Structure your application as a collection of extensions to SoapBox Core.  Basic modules are already provided for you:

• Host: Bootstraps your application, loads all extensions and displays the main window.
• Logging: Includes a wrapper for the popular NLog logging framework, or swap it out with your own.
• Workbench: Provides a main application window with an extensible main menu, extensible tool bar tray, and extensible status bar.
• Layout: Provides an “IDE-like” layout manager (a wrapper around AvalonDock) that extends the Workbench to provide tabbed document windows, and dockable (or floating) tool windows.
• Options: Extends the Workbench with an extensible Options Dialog so all of your application extensions can provide a single place for settings and configuration.
• Arena: A built-in 2D physics simulator (a wrapper around ) lets you build a 2D environment of dynamic objects that follow rules like gravity, mass, velocity, and collisions.
• Messaging: A service for displaying messages to the user.
• File Dialog: A service for displaying Open and Save File Dialog boxes to the user.

All objects (e.g. menu items, tool bar buttons, and arena objects) come with a default “view” or “skin”, but thanks to the powerful features of WPF, you can override them with your own visual styles.

Best of all, SoapBox Core is free, even for commercial use!  SoapBox Core is released for anyone to use under the LGPL.  If your company doesn’t like the terms of the LGPL, SoapBox Core is also available under the SoapBox Automation Commercial License.  Download SoapBox Core and get started building your extensible application today.