Creating a Silverlight 2 Application by Combining Expression Blend and Visual Studio 2008
Leave VS2008 open as it is and then click on Expression Blend June 2008 Preview. Ensure that you are opening the latest version of Expression Blend, as seen in Figure 7. Note that earlier versions of Blend will not support Silverlight applications. They support only XAML pages and, because Silverlight treats every XAML page as a user control, you will need the latest version of Blend.
Figure 7: Make sure that you select the right version of Expression Blend to work with Silverlight applications
The home page of Expression Blend is seen in Figure 8; don't be surprised if you see a black interface. Expression blend is all black, but you will be able to see the controls and work with ease.
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Figure 8: The home page of Expression Blend
Now, click File | Open Project (the same way as you would in VS2008). Navigate to the same path where you created your project with VS2008. You will see that the file types of .sln and .csproj are all visible from Blend. Select the ExpenditureSL.sln and watch as the project loads in Blend.
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Figure 9: Note the same look and feel for the Project Explorer as in VS 2008
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This article was originally published on October 20, 2008
