Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight

What’s new in Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight v2.0?

• Major performance improvements, especially when using large grids (e.g. fullscreen)
• Editing API has been made more intuitive with more detailed edit events and the support of standard Silverlight controls as editors
• Properties have been added that make it easier to customize columns
• DataGridCheckBox, DataGridComboBox, DataGridTextBox, and DataGridNumericTextBox controls - which support the datagrid’s theme whether used inside or outside of the datagrid - have been added

What’s new in Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight v1.4?

• Version 1.4 of Xceed’s Silverlight datagrid features the addition of SharePoint support. It includes a SharePoint Web Part that developers can use to integrate Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight into SharePoint, providing an insertion row, editing and even delete (Del key) capabilities. A deferred vertical scrolling mode for enhanced responsiveness when fluid scrolling is not desired.
• A WPF build of this product is now included for free with Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight.

What's new in Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight V1.2?

• Xceed has greatly improved the smooth-scrolling experience in version 1.2 of Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight. Specifically, scrolling with and without animations when using the scrollbar thumb is smoother than before.

What's new in Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight V1.1?

• Sticky group headers / footers.
• Sticky column capabilities, which allows a column to remain visible in the viewport while other columns are scrolled out of view.
• Export to Excel (asynchronous/synchronous) using the xmlss format, which is compatible with Excel 2002 and up, as well as with the Microsoft Office Web Components Spreadsheet Component
• Asynchronous/synchronous comma-separated value format (CSV) export, which is compatible with a wide variety of applications.
• Two new themes, called Metro Light and Metro Dark, which provide a bold new look and a customizable accent color that lets designers adapt the themes to their company’s colors, for example.
• Finally, performance has been greatly increased when used with multiple data changing operations.

A Silverlight datagrid with fast remote data retrieval and a completely fluid UI. Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight lets end-users see their data quickly even when it’s on a remote server accessed over the Internet. Data is only loaded as needed. Asynchronous retrieval ensures the UI never freezes, even with slow servers. Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight automatically pre-fetches extra records before and after the current ones, this means the data is already there when the end-user pages or scrolls. And when idle, Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight makes sure this cache is always filled. Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight also features: lag-masking, smooth scrolling and a fully asynchronous architecture which makes for fast applications. Other animations used throughout the datagrid’s interface contribute to creating beautiful applications that have a fluid, modern feel.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight technology:

• Object-oriented design created specifically for Silverlight , written in C# and XAML.
• Based on a flexible and extensible object model, with modular and reusable visual elements.
• The datagrid’s cells are true Silverlight content controls, so they can contain anything.
• Supports Right-To-Left text.
• Complete source code (C# and XAML) available in the Blueprint Edition.
• Seamless integration with the Silverlight base class libraries.
• Complete documentation fully integrated into Visual Studio.
• Includes a variety of VB.NET and C# sample applications to get you started.
• Performs full UI virtualization on both rows and columns, even when grouping data, so only elements currently in view are created and kept, meaning faster loading time, uses less memory. Container recycling (horizontally and vertically) also performed for improved scrolling speed.
• Design-time support
• Can be used in conjunction with the MVVM and MVC design and architectural patterns.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Intelligent, on-demand background data retrieval

• On-demand data retrieval (data virtualization) ensures that only records that are visible are requested from the server. This greatly reduces the amount of data to be transferred, which increases the perceived speed of the datagrid. Also reduces strain on the server.
• Background (asynchronous) record retrieval system.
• Data virtualization is presented through a convenient infinite scrolling scrollbar experience instead of the typical Web-grid paging interface.
• Design uses passive pre-fetching in the background to cache records before and after the ones currently being requested, so when scrolling or paging up or down, the end-user instantly sees the data: there are no just-in-time requests that make the end-user wait, which makes your application feel sluggish.
• Active pre-fetching is used to keep the cache full when the datagrid is idle.
• Asynchronous (background) data requests keep the UI responsive at all times.
• Enabled for all of the datagrid’s features, so there’s no trade-off between capabilities and performance.
• The datagrid supports WCF Data Services and WCF RIA Services, so developers get all the advantages of this system with just a few lines of code.
• Supports practically any type of custom data source. For example, provide code to access Twitter for the appropriate event, and the datagrid can consume and display that kind of data with all the benefits of data virtualization.
• Can even provide data virtualization for streams and other “endless” sources, such as forums and blogs.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Optimized network communications and data source queries

• No discovery. The datagrid doesn’t need to know anything about the data source: the total row count, the number and size of groups, or any other information. Other datagrids need to send this sizable query to the source, wait for the response, and then handle it. Xceed’s Silverlight datagrid doesn’t do this, letting it load faster.
• Efficient queries. Uses relative queries, so they execute faster on the server. The result is that navigating through the datagrid is snappier.
• Query throttling, which greatly enhances heavy scrolling performance. During heavy scrolling, queries to the server for data rows that are no longer needed are voided, which reduces the server load and the datagrid’s CPU usage.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight compelling UI experience in Silverlight

• Smooth-scrolling animations. Reduces the perception of lag thanks to the time required to execute the smooth scrolling effect. Fades in empty rows and data once they arrive. Also improves readability by letting the eye track record data as it is scrolled: instead of jumping into existence, it moves fluidly into place.
• Animated column reordering and resizing.
• Animated group collapse/expand.
• Animated row insertion/deletion.
• Animated drag-and-drop to create groups.
• Fully asynchronous architecture to ensure that the UI remains responsive at all times.
• Fully stylable, so you can adapt it to your own look.
• Supports implicit styles, so the entire app can be styled in minutes with a couple of lines of code. Also supports explicit styles.
• Unprecedented number of customizable elements. 100% compatible with Expression Blend.
• Animated sticky headers smoothly push previous headers off the screen.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Views and themes

