TreeMap Control
New TreeMap Control
The new DevExpress WinForms TreeMap Control allows you to visualize flat or hierarchically structured data using nested rectangles that are sized and ordered by a quantitative variable. Built-in features include:
- Multiple Layout algorithms: Slice and Dice, Squarified and Striped
- Ability to visualize flat and hierarchical data
- Ability to color TreeMap items using one of the following algorithms: gradient, group gradient, palette or range
- Configurable tooltips
- Item highlights and selection
- Appearance customization
Blog Post
Unbound Data Source
New Unbound Data Source for Data Aware Controls
With the v16.1 release, we've added support for yet another data type - Unbound Data. Our new Unbound Source component provides two events to retrieve data from an external storage and write it back after runtime modifications. It includes a number of built-in methods to notify data-aware controls about changes in its underlying data and is available as an option when using our Data Source Configuration Wizard. The bottom line is simple: we've built a way for you to use unbound data easily (and avoid having to read any unbound data KB articles we've written in the past).
Blog Post
Chart Control
New Series Types
v16.1 ships with the following new WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET series types:
- Stacked Step Area
- Full Stacked Step Area
- Radar Range Area
- Polar Range Area
Error Bar Indicators
The following Chart Error Bar indicator types are now available for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET:
- Fixed - represents errors as a fixed value.
- Standard Error - error is calculated as a standard error.
- Standard Deviation - error is calculated as a standard deviation.
- Data Source Based - error values are loaded from a data source.
Improved Chart Legend
We've extended the capabilities of our .NET Charting Library with improved Legends. DevExpress Charts for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET now offer the following Legend options:
- Custom Legend Items
- Multiple Legend Support
- Legend Title
Series Animation Support
With this release, our WinForms Chart Control will offer series animation support. This new feature allows you to animate series appearance using point animation, series animation or both (based upon series view type). Additionally, animations can be extended using easing functions.
Data Grid Control
Master-Detail Mode - Single Vertical Scrollbar for Multiple Views
With our updated Master-Detail View, we give you the ability to navigate all records (master-detail) within the grid using a single vertical scrollbar. With this new behavior, your UI should be more straightforward when presenting complex data relationships within a single grid container. As you'd expect, this new scrollbar mode is an option - should you prefer the classic approach to vertical scrolling, you are free to continue its use.
Blog Post
Performance Enhancements
We've made the world's #1 WinForms Data Grid even better with improved Master-Detail performance. The algorithm responsible for calculating the layout of Master-Detail Views has been re-worked so your apps can be more responsive than ever before. Additionally we've improved horizontal scrolling by optimizing scrolling bounds calculations and associated rendering algorithms.
Blog Post
Layout View - Card Appearance
With this release, you can now modify the appearance of individual cards within the Layout View. This new feature gives you complete control over the presentation of information to end-users whenever you use the Layout View within the DevExpress WinForms Grid Control.
Diagram Control
Printing and Export to Raster
With v16.1, the DevExpress Diagram Control for WinForms and WPF gives you the ability to print your diagram and define a custom print area size. You can also export diagrams to raster images (PNG, JPEG, BMP and GIF).
Blog Post
SVG Shapes Support
Our Visio-inspired Diagram Control for WinForms and WPF continues to evolve and with this release, both controls give you the option to use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) as diagram shapes.
Blog Post
Diagram Designer Enhancements
Our Diagram Designer for both WinForms and WPF has been extended and now offers the following new capabilities:
- Apply themes
- Change shape styles
- Change page orientation and size
- Customize line jumps
Custom Layout Algorithms and Sugiyama-Style Layouts
Based on user feedback, the Diagram Control now supports the following layout options:
- Custom layout algorithms.
- Ability to apply the layout algorithm to a portion of a diagram.
- Sugiyama-Style Layout.
Customizable Line Jumps
This release includes additional styles and settings for line jumps.
Theme Support
End-users can now apply color schemes to shapes using our integrated WinForms Diagram Designer.
Editors
PictureEdit - Trim Image by Mask/Shape
Our PictureEdit can now trim its content with the use of a custom mask. The mask can be specified as an SVG image.
Calendar Control - Touch Mode
With this release, our WinForms Calendar Control incorporates a touch-friendly UI mode. Dates can now be selected using scrollable tiles.
LookupEdit Enhancements
In an attempt to address the widest possible use-case scenarios, we've improved the Lookup Controls inside our WinForms Data Editors Library with the following new features:
- Child lookups can now be filtered based on the edit value of a parent lookup.
- The Lookup editor can now operate in ComboBox mode.
- Images within dropdown grid columns are now rendered accurately.
- Design-time enhancements.
- Right-to-Left support.
Blog Posts: Part 1 Part 2
Instant Layout Assistant
Instant Layout Assistant
This release includes the new DevExpress WinForms Instant Layout Assistant - a Visual Studio extension that helps you build your form from scratch.
The Instant Layout Assistant adds hints to the form at design time which then allows you to add individual DevExpress controls to your form areas with a simple mouse click.
Smart Tags
This release includes an extension to Visual Studio that adds Smart Tag functionality for any Form and User Control at design time.
The Smart Tag provides commands that perform common operations on the Form, control layout and report generation:
- Convert a regular form to Ribbon Form, Tabbed Form or Skinnable Form (Xtra Form).
- Convert a standard layout of controls to a layout managed by the Layout Manager.
- Generate a custom report from data displayed within the DevExpress WinForms Grid Control.
Map Control
DirectX11(Direct2D) Support
With this release, our Map control can render its content using Direct2D (Beta).
Web Map Service Support
The DevExpress WinForms and WPF Map Controls now support Web Map Services (WMS) - which provides a standard approach to obtain mapping image data from online or internal servers.
Bing REST Services Support
With v16.1, the architecture for information data providers used by our WinForms & WPF Map Control has been modified. These changes include:
Bing Services REST API will now be used instead of the deprecated Bing SOAP API.
- OSM Search and Geocode support is now available.
- Custom Information Providers using the IInformationData interface has been implemented.
