XafNavigatonHub

A Navigation Hub / Launchpad for DevExpress XAF that replaces sidebar navigation with a card-based dashboard. Users land on a styled home screen with categorized button tiles that open different functional areas. Supports both Blazor Server and WinForms frontends.

Features

• Card-based navigation — colorful tiles with icons, grouped by category
• Per-user pinned favorites — right-click to pin, click "x" or right-click to unpin from "Preferred Actions" row, persisted in database
• Drag & drop (Blazor) — drag cards into favorites, reorder pinned items, drop to unpin
• Role-based visibility — buttons automatically hidden based on XAF navigation permissions
• External URL buttons — open external links in a new browser tab
• Dark theme support — adapts to active skin/palette on both platforms
• Non-closable hub tab — hub tab stays open in TabbedMDI on both platforms
• Model-driven configuration — hub layout defined in XAF Application Model (no code changes needed to add/remove buttons)

Prerequisites

• .NET 8 SDK
• DevExpress v25.2.3 NuGet feed configured
• SQL Server LocalDB (included with Visual Studio)

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository
2. Ensure your DevExpress NuGet feed is configured
3. Build the solution:

   dotnet build XafNavigatonHub.slnx

4. Run the Blazor Server app:

   dotnet run --project XafNavigatonHub/XafNavigatonHub.Blazor.Server

   Or the WinForms app:

   dotnet run --project XafNavigatonHub/XafNavigatonHub.Win

5. Log in with one of the demo accounts (empty passwords in Debug mode):
   • Admin — full access to all modules
   • HrManager — HR and project management access
   • SalesRep — sales and CRM access

Project Structure

Project	Description
XafNavigatonHub.Module	Shared module: business objects, controllers, model extensions, database updater
XafNavigatonHub.Blazor.Server	Blazor Server frontend with Razor component hub
XafNavigatonHub.Win	WinForms frontend with owner-draw painted hub

How It Works

The hub is registered as a DashboardView with a ControlDetailItem pointing to a platform-specific control:

• Blazor: NavigationHubComponent.razor — self-contained Razor component with HTML5 drag & drop
• WinForms: NavigationHubControl — XtraUserControl with GDI+ owner-draw painting

Hub buttons are defined in the XAF Application Model (Model.DesignedDiffs.xafml) under a NavigationHub node. Each button references an XAF navigation item by ID and is filtered at runtime based on the user's permissions.

User favorites are stored in UserHubPreference (per-user, per-button, with sort order).

Demo Data

The project includes demo business objects (Employee, Department, Customer, Product, SalesOrder, ProjectTask, AuditLogEntry) with seed data and roles to demonstrate role-based hub filtering.

Database

Uses SQL Server LocalDB. XAF creates and updates the database automatically on first run. Default connection string: (localdb)\mssqllocaldb, catalog XafNavigatonHub.

Configuration

See HOW_TO_IMPLEMENT.md for details on adding buttons, categories, and customizing the hub.