Essential Tools for Windows Forms

Ribbon, Docking, Editors, Menus, MDI and much more
Essential Tools is an extensive collection of nearly 80 user-interface components. Easily create robust and usable application interfaces such as those emulating Visual Studio.NET and Microsoft Office 2007.

The Docking Package consists of the Essential Tools docking windows architecture. It allows users to add Visual Studio.NET-type controls that can be docked to Windows Forms applications. Any control can be set as a docking window. Docking layouts can be hosted within forms, user controls, or any derivative of the container-control type. An advanced designer allows users to harness full WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) configuration of a docked layout.

The Essential Tools 'Menu Package' comes with the Windows XP Menus framework, which provides users with the latest 'MS Office Windows XP' Style as well as functionality for menus, toolbars, and context menus.

Essential Tools has all new Office 2007 Controls to design your applications with the theme of the Office 2007 User Interface.

An Office 2007 form that does not have any dependency on RibbonControlAdv is now available in the Essential Suite. It supports all three color schemes, help buttons, and right-to-left features, just like the normal form with an Office 2007 look and feel.

The RibbonControlAdv functions like the Microsoft Ribbon Control. It serves as an optimal alternative for menus, task panes, and tool strips.

The Super ToolTip control enables users to provide ToolTip information. It is composed of three sections, namely a header, body, and footer.

MessageBoxAdv is an enhanced MessageBox class that comes with an Office 2007-style. It supports all three color schemes, custom colors, and custom images.

The Scroller Frame control offers the ability to include horizontal and vertical scroll bars with an Office 2007-style to any scrollable control. The control comes with three different styles that offer context menu support. The scroll bars can be displayed with a size gripper. The distance for scrolling up, down, right, and left can also be defined.

The Super Accelerator component is used to accelerate the click event of items by using a single key stroke without the pointer hovering over it.

The MiniToolBar is a custom toolbar that includes tools for fast and easy access. The Essential Tools MiniToolbar can host a wide range of controls ranging from buttons to panels.

The Tabbed MDI(Multiple Document Interface)package provides a new Tabbed MDI layout mode(as an alternative to the default 'Cascade' and 'Tiled' modes) popularized by VS.NET. This framework was built with great consideration for ease of use. You do not have to modify your existing MDI applications in any way to enable Tabbed MDI mode. With a single method call, you can switch between Tabbed and regular MDI layout modes. Syncfusion's Tabbed MDI framework will retain the MDI scheme when in tabbed mode. The child forms will still be MDI children of the parent (they will not be moved into a tab control; this results in loss of MDI functionality like merged menus, or switching using 'CTRL-?'), thereby enhancing your applications without interfering with the general MDI scheme. The Tabbed MDI framework provides users with the exact functionality and appearance of VS.NET tabbed child windows.

The Tree package provides an advanced Tree View control with numerous appearance options, extensive customization capabilities, and a data-bound mode that supports data binding by taking a relational data source with rows and columns (Data Set, Data View, Array List) and grouping the rows based on one or more specified fields.

MultiColumnTreeView is an advanced treeview control with multiple columns. This control displays the contents in the form of tree with additional columns displaying related data for the tree nodes.With its robust features, it gives a visually appealing tree structure. It supports almost all the features of the treeview control like settings images, check box and option buttons, help text capabilities, Gutter space, Indent Space, advanced drag-and-drop UI support, context-menu association, gradient backgrounds and multiple border styles, etc.,

The Navigation package includes controls such as group bars, group views, and the XP TaskBars. These are primarily used for implementing command lists where each command is represented by an image or text. The group bar implements a tab-type container that can serve as a host for a collection of group views or other Windows Forms controls. The group view is an extensively customizable list-type control capable of cloning the above listed popular command interfaces. The XP TaskBar may be used for displaying standard command items or as a container that can host several other controls.

The Editor package is a comprehensive collection of controls most commonly used in creating data entry forms. All editor controls have been architected to provide a simple and powerful means for capturing data input, validating, and displaying appropriate formatting. They also support data binding, internationalization, and localization. Web Forms and ASP.NET versions of some data editors are also included in this package.

The 'XP Tab' (TabControAdv) feature provided as part of this package is an advanced tab control with many appearance styles and configuration capabilities. The creation of custom tabs with custom shapes and styles is efficient and simplified with this package. 'XP Tab' is a completely native .NET tab control implementation that comes with more configuration and customization capabilities than the legacy wrapper of the .NET framework. It provides the basic functionalities of a standard tab control and much more.

The Command Bars package includes the Command Bars framework. Command bars implement the framework support that is required for creating Visual Studio.NET-type dockable or floatable menus and toolbars. A command bar, in itself, provides only the dockable host; it is up to the user to implement the menu or toolbar that imparts the command bar its functionality. The Essential Tools Menus Package uses the command bars framework for creating XP menus and toolbars.

The Notification package consists of controls providing visual feedback to the user regarding the status of application events. Common applications of the Notification package include enhanced progress bars, splash screens, and customized message boxes with animations.

The Layout Manager package provides a comprehensive set of layout managers that manage advanced layouts on a form. The layout management support of Windows Forms such as docking, anchoring, and padding is adequate for many layout management needs. However, your complex layout management needs can be met by the following layout managers that provide full design-time support.

The Wizard Package provides controls that use the Wizard interface (a series of tabs laid out with next, back, and other buttons) popularized by many Windows-based applications. The Wizard control lets users quickly create such applications.
| Development Environments |
|
| .NET Framework versions |
|
| Operating Systems |
|