PDF Viewer
v16.1 introduces the following new features:
- JPX Image Format Support
- Transparency Groups Support
- Type 3 Fonts Support
Blog Post
Rich Text Editor
Document Attributes
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Rich Text Editors now offer support for document properties that are compatible with both MS Word and Office OpenXML standards.
Document Iterator
The Document Iterator allows you to iterate specified document elements while hiding the inner structure of a document model. For instance, you can create an iterator that will access all document ranges with different formatting or bookmarks.
Document iterator can be used to create a custom HTML exporter that allows you to modify HTML generation processes in order to best suit your business needs.
Hit Testing
With this release, you can search for document objects or layout elements by their position (coordinates of a mouse cursor or position on a page).
Blog Post
Document Themes Support
With this release, you can import and export documents with color themes.
Clipboard Formats
You can now specify the formats used when our WinForms and WPF Rich Text Editor places content onto the Windows clipboard. Content from the document is copied automatically whenever the clipboard receives a request.
Clipboard content can also be saved in HTML format.
Blog Post
Scheduler Control
Agenda View
With this release, the DevExpress WinForms Scheduler gives you the ability to display event/schedule data within its new Agenda View.
Blog Post
Date Navigation Bar
As you can see in the animation below, our Date Navigator (much like a Grid's data navigator) provides an alternative way to "scroll" your calendar's contents.
Blog Post
Time Ruler Position
With this release, the WinForms Scheduler's Time Ruler can be displayed to the left or right of a View.
Blog Post
Right to Left Support
Blog Post
Skins
Skin Performance and Memory Usage Optimization
Spreadsheet Control
Pivot Table Enhancements
We've extended our Spreadsheet's comprehensive feature-set with the following new enhancements to its Pivot Table:
- Calculated Field and Items: You can specify custom formulas in calculated fields and items if our predefined aggregate functions do not meet your requirements.
- Data Grouping: Group items in a PivotTable field to create a new subset of data.
- Sort by Data Area Values
Blog Post
Integrated Cell Editors
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Spreadsheet Control gives you the ability to embed custom data editors within individual cells. This feature unleashes the full potential of our Spreadsheet and offers you an entirely new way to create high-impact data editing experiences within your Windows app.
Blog Post
Miscellaneous
MVVM Core Enhancements
Our commitment to MVVM continues with the following new features for WinForms developers who prefer this development methodology.
- The DevExpress MVVM Framework for WinForms now supports more controls and their associated behaviors (ContextButtons, NavButtons).
- New services (TabbedFormService)
- Minor core enhancements (DI Support)
- DocumentManager service enhancements (active document support)
NavBar and Office Navigation Bar Enhancements
The WinForms NavBar and Office Navigation Bar controls can now operate in a compact mode. In this mode, the Office Navigation Bar is displayed not as a separate control, but docked to the NavBar control's bottom. End-users can also make the NavBar control wider or narrower by dragging its border at runtime.
Docking Enhancements
With this release, you can manually set the width of resize zones for dock panels. These zones are now DPI-aware.
Clipboard Management Enhancements
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Clipboard Manager allows source formatting (fonts, appearance settings, cell colors, etc.) to be retained when copying data from DevExpress Data Grid and Tree List controls.
v16.1 extends the functionality available in this library to our WinForms Data Grid's Banded View.
We've also implemented new RTF & HTML exporters to improve performance.
Office Inspired Animations
We extended the capabilities of our WinForms Controls with additional Office-inspired animations. They include:
- Data Grid group row expansion animation
- Office 2016 inspired animation when expanding AccordionControl elements
- Office 2016 inspired animation and shadows when displaying popup windows in Bars and Ribbon controls
- Animation when displaying page categories
- Office 2016 inspired animation when displaying the Ribbon's BackstageView
Blog Post
App UI Manager - FreeLayout for WidgetView
In this layout mode for the App UI Manager's Widget View, you can drag and position Widget documents across the View area. This is the only layout mode that allows floating widget documents.
Accordion Control - Element Content Layout
Accordion Elements can display 4 types of content within their headers: captions, glyphs, custom controls and context buttons. This feature allows you to re-arrange these blocks as required.
Adorner UI Manager Enhancements
Blog Post
Report Generation Enhancements
You can now generate a report from our WinForms and WPF Data Grid's Banded View.
Filtering UI Enhancements
The following new features are now available for our Filtering UI:
- Filtering UI Context editor behavior has been improved.
- A new design-time wizard allows you to tweak your UI configuration.
- View Model enhancements.
Data Aware Excel Export Enhancements
Banded Grid Views now support our highly popular Data Aware Excel Export option.
Vertical Grid - Multiple Cell Selection
Our WinForms Vertical Grid Control now supports multiple cell selection.
New Themes
New Material Theme
This release includes a new Material theme for both desktop and touch-first devices.
New iOS9 Theme
The new iOS 9 ASP.NET theme was designed and optimized for touch-first devices such as tablets.
New Vertical Grid Control
The new DevExpress ASP.NET Vertical Grid Control represents an entirely new way to display/edit information within your ASP.NET app. Unlike a traditional grid, the Vertical Grid's data source fields are represented as rows, and data source records are represented as columns. Its features include:
- Data Binding (supports multiple data source types)
- Data Filtering
- Data Editing
- Expandable Categories
- Paging
- Scrolling
As you can see in the image below, the Vertical Grid opens up countless UX opportunities for any data driven web page.
Demo
Blog Post
Chart Control
New Series Types
v16.1 ships with the following new WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET series types:
- Stacked Step Area
- Full Stacked Step Area
- Radar Range Area
- Polar Range Area
Demo
Error Bar Indicators
The following Chart Error Bar indicator types are now available for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET:
- Fixed - represents errors as a fixed value.
- Standard Error - error is calculated as a standard error.
- Standard Deviation - error is calculated as a standard deviation.
- Data Source Based - error values are loaded from a data source.
