Syncfusion releases Essential Studio 4.3

Syncfusion, Inc. today announced Essential Studio Version 4.3, the latest update to its line of ASP.NET and Windows Forms components for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET developers. This release includes significant updates to Essential Tools, Essential Chart, Essential DocIO, Essential XlsIO, Essential HTMLUI, and Essential Grid, and it focuses in particular on enhancements within the ASP.NET line of products.

Updates made to Essential Tools for ASP.NET include Side-by-Side installation support, which allows for the installation or deployment of multiple versions of our 1.1 framework-compatible assemblies on the same server. All of the resources for Syncfusion controls are now, by default, loaded from a virtual directory automatically scoped by the product version. There is also Custom Client Object ID support that lets developers specify their own friendly names for a control’s client object instance. This feature provides easy access to that object in JavaScript code. In addition Mozilla support has been updated across controls, and there is new frames support in Menus that allow them to be shown over any IFrame instance.

Significant updates have been made to the ASP.NET TabStrip control in Essential Tools 4.3. Hierarchical TabStrips are supported, and they allow for the creation of menu-like hierarchical tab structures. There is also scrolling support in TabStrip, allowing users to scroll to bring hidden tabs into view. Brand new TabStrip ItemLook properties are supported that allow for customization of the look-and-feel of the tabstrips. Separator properties allow for the easy creation of overlapping tab strips, and new ClientSide Events support in TabStrip lets developers implement rich client-side features.

Essential Tools for ASP.NET TreeView includes many new additions including a Drag and Drop feature that allow developers to drag and drop nodes within the same tree or across different tree controls. Appropriate server and client-side events are fired. The ability to associate ContextMenus with individual nodes in TreeView has also been added, and there are new Transition effects that can be set on NodeExpand and NodeCollapse. The ability to implement rich client-side features has been enhanced, with new ClientSide Events such as ClientSideOnContextMenu, ClientSideonNodeDrop, and ClientSideOnNodeDragStart. New ItemLook properties for TreeView that let you customize the look and feel of the tree control beyond previous capabilities have also been added. Enhanced support for hover effects includes the ability to change left and right images on MouseHover has been added, individual nodes can now be disabled, and individual tree node text can be edited.

Essential Tools for ASP.NET also now includes an integrated UploadBox and UploadProgress controls that work seamlessly with each other. They allow single or multiple file uploads at the same time. UploadBox allows for the specification of the location where a file or image will be uploaded, and UploadProgress displays the progress of the upload process. A brand new control called WaitingPopup lets you show a popup with a waiting image over your forms to create user friendly pages, and it also allows for portions of the UI to be disabled during this state.

Essential Tools for Windows Forms also includes new features in Version 4.3 including a property added to control the state transition upon double clicking on a docking window. DockingDiamonds will now only be shown if a floating window is set as dockable. The DockingManager has a new AutoHideTab menu property, and support has been added for controlling tabs movement in the DockTabControl. The SuperToolTip Control has new properties that allow control over its appearance. Dragging support has been added to MonthCalendarAdv that allows for the selection of multiple dates; this is similar to the way Calendar behaves in Outlook. Support for RichTextBox has been added to AutoComplete, and the Tabbed MDI package has a new look that includes the Internet Explorer 7 TabStyle.

Essential Grid for ASP.NET has new support for binding to XmlDataSources and support for binding to business objects. Enhanced support for scrollbars while in callback mode is also included.

With Essential Chart, support for straight line type legend representation for Line and Spline charts has been added. Line, Spline, and StepLine charts can all be customized to use dashed lines. Support for grouping of axes labels has been added, and this allows for customizing the axes labels into multiple rows.

Essential Chart for ASP.NET has new events with support for Region and AllMouse. Zooming and scrolling support have also been added, similar to the support in the Windows Forms version. There is a simple API for exporting the displaying chart into several file formats (png, jpg, gif, emf, etc.). Essential Chart for ASP.NET also has improved support for displaying in Mozilla.

Essential Chart for Windows Forms includes a significant number of enhancements. The ChartWizard’s structure and functionally have been fully modified. Interface support has been significantly updated, and the ability to easily provide end users with toolbars, context menus, and property dialogues that will allow them to manipulate the look and feel of charts, as well as to insert key data analysis at runtime, has been added. SmartLabels, which allow for the presentation of data points to be cleaned up and prevent collisions, are now supported. Arrows, circles, and squares can be used as anchor caps, and line styles can be set using dots and solid lines. Docking and ToolTip support, similar to Legend, have also been added.

Essential DocIO has new support for inserting page borders in documents and for setting document page sizes. The functionality for setting the document view layout options has been added in this version. There is now support for choosing a document’s Zoom settings and support for displaying page numbers in a document. Right-to-left text is supported, and the table formatting feature has been enhanced with support for vertical and horizontal merging.

Essential HTMLUI now includes advanced UI functionalities just like other popular HTML rendering controls Essential HTMLUI samples have an updated look and feel, and new samples have been added that show how the control behaves in common usage scenarios. Detailed documentation has been provided that clearly focuses on using the control, and it also includes a detailed list of the HTML tags and CSS attributes that are supported. supports frames and gradient backgrounds for HTML elements. Support for assigning the IHTMLFormat object to elements has been added along with support for proxy servers in the LoadHTML (System.URIuri). Multiple paragraphs can be copied from the control to the clipboard in the newest version of Essential HTMLUI.

Essential XlsIO has several new features in Version 4.3 as well. Among them is an AutoSizingCommentsBox that allows the developer to programmatically add comments and AutoFit them so that the entire comment is displayed to the user. The ability to compose and read text in the Header and Footer has also been added, and there is new support for charts that have TemplateMarkers as the DataSource. This feature allows for the insertion of charts into the Template Spreadsheets and for setting their DataSource as TemplateMarkers. The TemplateMarkers are dynamically replaced by data during runtime, and the chart is refreshed based on the newly added data.

The new features in the Syncfusion 4.3 release will give developers plenty of functionality to fold into their .NET applications, and there are even more enhancements on the horizon. Syncfusion Essential Studio will soon offer complete support for the implementation of the all-new Microsoft Office 2007 user interface in .NET applications. In the next Syncfusion release multiple ribbon-tabs just like those in Office 2007, quick buttons, menu buttons, and super tooltips will all be provided out of the box. As with every Syncfusion control complete design time support will be available. Enabling Office 2007 features will require very little code and provide developers’ applications with a cutting-edge look and feel.

Essential Studio 4.3 resources

Test-drive Version 4.3 today by downloading the Essential Studio 4.3 evaluation.

The Version 4.3 ASP.NET sample browser (no download required).

Check out the Syncfusion whitepaper on Standardization.

Details about all of the products that make up Syncfusion Essential Studio are available at: https://www.syncfusion.com/products.