XtraReports Suite

What’s new in XtraReports Suite 2011 vol 1?

• LightSwitch Support - This release introduces support for the newest member of the Visual Studio family: LightSwitch. This integration interacts seamlessly with entities created within LightSwitch and provides a native and consistent experience when developing reports.
• XML Serialization - With this release, you can save/load report definitions using a custom XML format in a stream or file. This serialization algorithm is twice as fast as that of CodeDOM, and consumes much less memory.
• New Barcode Type - DataMatrix ECC200 - Data Matrix code (the ISO/IEC 16022 standard) is a two-dimensional matrix barcode consisting of black and white "cells" arranged in a rectangular pattern. The information to be encoded can be text or raw data.
• XtraReports for MVC - With this release, XtraReports introduces two specialized controls for MVC Reporting: MVCxReportViewer and MVCxReportToolbar.
• Web Document Map - You can now easily implement client-side navigation for your Web reports using the ReportDocumentMap control that ships with the XtraReports Suite.
• Web Parameters Panel - DXperience v2011 vol 1, allows you to incorporate a Web report parameters user interface using the ReportParametersPanel control that ships with the XtraReports Suite.

Reports in Windows Forms Applications - Once you have constructed a report, you can display it in your Windows Forms application using a separate Print Preview form. You can also use a specially designed Print Preview control to embed a report to any existing form.

ASP.NET Report Viewer - To display XtraReports on a web page, all you need to do is drop the ASP.NET Report Viewer control (that ships with the XtraReports Suite) onto a page and set its ReportName property to that of the report you want to display. You can use the Report Viewer control on any web page, even inside an HTML control since exported HTML does not use absolute positioning and uses HTML Tables instead. Using HTML tables instead of absolute positioning allows it to support NN4+ and IE4+ as well as other browsers on the market today.

Report Toolbar Control for Easy Navigation - In addition to the Report Viewer Developer Express also provide a Report Toolbar control, which can be placed anywhere on a Web form and then linked to a Report Viewer, thus giving the ability to print or export a report in any of the existing formats, as well as providing advanced navigation functionality.

Write into an HTTP Response - You may write PDF or HTML Report streams directly into an HTTP Response. This is particularly useful for PDF documents since it allows you to generate reports in PDF in real time, after the end-user requests the information.

Report Creation Tools

• Full Visual Studio .NET Integration
• An Intelligent Report Creation Wizard
• Built-in Preview and HTML Views
• Smart Tags for Every Control
• In-Place Text Editing
• Create Reports Programmatically from Scratch

Report Layout Options - The following band types are available to you when using the XtraReports Suite:

• Detail Band
• Group Footer, Group Header
• Bottom Margin, Top Margin
• Report Footer, Report Header
• Page Footer, Page Header
• And you can easily add detail reports that have most of these bands in them

The following report construction features are available:

• Sub-Reports are Fully Supported
• Sub-Reports can be printed side-by-side
• Report Merging is fully supported
• Detail Report Band - The Superb Alternative to Rusty Sub-reports
• Multi-Column Reports
• Drill-Down Reports
• A Wide Range of Predefined Label Types

Report Elements - The following controls can be used in XtraReports:

• XRTable - allows you to add auto-arranged tables thus providing a better data layout
• XRChart - a chart control
• XRBarCode - a bar code control
• XRZipCode - displays zip codes; particularly useful for creating mail XRRichTextBox - allows you to display rich-formatted text in reports
• Labels
• XRShape - a control allowing you to build various shapes like arrows, stars, etc.
• Subreport - allows you to reuse reports in multiple places
• The XtraReports Suite provides advanced support for Developer Express products that can be printed via the XtraPrinting Library. Just drop and customize controls like the XtraGrid to get a complete report
• Any .NET WindowsForms control can be embedded into reports
• XRPageInfo - allows you to add information such as the page number, current date, etc.
• XRLabel - a label control
• XRCheckBox - a check box
• XRPictureBox - allows you to display images in reports
• XRLine - allows you to add horizontal or vertical lines to reports
• XRPageBreak - allows you to insert manual page breaks into reports
• XRPanel - a panel control
• XRControl - the base for all controls. This controls serves as a panel which allows you to provide content of any type

Data Exchange

• Flexible Data Source Support
• Mail Merging / Embedded Fields
• Export Your Data with Ease - to PDF, HTML, MHT, RTF, XLS, TXT, CSV, Image (BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, EMF)

Data Shaping and Manipulation

• Sort Data by Any Field
• Summary Support
• Group Data by Multiple Fields

End-User Designer – TheXtraReports Suite ships with the End-User Report Designer that is Identical to the Integrated Designer in Microsoft visual Studio. As well as in integrated designer, the following UI elements are available to you:

• Report Navigation Window
• Field List Explorer Window
• Active Status Bar
• Properties Window
• Toolbars
• Toolbox

The End-User Designer provides the following features:

• End-User Scripting
• Report Zooming Functionality
• Support for Skins
• Reports can be created from scratch, saved and restored later

Miscellaneous Features

• Advanced Styles and Style Sheets
• Background and Watermarks
• Bookmarks and a Document Map
• Hyperlinks
• Cross-references

No Need for COM or any other Complicated Registration Procedures -To distribute application using XtraReports - even if they include the XtraReports End User Designer - you simply need to place the XtraReports assemblies in the same location as your application using 'xcopy' or place the XtraReports assemblies in the global assembly cache (GAC).

Royalty-Free - The XtraReports Suite is available to you royalty free. Whether you are delivering a Windows® Forms app or an ASP.NET solution, you never have to pay a penny in royalties or deployment costs. All you need is to purchase a license for each developer who will be using it at design time.

Migrating to XtraReports - You can migrate your reporting system to XtraReports with ease - just use the Import feature of XtraReports. Reports written in the following tools can be imported:

• Microsoft Access
• Crystal Reports
• Active Reports

LightSwitch Integration Overview
With the release of DXperience v2011 vol 1, DevExpress has added LightSwitch support to its award-winning Reporting Platform - the XtraReports Suite. With it, you can create a wide-range of business reports for the LightSwitch platform. Whether generating a simple contact list or an advanced sales report...the XtraReports Suite for LightSwitch ships with a rich design experience to simplify the report generation process and to help you create compelling and informational reports with ease.

XtraReports Suite for LightSwitch Features

• Easy-to-Activate LightSwitch Extension - The reporting extension brings reporting to LightSwitch. Add a new dimension to your LightSwitch applications by creating data rich reports.
• Fast Report Generation with Asynchronous Data Service - With the report service, LightSwitch reports load data on demand – meaning faster load time and a snappier report interface. Simply said, you’ll never force your end-users to wait while complex reports are rendered.
• Powerful and Easy-to-Use Report Designer - Designing reports is simple with the report designer. Armed with the entities available in LightSwitch, you can create complex master-detail reports via simple drag and drop of individual elements onto the designer.
• Native Support for LightSwitch Data Structures - With XtraReports from DevExpress you have full access to the entities you create by using the custom data source designed specifically for LightSwitch. Need only a subset of data? Enhance your reports by using LightSwitch queries. These powerful structures allow you to report solely on the data your customers require. (Query support is coming, we are targeting launch for this feature)

Please note
If you own an active license of the XtraReports Suite, you’ll receive the DevExpress LightSwitch Reporting Extension free-of-charge. If you are new to XtraReports, you can purchase the LightSwitch Extension only. In both instances, DevExpress never charges any runtime royalties or distribution costs.