Demo
Improved Chart Legend
We've extended the capabilities of our .NET Charting Library with improved Legends. DevExpress Charts for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET now offer the following Legend options:
- Custom Legend Items
- Multiple Legend Support
- Legend Title
GridView Control
Data Cell Bands (Advanced Banded View)
With this release, we've extended the capabilities of our ASP.NET Grid View with the introduction of an Advanced Banded View - designed to present information using a compact UI metaphor. As you can see, the ASP.NET Grid View can now arrange columns across bands and individual columns can be positioned one under another (with different heights).
Demo
Blog Post
Cell Focus
With this release, the DevExpress ASP.NET Grid fully supports keyboard navigation through grid cells in batch edit mode.
Blog Post
Cell Merging
Much like its Windows counterpart, our ASP.NET Grid allows you to merge the contents of individual grid cells with ease.
Demo
Blog Post
Ribbon Control
Keyboard Support
With this release, you can now interact with the DevExpress ASP.NET Ribbon Control (tabs, groups, items) via the keyboard.
Demo
Rich Editor Control
Spell Checking
We've extended the capabilities of our ASP.NET Rich Text Editor with spell check support. End-users can activate the ASP.NET Spell Checker via the integrated context menu or a standard dialog.
Demo
Blog Post
Find and Replace
Much like Microsoft Word, the ASP.NET Rich Text Editor's new Find and Replace dialog allows end-users to locate and modify text within an open document. Unlike the browser's built-in "search within a webpage function," the entire document is available for all Find-Replace operations.
Demo
Blog Post
Predefined Styles
To help improve content formatting within the ASP.NET Rich Text Editor, this release includes a new set of predefined styles for paragraphs, characters and tables.
Blog Post
API for Client-Side Manipulations
Our exposed client-side Rich Text Editor API allows you to obtain the current state of document elements (such as sections, paragraphs, tables) and perform the appropriate actions by executing commands.
Demo
Using DevExpress ASP.NET Office Controls Across Multiple Servers in Azure
With this release, both the DevExpress ASP.NET Spreadsheet and Rich Text Edit controls can be used in web applications running on multiple Azure application servers.
Scheduler Control
Appointment Client-Side Rendering
This release includes a new option that allows appointments to be fully rendered on the client by passing appointment data from the server via JSON. As you'd expect, this reduces the amount of HTML sent to the client and thus improves overall app performance.
Spreadsheet Control
UX Improvements
The DevExpress ASP.NET Spreadsheet now ships with a number of improved UX elements including:
- Custom header/footer when printing a spreadsheet.
- Mark a copied range using a dotted line.
- Add a fill handle to populate data and formulas.
- Display/hide column and row headers.
Blog Post
UI Performance Improvements
Our ASP.NET Spreadsheet has been optimized so you can deliver Office-inspired solutions that are both visually stunning and perform at the highest possible levels. Performance optimizations have been applied across the board, at the server and during client rendering.
Blog Post
Using DevExpress ASP.NET Office Controls Across Multiple Servers in Azure
With this release, both the DevExpress ASP.NET Spreadsheet and Rich Text Edit controls can be used in web applications running on multiple Azure application servers.
Miscellaneous
New Responsive Project Template
A new Bootstrap-enabled Web Application Project Template serves as a starting point when developing apps that utilize both DevExpress ASP.NET AJAX controls and the Bootstrap Framework. This template provides responsive mobile-friendly user interface, and by default, implements a blog functionality with integrated full-text search.
Project Templates - Support for ASP.NET Identity System
DevExpress project templates for ASP.NET MVC and Web Forms now support ASP.NET Identity in Visual Studio 2013/2015. Project templates use the ASP.NET Identity system to add functionality to register, log in and log out a user.
Accessibility Support Enhancements
We've improved our ASP.NET web controls and MVC extensions to conform the modern accessibility standards including:
- WCAG 2.0 (level AA) support.
- Compatible with High-Contrast Windows mode.
- Screen reader pronouncing improvement (WAI-ARIA support).
Demo
Wizard Control
New Wizard Control
Our new WPF Wizard Control allows you to create wizards with superior appearance and pixel-perfect element layout.
Unbound Data Source
New Unbound Data Source for Data Aware Controls
With the v16.1 release, we've added support for yet another data type - Unbound Data. Our new Unbound Source component provides two events to retrieve data from an external storage and write it back after runtime modifications. It includes a number of built-in methods to notify data-aware controls about changes in its underlying data and is available as an option when using our Data Source Configuration Wizard. The bottom line is simple: we've built a way for you to use unbound data easily (and avoid having to read any unbound data KB articles we've written in the past).
Blog Post
Chart Control
New Series Types
v16.1 ships with the following new WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET series types:
- Stacked Step Area
- Full Stacked Step Area
- Radar Range Area
- Polar Range Area
Error Bar Indicators
The following Chart Error Bar indicator types are now available for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET:
- Fixed - represents errors as a fixed value.
- Standard Error - error is calculated as a standard error.
- Standard Deviation - error is calculated as a standard deviation.
- Data Source Based - error values are loaded from a data source.
Improved Chart Legend
We've extended the capabilities of our .NET Charting Library with improved Legends. DevExpress Charts for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET now offer the following Legend options:
- Custom Legend Items
- Multiple Legend Support
- Legend Title
Workdays
With this release, Date-Time axes can exclude holidays and weekends to avoid gaps within the axis.
Annotations
This release introduces annotations that can be anchored to a series point, a pane or a chart control. The location of the annotation can be specified via relative (using angle and distance to anchor point) and absolute coordinates. In addition, annotations are capable of interactivity.
Data Grid Control
Scrollbar Annotations
Inspired by Visual Studio, our WPF Grid Control now supports annotations within its vertical scroll bar. With this new feature, you can easily communicate extended information with end-users whenever they interact with our WPF Grid Control. Annotations in the scrollbar allow you to display:
- Validation Errors
- Focus/Selection ranges
- Search matches
- Custom data/information
Blog Post
Proportional Column Sizing
With this release, our WPF Data Grid ships with an improved column resizing algorithm. Available space is distributed between columns by weighted proportions similar to the "star sizing" mechanism used by the MS Data Grid.
Summary Styles
With this release, you can apply styles to individual group and total summaries.
Conditional Formatting Enhancements
v16.1 extends Conditional Formatting with the following features:
- New format rules that cover unique/duplicate values.
