How to set TextBlock properties programmatically using C++/WinRT + WinUI 3

Question

I've been hiding under the MFC rock for many years so I can stick to standard C++ but still write Windows Desktop apps. With C++/WinRT and WinUI 3.0, it appears that I may finally have an opportunity to modernize my code. The problem is that I know nothing about XAML or the Windows API. To fix this problem, I'm trying to work my way through Petzold's "Programming Windows, 6th ed.", replacing the C# code with C++/WinRT. When all I have to do is write XAML, all is copacetic. However, when I get to p. 24, I'm supposed to adjust TextBlock properties in code. Here's the C#:

TextBlock tb = new TextBlock();
tb.Text = "Hello, Windows 8!";
tb.FontFamily = new FontFamily("Times New Roman");
tb.FontSize = 96;
tb.FontStyle = FontStyle.Italic;
...

and here's my attempt at a replacement:

TextBlock tb;
tb.Text(L"Hello, Windows 8!");
tb.FontFamily(FontFamily(L"Times New Roman"));
tb.FontSize(96);
tb.FontStyle(FontStyle::Italic);
...

All goes well until the last line. "FontStyle::Italic" is not recognized. I have similar issues with the enums for Color and HorizontalAlignment. What is the correct way to access these enums? Have I forgotten an include or a "using"? Here's what I currently have:

#include <winrt/Windows.Foundation.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.Foundation.Collections.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Composition.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Text.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Data.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Interop.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Markup.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Media.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Navigation.h>
#include <winrt/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Shapes.h>

and

using namespace winrt;
using namespace Microsoft::UI::Text;
using namespace Microsoft::UI::Xaml::Controls;
using namespace Microsoft::UI::Xaml::Controls::Primitives;
using namespace Microsoft::UI::Xaml::Media;

I hope there's a short answer to my long question.

Answer 1

To be sure, you'd need to post a little more detail (like what error message you're getting). But I'll take a guess that perhaps your code is missing a namespace qualifier. I'm just going off the UWP Windows namespace types, not the WinUI Microsoft namespace, but this code builds for me:

#include <winrt/Windows.UI.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Text.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.Media.h>

void f()
{
    winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Controls::TextBlock tb;
    tb.Text(L"Hello");
    tb.FontFamily(winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Media::FontFamily(L"Times New Roman"));
    tb.FontSize(96);
    tb.FontStyle(winrt::Windows::UI::Text::FontStyle::Italic);
    tb.SelectionHighlightColor(winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Media::SolidColorBrush(winrt::Windows::UI::Colors::Red()));
    tb.HorizontalAlignment(winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::HorizontalAlignment::Center);
}

As does this:

#include <winrt/Windows.UI.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Text.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.UI.Xaml.Media.h>

using namespace winrt;
using namespace winrt::Windows::UI;
using namespace winrt::Windows::UI::Text;
using namespace winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml;
using namespace winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Controls;
using namespace winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Media;

void f()
{
    TextBlock tb;
    tb.Text(L"Hello");
    tb.FontFamily(FontFamily(L"Times New Roman"));
    tb.FontSize(96);
    tb.FontStyle(FontStyle::Italic);
    tb.SelectionHighlightColor(SolidColorBrush(Colors::Red()));
    tb.HorizontalAlignment(HorizontalAlignment::Center);
}