dialogs example to change them or modify the template as shown in the How to: Customize the In-Place Editor example.

Learn more at the Examples section.