- Override selected/focused row style.
- Disable individual format conditions.
- Hide individual formatting rules from an end-user.
- Generate format conditions based on a View Model collection.
Clipboard Management Enhancements
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Clipboard Manager allows source formatting (fonts, appearance settings, cell colors, etc.) to be retained when copying data from DevExpress Data Grid and Tree List controls. v16.1 extends the functionality available in this library to our WinForms Data Grid's Banded View.
We've also implemented new RTF & HTML exporters to improve performance.
Report Generation Enhancements
You can now generate a report from our WinForms and WPF Data Grid's Banded View.
Data Aware Excel Export Enhancements
Banded Grid Views now support our highly popular Data Aware Excel Export option.
Diagram Control
Printing and Export to Raster
With v16.1, the DevExpress Diagram Control for WinForms and WPF gives you the ability to print your diagram and define a custom print area size. You can also export diagrams to raster images (PNG, JPEG, BMP and GIF).
Blog Post
SVG Shapes Support
Our Visio-inspired Diagram Control for WinForms and WPF continues to evolve and with this release, both controls give you the option to use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) as diagram shapes.
Blog Post
Diagram Designer Enhancements
Our Diagram Designer for both WinForms and WPF has been extended and now offers the following new capabilities:
- Apply themes
- Change shape styles
- Change page orientation and size
- Customize line jumps
Custom Layout Algorithms and Sugiyama-Style Layouts
Based on user feedback, the Diagram Control now supports the following layout options:
- Custom layout algorithms.
- Ability to apply the layout algorithm to a portion of a diagram.
- Sugiyama-Style Layout.
Customizable Line Jumps
This release includes additional styles and settings for line jumps.
Docking
Docking - Custom Header Buttons
Docking panels are able to display custom buttons within their header areas along with the default 'Minimize', 'Maximize' and 'Restore' buttons.
Minimize Floating Panels
Floating panels can now optionally display the Minimize button.
Editors
Async Server Mode
This release extends server mode support for our WPF Data Editors with the addition of an asynchronous server mode. When used, data loading is executed asynchronously in a background thread, so the editor and application remain responsive to user actions regardless of data operations.
New Rating Control
The new DevExpress WPF Rating Control helps specify and visualize ratings. Like other DevExpress WPF Data Editors, this control can be used on a standalone basis or embedded within the our WPF Grid Control. Its features include:
- Customizable appearance and behavior, including themes and custom rating items.
- Support for fractional values.
- Touch support.
Map Control
Web Map Service Support
The DevExpress WinForms and WPF Map Controls now support Web Map Services (WMS) - which provides a standard approach to obtain mapping image data from online or internal servers.
Bing REST Services Support
With v16.1, the architecture for information data providers used by our WinForms & WPF Map Control has been modified. These changes include:
Bing Services REST API will now be used instead of the deprecated Bing SOAP API.
- OSM Search and Geocode support is now available.
- Custom Information Providers using the IInformationData interface has been implemented.
PDF Viewer
v16.1 introduces the following new features:
- JPX Image Format Support
- Transparency Groups Support
- Type 3 Fonts Support
Blog Post
Property Grid Control
PropertyGrid - Tabbed View
v16.1 ships with a new PropertyGrid visual mode that replicates the look and feel of modern Microsoft Office applications.
MetadataLocator Support
v16.1 introduces support for MetadataLocator that can be specified for any data source.
Ribbon Control
Merging Backstage Views
With this release, our WPF Ribbon Control now supports automatic and manual merging of individual Backstage Views.
Runtime Customization Window
With this release, the Runtime Customization window displays elements of all merged Ribbon controls and Ribbon items generated from an ItemsSource.
Rich Text Editor
Document Attributes
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Rich Text Editors now offer support for document properties that are compatible with both MS Word and Office OpenXML standards.
Document Iterator
The Document Iterator allows you to iterate specified document elements while hiding the inner structure of a document model. For instance, you can create an iterator that will access all document ranges with different formatting or bookmarks.
Document iterator can be used to create a custom HTML exporter that allows you to modify HTML generation processes in order to best suit your business needs.
Hit Testing
With this release, you can search for document objects or layout elements by their position (coordinates of a mouse cursor or position on a page).
Blog Post
Document Themes Support
With this release, you can import and export documents with color themes.
Clipboard Formats
You can now specify the formats used when our WinForms and WPF Rich Text Editor places content onto the Windows clipboard. Content from the document is copied automatically whenever the clipboard receives a request.
Clipboard content can also be saved in HTML format.
Blog Post
Scaffolding
Scaffolding - EF6 Providers Support
In addition to LocalDb, SqlServerCe and SQLExpress, Scaffolding Wizards now support Oracle, MySQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL providers.
Scaffolding Enhancements
The Scaffold wizard will only generate application-specific code and add a reference to a library containing common elements. This reduces the amount of code in the solution and simplifies debugging and testing.
Spreadsheet Control
Pivot Table Enhancements
We've extended our Spreadsheet's comprehensive feature-set with the following new enhancements to its Pivot Table:
- Calculated Field and Items: You can specify custom formulas in calculated fields and items if our predefined aggregate functions do not meet your requirements.
- Data Grouping: Group items in a PivotTable field to create a new subset of data.
- Sort by Data Area Values.
Blog Post
Integrated Cell Editors
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Spreadsheet Control gives you the ability to embed custom data editors within individual cells. This feature unleashes the full potential of our Spreadsheet and offers you an entirely new way to create high-impact data editing experiences within your Windows app.
Blog Post
Themes
Office2016 Theme is Used by Default
One of our recent themes - Office2016 - is used by default instead of the legacy DeepBlue theme.
TreeList Control
TreeListControl - Excel Data Export
The DevExpress WPF TreeList now supports our Excel Data Export engine. The following TreeList settings are retained during all export operations:
- Node State: with the ability to expand/collapse nodes within the worksheet.
- Data Sorting and Filtering: data is displayed as it appeared within the TreeList.
- Totals and Summaries: including the ability to modify/change formulas.
