14 DAY TRIAL // Developers that want to leverage some of the capabilities of Microsoft Expression Blend without actually running the development tool can use a free software development kit instead. Expression Blend 3 SDK is available for download from Microsoft and it “allows you to extend the capabilities of behaviors in Expression Blend,” according to the official description from the Redmond company. The Expression Blend 3 SDK is required for all devs that want to view Expression Blend 3 projects that take advantage of specific components, even in scenarios in which Expression Blend 3 is not deployed on the computer.
“Microsoft Expression Blend 3 introduces behaviors, which are reusable pieces of packaged code that can be dragged onto any object, and then fine-tuned by changing their properties. Behaviors allow you to add interactivity to your applications without having to write any code. The Behavior API consists of three core classes: Trigger, Action and Behavior. This SDK explores how to write each of these components, and contains a few code samples to help you get started. Programming reference topics are provided for both Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Microsoft Silverlight,” Microsoft stated.
The software development kit brings to the table a number of components that are redistributable, according to the software giant. Packaged in the SKD are the SketchFlow Player, custom VSM for Fluid Layout and font Embedding enhancements.
The Expression Blend SDK was initially announced over a year ago at MIX, in an effort to allow devs to open Blend 3 projects even in the absence of the tool itself. The SDK is specifically designed for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight projects that also leverage Blend 3 features. One usage scenario involves projects taking advantage of the Behaviors runtime components in Blend, which the SDK makes available. Of course, developers will still need a tool such as Visual Studio in order to access Blend projects from the SDK.
Microsoft Expression Blend 3 SDK is available for download here.