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Modify the transition time between state changes in system controls

This page applies to Silverlight 2 projects only

Controls look different depending on which state they are in. For example, a button changes color slightly when you move the mouse pointer over it. "MouseOver" is one of the states of a button. You can customize the transition time between states of system controls by modifying a copy of the control's template.

The following procedure uses a button, but you can customize any system control that comes with Microsoft Expression Blend 2 or any imported custom Silverlight 2 control that inherits from the Control class.

Tip

You can also modify the states and transition times of user controls. For more information, see Define different visual states and transition times for a user control.

To modify the transition time between states

  1. Create a reusable template for a system control such as the Button Dd185517.05df1779-a68f-436b-b834-a91b7995a3ec(en-us,Expression.10).png control.

  2. If you are not already in the editing mode of a template, right-click a control on the artboard, point to Edit Control Parts (Template), and the click Edit Template. Optionally select the object and then click Template in the breadcrumb bar.

    Dd185517.5bb586ea-6adc-4672-b316-0fab8215ff8c(en-us,Expression.10).png

  3. While in template-editing mode, the states of the button (such as Normal and MouseOver) are displayed under States in the Interaction panel. States are contained in state groups (such as CommonStates and FocusStates).

    Dd185517.7740762c-1a9d-490f-898e-2886ac1cf541(en-us,Expression.10).png

    Next to CommonStates a text box with the value of 0 seconds ("0s"). This is the default transition duration for all the transitions between the states in the state group. For example, it takes 0 seconds to transition from any state to the Normal state. You can change this default transition duration.

    Dd185517.f13475c2-d26f-4ad0-b62e-53bd1f532288(en-us,Expression.10).png

    This value is overridden with the value "0.1s" when transitioning to the MouseOver state and to the Pressed state. The star and the arrow indicate "from any state to this one."

    Dd185517.87bd6d25-da6b-4d90-a4a5-c492b8d148ff(en-us,Expression.10).png

  4. Click the Add Transition Dd185517.6023baa2-015d-4eb5-93d4-7c79f0d69e90(en-us,Expression.10).png button for the MouseOver state under States, and then click the MouseOver to Normal transition.

    Dd185517.fdeff432-52c4-46c2-a3f1-6ee49d86677b(en-us,Expression.10).png

  5. In the new line for the MouseOver to Normal transition, change the value in the text box from "0s" to "0.5s."

    Dd185517.ba5ad076-c4f4-4525-b8a6-ac3aab272194(en-us,Expression.10).png

  6. Save your work (CTRL+S), and then press F5 to build and test your application. After your application opens in a browser window, move your mouse pointer over the button to see how slowly it transitions back to its previous state when the mouse leaves the button.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

See also

Concepts

Draw a control in your Silverlight 2 project

Add animation that will play after a change in state