- Excel Style Format Rules
- Data Validation for Lookup and Combo-box Columns
- Fixed Columns
Blog Post
Vector Images
SVG Support
This release adds support for vector images via markup extensions.
Miscellaneous
DXBinding - Expressions, Commands and Events
The DevExpress Binding mechanism extends standard WPF bindings. You can do the following:
Use expressions inside binding paths.
Bind command properties and define methods that can be called in XAML using DXCommand.
Bind events to methods using DXEvent.
DXWindow - Title Bar Customization
In this release, we've made title bar customization much easier. You can now display custom elements within the Window header and customize default buttons.
Notification Icons
This release allows you to place a notification icon in the Windows notification area and manage its behavior.
New Splash Screen
v16.1 ships with a new Splash Screen control for developers building apps for the UWP platform.
Color Schemes
DevExpress Color Schemes for Windows 10 Apps were first released as a community preview last year. This update marks its official release and includes the following new features:
- Templates for standard controls (Button, ComboBox, etc.).
- Support for Dark and Light themes.
Hamburger Menu
New Menu Items
v16.1 includes new Hamburger Menu items:
- Bottom Bar Check Box: A check box displayed in the Hamburger Menu's bottom bar.
- Bottom Bar Radio Button: A radio button displayed in the Hamburger Menu's bottom bar.
Sub Menu
The Hamburger Menu now supports a sub-menu displayed in a separate flyout panel.
Scrolling Items in the Main Menu
Items in the Hamburger Main Menu can now be scrolled if there is no enough space to display all items.
View State Adaptive Trigger
v16.1 includes a new trigger allowing you to respond to a hamburger menu's view state changes.
Ribbon & Toolbars
New Context Toolbar Control
This release ships with our new touch-enabled ContextToolbar control that can be used as a context menu.
New Ribbon Toolbar Control
Our new RibbonToolBar control for Windows 10 Apps is the light version of our Ribbon Control inspired by Microsoft Mail app.
New Toolbar Control
Designed to be positioned at the top of your application window, the Toolbar control can be thought of as a touch-friendly version of traditional navigation elements used within Windows desktop or touch-enabled hybrid apps.
Ribbon Enhancements
This release adds the following features to the Ribbon Control:
- New ComboBoxItem
- New ColorChooserItem
- New FontEditItem
- Gallery performance improvement.
Miscellaneous
PDF Viewer Enhancements
This release ships with the following new features:
- Ability to select and copy text and images (beta)
- File attachments
- Hyperlinks
- Bookmarks
Frame Control Enhancements
With this release, you can change a window's title and customize the mobile status bar (visibility, background and foreground colors).
Adaptability
Enhancements
With this release, we have added the ability to specify different dxForm widget layouts for multiple screen resolutions.
In addition, our HTML5 Data Grid widget now includes the following options for small screens:
- Expand and collapse groups using a mouse click or a tap.
- Group rows using a context menu.
- Select columns using check boxes displayed within the column chooser.
AngularJS 2.0 Support (CTP)
DevExtreme editors can now work as Angular 2 components.
Blog Post
ASP.NET MVC Wrappers (CTP)
v16.1 introduces DevExtreme ASP.NET MVC Wrappers, which allow ASP.NET developers use DevExtreme HTML5 widgets in MVC applications using Razor C# code syntax.
Blog Post
Bootstrap Integration
Bootstrap Integration
Our HTML5 Generic Theme is now visually-compatible with the Bootstrap framework. The DevExtreme Theme Builder allows you to create a custom DevExtreme theme based on a custom Bootstrap theme.
Blog Post
Data Grid
Banded Column Layout
Our HTML5-JavaScript Data Grid now offers extended layout and customization options so you can easily display and reorder entire column sets. With this feature, you can create Banded column layouts and deliver an optimized user experience for a broad range of use-case scenarios.
Blog Post
Data Visualization
HTML5-JavaScript TreeMap
v16.1 ships with our new HTML5 TreeMap widget so you can quickly visualize flat or hierarchical data using nested rectangles that are sized and ordered by a quantitative variable.
Client-Side HTML5-JavaScript Chart Export
Our HTML5 Data Visualization widgets now provide built-in client-side export and printing support. Features include:
- Export to PNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG and PDF
- Printing
- Customizable menu
Discrete Representation of Continuous Data
When configuring the scale in our HTML5-JavaScript Range Selector, you can optionally divide continuous data (numeric or date-time) into discrete categories via our new "semidiscrete" scale type.
Modules
With this release, you can use small modules and load only the required functionality. Modules can be attached to your application using one of the following ways:
-
Load modules automatically using RequireJS.
-
Create a bundle using Webpack.
-
Load modules using the jspm package manager.
- Create a bundle containing the specified modules using the DevExtreme Bundler tool.
Pivot Grid
Field Panel
This release introduces a new component to our HTML5-JavaScript Pivot Grid widget. Our new Field Panel allows end-users to arrange fields and change filter and sort settings with ease.
Blog Post
Charts Integration
DevExtreme v16.1 now includes a method that simplifies integration of our HTML5 Chart widgets with our HTML5 Pivot Grid.
Blog Post
Relocatable Data Field Headers
This new HTML5-JavaScript Pivot Grid feature allows you to specify where to display field headers: within the column or the row area.
Blog Post
Runtime Summary Type Selection
Your end-user can now modify summary type at runtime using the HTML5 Pivot Grid's context menu.
Tree Header Layout
The DevExpress HTML5 Pivot Grid now includes a tree layout mode. Use it when you want to maximize the use of screen real-estate within your web app.
Scheduler
Agenda View
You can now create a compact representation of appointments/events with the use of the HTML5 Scheduling widget's Agenda View.
Blog Post
Timeline Month View
Our HTML5 Scheduler now offers a Timeline Month View.
Blog Post
Time Zone Support
The DevExpress HTML5-JavaScript Scheduling widget allows you to specify a time zone as needs dictate.
Blog Post
Multiple Cell Selection
You can now select multiple cells via the mouse or keyboard and create an appointment based on selected cells when using our HTML5 Scheduling widget.
