Syncfusion Essential Studio Volume 3 Summary

The release of Essential Studio 2011 Volume 3 significantly advances our HTML 5 offering and adds project management functionality to the User Interface Edition. This release also enables developers to build applications that can read and edit Excel files on computers that do not have Excel installed, and view PDF files without relying on Adobe.

Windows Phone 7 controls can now be tied to online databases, RDL support moves from being a preview release (similar to a beta release) to a full-fledged product, and technical indicators have been added to Essential Chart.

Advancements in HTML 5, Excel viewing, and project-management controls

The Spreadsheet control is a new addition to Essential Grid that, when implemented in an application, will allow end-users to read and edit Excel files without leaving the application. The beauty is that it will work on machines that do not have Excel installed. Syncfusion is the first component company to provide this for the WPF and Windows Forms platforms. This control also comes with a lot of Excel-like functionality in a Microsoft Office environment familiar to most end-users.

Essential Gantt is a new addition to the User Interface Edition. It is a comprehensive component that can be used to add a project management interface to applications. With this control, end-users can enter project information in a grid; adjacent to the grid is a traditional Gantt chart that updates as details of the project change, allowing the current project status to be easily viewed. Relationships between tasks can be established, and tasks can be conveniently dragged and dropped.

The PDF viewer is the newest addition to Essential PDF. It allows PDF files to be viewed in an application without any reliance on Adobe. As a native .NET control, it is easier to implement in a .NET application, meaning developers don’t have to involve another control.

Adding controls to our HTML 5 tool bag means that with our ASP.NET MVC offering, developers can do more with HTML 5 using their current .NET skill set. Also, this release confirms Essential Diagram for ASP.NET MVC as a full-fledged, HTML 5-ready, diagraming control.

New Windows Phone 7 features

All of our Windows Phone 7 controls can now be bound to online databases, allowing mobile applications to be lighter and consume fewer resources. Additionally, 36 types of charts are now offered—eight added with this release—that support zooming and panning.

What does this mean to developers?

Many developers will be interested in cutting down on their company’s software expenditure by utilizing our Spreadsheet control, which allows reading and editing Excel files without needing Excel installed on every computer. Along the same lines, many will like the idea of producing PDF views in their applications without having to work with an Adobe product, which is achieved with our PDF viewer.

HTML 5 will be a highly discussed topic for months to come. Everyone wants to know Microsoft’s stand on the new web technology, and they’ll want to know ours as well. Syncfusion is moving forward with HTML 5 development so developers can create HTML 5 applications under the purview of the .NET framework.

Other points of interest

RDL support moves from a preview state to a full-fledged product.

10 new technical indicators have been included for Essential Chart.

Why RDL?

Using the Report Definition Language (RDL) allows developers to eliminate their dependence onproprietary formats created by multiple component vendors. With such proprietary formats, if the vendor has no staying power, then the developer has no confidence in the format’s future support. RDL is a format of Microsoft—a company with proven staying power. To invest in RDL reporting is to ensure that a reporting scheme will not change for a long, long time.

Release metrics

Looking ahead

Volume 4 promises to deliver more for the mobile developer, utilizing both Silverlight and HTML 5.

At Syncfusion, we uncompromisingly strive for excellence in order to offer the very best value to our customers— from small ISVs to Fortune 100 companies.

If you have any questions or comments about the new release or our components, please contact us , Marketing Assistant, at +91-33-24724013 or at bss@cal2.vsnl.net.in