• 2D tabular view.
• Column headers support drag-and-drop column reordering, column resizing, click-to- sort, and dragging to “Group-by” row.
• Automatically changes rows height to fit the contents of the largest cell.
• Silverlight Theme (matches Microsoft’s default Silverlight theme)
• LiveExplorer Theme (from thr LiveExplorer demo appication)
• Signature Theme
• Excel 2007 (black, blue, and silver)
• Each theme provides an alternating row style.
• Includes the XAML source code to styles and templates, so you have a great starting point for developing your own.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Data grouping

• Creating, expanding, and collapsing groups is always snappy.
• Grouping, as well as expanding and collapsing groups, can be controlled via code.
• Supports UI virtualization, preserving memory and reducing load time, even when grouping.
• Interactive “Group-by” row allows end-users to easily create and manipulate groups themselves.
• Group navigation control (quick search) for increased usability.
• True nested grouping (hierarchical, multi-level grouping) increases readability and therefore productivity.
• Customizable group-level configurations. Each level of grouping can have a different UI representation, to better distinguish different levels.
• Sticky group containers

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Data binding

• Supports binding to any local list, WCF Data Services Web services, WCF RIA Services Web services, and custom Web services.
• Indicator glyphs let end-users know when virtualized data is being loaded and committed, and when there has been an error.
• Data virtualization vastly improves performance and reduces memory usage, especially when working with large data sources. Also supports grouping.
• Because it works in the background (uses asynchronous operations), the data virtualization implementation decouples the UI from the data source, which keeps the application responsive while data is being retrieved. It also supports caching, pre- emptive data loading, and delayed triggering of events to avoid needless querying during scrolling.
• Filtering (filter row) in virtualized mode, letting you combine the advantage of a data virtualization performance boost and the flexibility of filtering.
• Fully supports Silverlight data binding.
• Can be bound directly to an array of simple types such as String, Decimal, DateTime, TimeSpan, Guid, or Primitive (e.g., SByte, Byte, Int32, etc.), and will show the value of those types in one column.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Input validation

• Includes built-in data validation, at the cell or row level.
• The appearance of a cell or row when a validation error occurs can be completely styled.
• Error display is integrated with the included themes.
• Supports local data validation (IDataErrorInfo).
• Supports remote data (server-side) validation (INotifyDataErrorInfo).
• Supports IEditableObject.

 Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Rich in-place editing

• Updates source when the cell or row exits edit mode or immediately when the cell content changes.
• Provides events for fine-grained control over the edit process.
• Provides programmatic control over edit mode.
• Supports many edit and display conditions/triggers, such as Excel-like default keyboard and mouse edit behavior, including F2, Esc (cancel edit on a cell and restore the original value), Double-Esc (cancel edit on the entire row and restore the original values), and Enter.
• Allows you to specify an editor for a cell being edited.
• Cell editors can be displayed without entering edit mode, under a variety of conditions such as a mouse hover over the cell or row, the cell or row becoming current, the row being edited, or always.
• Single-click edit mode allows entering edit mode and activating items such as check, text, and combo boxes with one click.
• Any portion of the grid can be made read-only.
• Provides an insertion row object that allows for quick entry of new data.
• Automatically selects the appropriate default editor control depending on the field data type.
• Asynchronous editing capabilities (multi-editing). Thanks to background data validation, end-users can enter data and move on to the next edit without needing to wait for, e.g., the server to validate the data. Other datagrids will freeze the UI until that first edit is validated!
• Default editors for all common data types.
• Supports creating custom cell editor controls.
• Includes a combo box editor that can be used to edit related fields.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Included editor controls

• All included editor controls are usable either as cell viewers / editors, or independently outside of the grid for a more flexible and uniform interface.
• CheckBox.
• AutoSelectTextBox.
• DatePicker/Calendar.
• ValueRangeTextBox.
• NumericTextBox.
• All controls are 100% stylable and templatable.
• Combinability/modularity: Embed controls into one another to create flexible, innovative new controls.
• The grid automatically picks the correct type depending on the data type of the column.
• Fully visual approach: Powerful designers help make development faster and easier.
• Extensibility: All controls can be extended to implement custom features, appearance, and behavior.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Filtering

• Supports operations such as =, >, >=, <, <=, !=.
• Provides a filter row object.
• Supports programmatic filtering.
• Provides Excel-like end-user automatic filtering, which provides a drop-down box in the column header, allowing end-users to filter by one or more items, on a per-column basis.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Fully asynchronous architecture

• Designed from the ground up to take full advantage of background operations to make sure the datagrid, and therefore the application, remains responsive at all times.

Xceed DataGrid for Silverlight Other features

• Supports multiple-field sort and custom criteria sort, along with traditional sorting.
• Provides easy manipulation of the grid’s current row.
• Scrolls the view to any cell, row, group, or column.
• Provides fixed, non-scrolling header and footer regions into which you can put any number and type of row.
• Row selection can be by item and by range (extended, multiple, and single modes). Also provides examples of code behind predefined selections.
• Selection is asynchronous.
• Supports placing objects into fixed headers and footers.
• Supports drag-and-drop column reordering and column resizing.
• Full keyboard navigation is possible through cells and rows.

Vanguard Subscription provides updates to the latest versions as they are released, as well as priority support by telephone and dedicated email address. Blueprint Edition includes the product's source code as well as a 1-year Vanguard subscription including updates to the source code.