Blog Post
Visual Studio Integration
Project Update to the New "Cordova-Windows" Platform
With the deprecation of the "cordova-wp8" platform, Apache Cordova released and currently maintains the "cordova-windows" platform that supports Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. DevExtreme projects have been updated to support these changes.
Authentication & Authorization
The Web API OData Service project template gives you the ability to include OAuth authentication to your service.
If you create a multi-channel application project in the same solution as the Web API service supporting authentication, account views are automatically added to the multi-channel application project.
Blog Post
WebAPI in Multi-channel Project Wizard
v16.1 includes a new DevExtreme project template based on WebAPI back-end.
Widget Enhancements
HTML5-JavaScript SelectBox
The SelectBox widget supports value completion, which is applied upon TAB key press. Set the searchMode option to 'startswith' to enable autocompletion.
HTML5-JavaScript TagBox
- You can now select multiple items without reopening the tag-box.
- The TagBox widget supports a single-line mode. All selected tags are displayed in a single line and can be scrolled horizontally.
- You can now navigate through selected tags and remove them using the keyboard.
- Value completion. Press TAB to apply the suggested value.
Miscellaneous
Performance Improvements
DevExtreme HTML5-JavaScript widgets are now faster by 20-40% when compared to our last major release (v15.2).
DevExtreme NPM Package
With v16.1, DevExtreme libraries are also shipped as NPM packages.
IE8 Discontinued
With this release, we no longer support Internet Explorer 8 (IE8).
Globalize 1.0 Support
With v16.1, DevExtreme supports jQuery Globalize version 1.X, which provides access to an always up-to-date, modular and simple i18n library.
WPF
WPF Report Designer
The DevExpress WPF Report Designer includes the following new features:
- UI Localization;
- New Table control;
WinForms
End-User Report Designer: Intelligent Code Completion
Script editors now support intelligent code completion that makes it easier and faster for end-users to write scripts. Context-aware hints are displayed based on the user input.
Right-to-Left Support
An option to enable Right-to-Left orientation for user interface and report layouts is now available in the End-User Report Designer.
Web
End-User Report Designer: Intelligent Code Completion
Script editors now support intelligent code completion that makes it easier and faster for end-users to write scripts. Context-aware hints are displayed based on the user input.
Report Designer: Table of Contents
The XRTableOfContents control has been added to the toolbox, and a corresponding user interface has been provided to configure its settings.
Right-to-Left Support
An option to enable Right-to-Left orientation for user interface and report layouts is now available in the End-User Report Designer.
Report Designer: New Label Reports Wizard
The ASP.NET Report Designer’s Report Wizard has been updated so that label reports can be constructed in the same manner as that available in our Windows Report Designer.
Report Designer: New Format String Editor
A dedicated Format String editor is now available in the End-User Report Designer for ASP.NET. It allows end-users to select the appropriate format within the editor, instead of writing the format string manually.
Report Server
New Query Builder
The Report Server has been provided with a custom Query Builder dialog, enabling support for a significantly wider range of data providers.
Miscellaneous
- Ability to specify much more message template parameters (e.g., Report Name, Report Category, etc.).
- Ability to shift the date range for scheduled report parameters.
- Ability to cancel sending an empty report generated by a scheduled task via e-mail.
- Ability to export reports to a specified shared folder.
- A Control Template Gallery (the capability to store groups of report controls and drag&drop them as a whole in the Report Designer).
All Platforms
Improved Export to RTF
You can now generate RTF documents with fixed line height when SingleFile export mode is used.
Improved Export To Excel
When the Angle property is set to 90 or 270, the setting is maintained after the report has been exported to XLS and XLSX.
Core Enhancements
Application Model Caching
The Application Model object (XAF application settings) is only generated when the application is first launched. It is then cached to a file and this cache is used to reduce the startup time for future app execution (up to 30% for complex apps with hundreds of business object types).
Blog Post
Application Settings Storage Enhancements
XAF Apps can store user-defined application customizations (layouts, selected skin, etc.) in an application database. This capability (introduced several releases ago), is provided by the ModelDifferenceDbStore class. In this release, we've enhanced functionality in the following ways:
- Design-time customizations are now loaded from the Model.xafml file to simplify debugging.
- ModelDifferenceDbStore can now be used when the Security System is disabled.
- XML settings are now validated before being persisted.
Blog Post
Non-Persistent Objects Enhancements
With this release, you can now display persistent objects in a non-persistent object view. Additionally, you can now display a non-persistent Detail View from navigation with much less code. Finally, CurrentObject is now initialized automatically in non-persistent Detail Views.
Blog Post
Design-Time Enhancements
XAF Design-Time Enhancements
With v16.1, all XAF templates are available from the DX Template Gallery.
Blog Post
Video
Mobile Platform (CTP)
XAF Mobile Platform (CTP)
With this release, you can now generate iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps and allow users to access XAF application data from their smartphones. These mobile apps will reuse the database, as well as other aspects of the data model, application logic and UI settings of an existing XAF application.
FAQ
Tutorial
Blog Post
Video
Module Enhancements
Allow/Deny Modifier for Security Permissions (Beta)
With XAF's Security module, your end-users can now allow access to all data within the application for a specific role and simultaneously deny access to a few data types or members. Alternatively, an end-user can deny access to all data for a role and only allow access to strict list of objects or members. Both approaches makes it easy to allow/deny data access across a broad range of use-case scenarios.
Blog Post
Video
Automatic Grid-Based Reports for WinForms
You can now create a report from any grid-based List View. The Report layout is autocreated (and is based on grid columns, appearance and filter settings) when you click the "New Report" command in the Export menu.
Blog Post
Video
UX Improvements
WinForms SDI: Outlook-Style Navigation Integration
WinForms XAF applications fully support DevExpress WinForms Outlook-Style Navigation Controls. Each navigation link in the panel below corresponds to a navigation group.
Blog Post
Video
Web Designer
New Web Dashboard Designer (Beta)
Much like our Windows Dashboard Designer, Our new Web Dashboard Designer provides a rich set of UI customization options allowing end-users to create and personalize dashboards as their requirements dictate.
