Introduction to WinUI 3.0 App Development with MS Access Backend
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| Build modern desktop UI with WinUI 3.0 and MS Access database |
Welcome to this step-by-step guide on using WinUI 3.0 (Windows App SDK) for building modern desktop apps in Visual Studio 2022, with an MS Access database as your back-end. Whether you're familiar with WinForms, WPF, or looking to modernize, this post will help you integrate a powerful UI framework with a desktop database system using VB .NET. Discover the benefits, differences vs UWP, and practical integration all in one tutorial.
1. What is WinUI 3.0?
WinUI 3 is the latest native Windows UI framework, decoupled from the OS and delivered via the Windows App SDK (formerly Project Reunion) :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
2. WUP vs WinUI 3.0
- WUP (Windows App SDK) is the foundation, including WinUI for UI, MSIX for packaging, and WinRT APIs :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.
- WinUI 3 provides UI components (Microsoft.UI.Xaml) in both UWP-sandboxed and Win32 desktop app models :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.
- UWP+WinUI runs in a restricted sandbox; Win32+WinUI gives full Windows API power with flexible desktop integration :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.
3. Why choose WinUI 3 for desktop apps?
- Fluent Design, modern UI out-of-the-box—perfect for desktop apps :content Reference[oaicite:7]{index=7}.
- Easy updating: new UI features via NuGet without OS updates :content Reference[oaicite:8]{index=8}.
- Supports both app models: UWP (sandboxed) and Win32 (full access) :content Reference[oaicite:9]{index=9}.
- Desktop-focused performance backed by native code underpinning :content Reference[oaicite:10]{index=10}.
4. Getting Started in Visual Studio 2022
- Install the Windows App SDK workload in VS 2022.
- Create a new project: Blank App, Packaged (WinUI 3 in Desktop) :content Reference[oaicite:11]{index=11}.
- Confirm NuGet reference to Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK and run to test the blank window.
- Explore the `MainWindow.xaml` to build your UI with modern XAML controls.
5. Integrating MS Access Database
Instead of SQL Server, use an MS Access (*.accdb/*.mdb) file as your local database—ideal for desktop apps. Connect via OleDb in VB.NET:
' Example VB.NET using OleDb and WinUI 3
Imports System.Data.OleDb
Public Class DataHelper
Private conn As OleDbConnection
Public Sub New(dbPath As String)
conn = New OleDbConnection($"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={dbPath};")
conn.Open()
End Sub
Public Function LoadData(table As String) As DataTable
Dim da As New OleDbDataAdapter($"SELECT * FROM [{table}]", conn)
Dim dt As New DataTable()
da.Fill(dt)
Return dt
End Function
End ClassYou can then bind data to a WinUI `DataGrid` in XAML:
<DataGrid x:Name="MyGrid" ItemsSource="{x:Bind ViewModel.MyTable}" />6. Communicating Data from Access to UI
Typical steps:
- Instantiate `DataHelper`:
Dim dh = New DataHelper("C:\data\MyDB.accdb") - Fetch DataTables:
Dim dt = dh.LoadData("Customers") - Bind to UI: assign to `List(Of Customer)` in ViewModel or directly to `DataGrid.ItemsSource`.
- Commit changes back with `OleDbCommand` using UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE.
7. Sample Folder Structure
- Project: WinUI3AccessApp
- `MainWindow.xaml` – UI layout using `Grid`, `Buttons`, `DataGrid`
- `DataHelper.vb` – holds the Access database logic
- `App.xaml/App.xaml.vb` – app lifecycle settings
- `MyDB.accdb` – stored in `\bin\Debug` during development
Summary & Next Steps
This guide showed you: WinUI 3.0’s advantages over legacy frameworks, how it fits in the Windows App SDK ecosystem (WUP vs WinUI), and how to integrate an MS Access database backend with VB.NET in a modern desktop app. Explore this further by adding searches, updates, and reporting.
For advanced data binding patterns and service integrations, visit more tutorials on our blog: Visual Basic Online Course.
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