Demo
Blog Post
Video
Data Analysis
Window Calculations and Intermediate Aggregation
DevExpress Dashboard can now use various built-in calculations such as Variation, Rank, Running Total, etc. These functions allow you to create advanced data analysis Dashboards with minimal effort.
Video
Blog Post
Data Binding
New Local Data Storage Mode (Extract)
In our previous release, we introduced an In-Memory data processing engine which reduces memory consumption and improves the speed of data shaping operations (grouping, sorting and aggregation) by loading a compressed snapshots of aggregated data into memory.
With v16.1, the Dashboard's new Local Data Storage mode allows you to save the data snapshot on a client machine. As you'd expect, Local Data Storage means that end-users can now create offline views and do not need a live connection to the database to interface with a Dashboard. In addition to offline data viewing, this new feature offers the added benefit of improved loading on startup.
Video
Blog Post
Error Handling - Data Loading, Data processing and Server Mode Errors (WinForms Designer)
Theming
New Compact Theme for the Web Viewer
The new DevExpress Dashboard Compact Theme allows you to reduce the size of visual elements displayed within a Dashboard.
Blog Post
Visualization
Text Box and Image - Data Binding
With this release, both the Text Box and Image Dashboard Items can be bound to a Dashboard's data source. This new feature can be used alongside Master Filtering in order to display specific information (for instance, a product's description or its image) for the selected value.
Video
Range Filter - Redesign
We've modified the manner in which the range filter displays and selects a range.
- Discrete date-time and numeric scales - interpret single values as a line segment instead of a point.
- Support for bar, stacked bars and full-stacked bars.
Range Filter - Predefined Ranges
With this release, the Range Filter dashboard item offers predefined date ranges (YTD, MTD and Last Year), allowing end-users to quickly apply date-specific filters within a Dashboard. Both minimum and maximum range values can now be specified using the Dashboard Viewer's built-in data editors.
Blog Post
Video
Pie Map and Range Filter - Coloring
You can now manage the colors used for measure and dimension values in the Pie Map and Range Filter.
Miscellaneous
Support for Touch Screens & High Dpi in WinForms Viewer
Ability to include a filter state into the exported Excel file.
PDF Document Processor
v16.1 introduces the following new features:
- JPX Image Format Support
- Transparency Groups Support
- Type 3 Fonts Support
Rich Edit Document Automation
Document Attributes
The DevExpress WinForms & WPF Rich Text Editors now offer support for document properties that are compatible with both MS Word and Office OpenXML standards.
Document Iterator
The Document Iterator allows you to iterate specified document elements while hiding the inner structure of a document model. For instance, you can create an iterator that will access all document ranges with different formatting or bookmarks.
Document iterator can be used to create a custom HTML exporter that allows you to modify HTML generation processes in order to best suit your business needs.
Document Themes Support
With this release, you can import and export documents with color themes.
XL Export Library
Table export
This feature allows you to format data in the generated workbook as a table so you can benefit from all the advantages of Excel tables (like sorting and filtering table data, using structured references and calculated columns, displaying and calculating the total row and so on).
By using the DevExpress XL Export API, you can organize data into a table, apply a table style, create calculated columns, display or hide the table total row, and specify the function used to calculate totals for table columns.
Code Analysis
Diagnostic Analyzers
v16.1 introduces new code analysis diagnostics allowing you to detect and correct code issues. You can add these diagnostics as an analyzer reference or use a command line tool to run static analysis tasks on a separate server. New diagnostics include:
- Duplicate conditional
- Exception missing throw
- Expression contains redundant subsets
- Expression is always the same
- If-block matches else-block
- Increase precision with built-in constant or call
- Integral divide operation cast to float
- Logical OR expression has opposite operands
- Logical OR expression redundancy
- Member always returns the same value
- Method call's return value ignored
- Next if-statement's body will never be reached
- Null check follows usage
- Redundant Sub-expressions in Binary Operation
- String format item/argument mismatch
- Subsequent else-if conditions are identical
- Subsequent if-statements have identical conditions
- Suspect assignment reversal
- Suspect variable reference in For-loop condition
- Suspect variable reference in For-loop iterator section
- Suspect variable reference in null-check following as-cast
- Ternary expression has identical branches
- Unreachable conditional code block (else same)
- Unreachable conditional code block (nested inverse)
- Variable is assigned twice in succession
Debug Visualizer
Debug Visualizer Expression Map
CodeRush for Roslyn continues to evolve and with this release, it includes the DevExpress Expression Map first introduced in CodeRush Classic:
Naming Rules & Code Style
Naming Convention Rules and Code Style Support
CodeRush for Roslyn gives you the ability to specify code style rules and define naming rules for variables, parameters, fields and properties. A rule allows you to specify suffix and prefix and select whether to use camel or pascal case. Style and naming rules are applied by features that generate new syntax nodes.
Navigation Enhancements
Open Jump To results in References Window
With this release, you can click the References button at the top right corner of the 'Jump To' window in order to view all references found in the References window.
Blog Post
Navigation to Decompiled Code
You can now navigate to 'decompiled code' using the 'Jump To' navigation provider.
Sessions in References Window
With this release, the References window has multiple tabs allowing you to collect search results in new tabs without overwriting previous results.
Blog Post
Unit Test Runner
Test Execution Output
Test execution output is now displayed in a separate tab.
NUnit 3.0 Support
CodeRush Unit Test Runner now supports NUnit 3.x
Sessions in Test Runner
The Test Runner window includes multiple tabs so that you can create several test sets and run them independently.
Code Coverage Filtering
You can now filter the list of members that appear in the Code Coverage window using the Search Box.
XAML Support
XAML Navigation
We have improved the following navigation providers for XAML.
- Go to Source. You can now navigate to a ResourceDictionary.
- Jump to References. You can now navigate to a resource (ValueConverter, Style, etc) usages.
XAML Refactorings
We have added the following XAML refactorings.
- The Break Apart/LineUp Attributes refactoring – Collapses the attributes of a XAML tag into a single line or breaks them apart.
- The Import Type refactoring – Declares the necessary XAML namespace reference for an unresolved type.
- Optimize Namespace References – Removes the unused references and optionally sorts them.
Show Color
v16.1 introduces 'Show Color' for XAML markup allowing you to preview and change colors.
Miscellaneous
Organize Members Enhancements
We have also added several predefined sets of member organizer rules. Thus, you can simply select a predefined set (Style Cop or DevExpress internal rules) instead of manual customization.
Organize Members now allows you to configure the amount of line breaks between groups and between members. In this release it is also possible to configure Organize Members so that it removes existing line breaks.
Selection Embedding Enhancements
You can now access available embeddings via the context menu.
Target Picker
The target picker is a visual location indicator, which is used to select where to move or declare a field, method or variable.
PDF Viewer (CTP)
This release includes the Community Technology Preview (CTP) of our VCL PDF Viewer Control. As you'd expect, this component library allows you to display PDF files directly within your VCL application without the need to install an external PDF Viewer on your end-user's machine.
Features include:
- Content zooming and scrolling
- Side-by-side and Continuous page layouts
- Embedded fonts
- Exporting of any page to image
- Ability to generate a Ribbon/Toolbar UI at design time
Blog Post
Callout Popup Control
Our new VCL Callout Popup Control allows you to display OS X/iOS style callout popups with custom content. The Callout Popup Control ships with the following features:
- Pop-up animation effects
- Optional rounded corners
- Customizable callout position
Range Track Bar Editor
v16.1 includes a new Range Track Bar Editor - a track bar with two sliders that allows users to select a range of values. This editor is designed for use in 2 use-case scenarios: standalone (in unbound or data-aware mode) and inside container controls, such as our Grid, TreeList, Pivot Grid, and Vertical Grid.
Grid Control
New Windows Explorer View
The Windows Explorer View emulates the Microsoft Windows Explorer user interface. You can display records with captions, descriptions, images, and check boxes using one of the following options:
- Small images
- Medium images
- Large images
- Extra large images
- Tiles
- List
- Content
Data grouping is supported so you can more effectively organize information and display it on screen for your end-users.
A "Locked View" Image on Posting Data
The Grid Control can now display a "Locked View" image during time-consuming post data operations.
Spreadsheet Control
AutoFill
This release introduces an Excel-inspired AutoFill feature so users can populate worksheet cells with data that follows a pattern or one that is based on data in other cells.
The Paste Special Functionality
The Spreadsheet Control now offers runtime options for pasting cell data. Options are available via the context menu and the new Paste Special dialog.
Support for Password Protected Worksheet Files
With v16.1, the Spreadsheet Control allows users to load and save password protected Excel worksheet files.
Move or Copy Selected Cells using Drag and Drop
End-users can now move selected cells within a worksheet by dragging the edge of the selection and releasing the mouse button at a new location. Pressing and holding the Ctrl key while dragging the selected cells, copies them.
Copy/Paste Cell Values, Formulas, and Styles to/from Excel using the Clipboard
With this release, end-users can freely exchange data (cell values, formulas, and styles) between your application and Excel using the clipboard.
New Formula Functions
AVERAGEIFS, COUNTIFS, and SUMIFS functions are now available (for calculation of formulas based on multiple criteria).
Rich Edit Control
Native API (CTP)
With v16.1, we've exposed the Rich Edit Control's native API - an extensive set of interfaces, classes, and other types that allow you to programmatically edit rich text documents and modify their settings. This API will ship as a CTP due to the work required to detail/document its capabilities.
Support for HTML Files
Export/import operations now support documents in HTML format.
Create or Update a Table of Contents, Table of Equations, Table of Figures, or Table of Tables
End-users can now generate a table of contents based on special fields, paragraph styles and outline levels used in a document. In addition, end-users can create tables based on captions added to equations, figures, or tables. The tables can then be updated to reflect the changes made to the document.
Customize Document and Table Styles
This release introduces two dialogs for style customization.
Support for Range Permissions in Protected Documents
With v16.1, you can apply password protection to your DOCX documents and specify permissions on a per user basis. Special dialogs are provided to allow end-users to enter passwords and apply permissions to specific regions.
Pivot Grid
OLAP Mode Improvements
In addition to our existing OLE DB provider, the DevExpress VCL Pivot Grid now offers access to OLAP data using the ADO MD provider shipped with Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC). With the ADO MD provider, you can access OLAP cubes stored in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2012 and Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2014.
Scheduler Control
Design-Time UI Creation
In our previous release, we introduced the ability to create a Ribbon/Toolbar UI at design time for our Spreadsheet and Rich Edit Control. With v16.1, we've added a similar capability to the Scheduler Control. Simply click the corresponding item in the control's context menu, select your preferences in the dialog, click OK and a ready-to-use action-based UI will be added to your application.
Layout Control
Scroll Group Content
With v16.1, you can display scrollbars in individual layout groups. This functionality is useful in layout groups containing multiple items.
Reduced Number of Properties Stored in DFM Files of Inherited Forms
Layout items now store the original size of their associated controls. This enhancement allows the Layout Control to minimize size tracking in inherited forms and significantly reduce the number of properties stored in DFM files.
Data Editors and Controls
Incremental Filtering in Drop-Down Lists
With v16.1, end-users can easily filter out values in an editor's drop-down list and display only those that start with or include a given search string. In fixed drop-down lists, a special field is displayed above the list to allow entry of a search string. The following editors support incremental filtering:
- Color Picker
- Combo Box
- Dropdown Checked List
- Font Picker
- Image Combo Box
In addition, we've added this functionality to filter drop-down lists in the Grid Control and Pivot Grid.
Image Slider and Image Collection Enhancements
With this release, our Image Slider and Image Collection controls offer support for multi-frame images (animated GIF and multi-frame TIFF files). This new feature allows you to display each frame as a separate image.
In addition, the Image Slider now provides a preview panel that displays image thumbnails, helping end-users navigate through large image sets with ease. Clicking a thumbnail brings the corresponding image into view.
Camera Control - Camera Selection and Associated Resolution
The Camera Control now offers a list of resolutions supported by the active camera. You can select the desired resolution from the list and allow end-users to select the desired camera and its resolution from the new Settings popup menu available via the Gear button click.
