DevExpress VCL Subscription 2011 vol 1 released

Developer Express VCL Subscription includes VCL components for: data entry, charting, data analysis, navigation, layout, grids, scheduling, styling, reporting, printing and planning. Developer Express VCL Subscription supports Delphi 7, 2007, 2009, 2010, XE, C++Builder 2007, 2009, 2010, XE. Developer Express VCL Subscription provides you with a 12 month window wherein all new product releases are sent to you automatically. Developer Express VCL Subscription includes current shipping products, new products, product upgrades (major and minor), and access to all betas in active development. In addition, when you subscribe to Developer Express VCL Subscription, all your support inquiries will be given top priority. Developer Express VCL Subscription also includes the Source Code.

Updates in v2011 vol 1

ExpressBars Suite updates

• New Ribbon Styles - In addition to the existing DevExpress Office 2007 style Ribbon, the newest release includes two new Ribbon style options:  Windows Scenic Ribbon and Office 2010 Ribbon
• Ribbon Gallery - You can now provide an icon and descriptive text for each gallery item within the In-Ribbon Gallery.
• Skin Chooser Gallery - Originally written as an optional part of the Ribbon UI, this component provides an efficient way for end-users to apply skins from the ExpressSkins Library (including custom skins) specified in the application's uses clause, without any additional coding on your side.
• Ribbon Mini Toolbar Component - This customizable counterpart of a Ribbon context menu is now context-sensitive. In reaction to text selection via the mouse, it automatically pops-up using an animated fade while providing relevant (contextual) commands.
• Tabbed MDI Manager - The component provides a tabbed document interface within MDI applications. In the tabbed MDI layout, all child forms are displayed as tabbed pages on the main form.
• Extra Pane Visibility - The Ribbon Application Menu's extra pane can be hidden in order to optimize work space.
• Arbitrary ordering of bar items and galleries in a dropdown menu - A bar item can now be placed ahead of a gallery in a dropdown menu. In turn, the gallery is displayed in the menu as a dropdown gallery.
• TdxRibbonGallery Inheritance - The gallery item’s collection type was changed from TCollection to TcxComponentCollection. This change overcomes limitations associated with gallery state persistence in descendant forms. Inherited forms can now use the parent form's gallery settings.
• Design-Time Enhancements - Ribbon Gallery Designer - In previous versions, gallery items could not be moved from one group to another. With this release, gallery items can be freely moved between different gallery groups via drag and drop within the Ribbon Gallery Designer.
• Automatic Bar Manager binding -When dropped onto a form, the TdxBarDockControl automatically links the bar manager on the form, using the BarManager property.

ExpressQuantumGrid Suite updates

• Layout View - In Layout View, data records are displayed as cards. This new View extends the Card View, in that it gives end-users the ability to visually remodel card structure via drag-and-drop operations. In customization mode, end-users can manually rearrange card rows within cards. You can combine card rows into layout groups. You can span card rows over neighboring rows and layout groups. You can also add auxiliary layout elements (empty regions, separators and labels) to the card from the Customization Form.
• New Chart View Options - This release includes enhanced Chart Views and new Chart View options: Area Diagram, Stacked Area Diagram, Line Diagram, Stacked Bars/Columns, Full-Stacked, Bars/Columns, Side-by-Side Stacked Bars/Columns and Side-by-Side Full-Stacked Bars/Columns
• Chart diagram features - Missing values can be displayed as either empty points or zero values. It includes transparency support for filled diagrams (requires the Microsoft GDI+ Library) and antialiasing. For a better-looking chart, you can enable a smoothing option (requires the Microsoft GDI+ Library)
• Locked View Image - For time-consuming operations, such as bulk data updates, the grid can optionally display a "Locked View" image informing end-users that the View is awaiting updates.
• New "Group By" Panel Layout - The "Group By" panel provides two options to display dropped column headers. The first uses a standard layout, in which headers are shown hierarchically. In the new layout, column headers are aligned horizontally, taking up less space vertically.
• Grid Navigator Enhancements - The Grid Navigator is equipped with an "Info Panel" section. This panel displays information about the total number of records and the focused record's position within the recordset.
• Multi-Line Editor Autosizing - In-place editor sizing. In the edited data cell, an editor is sized vertically to populate entered content. When the end-user has completed data editing, the height of the edited row is automatically changed to fit the new data.
• Alternate Hints for Column Headers - As an alternative to the default hint, you can provide any explanatory text specific to the column within the hint window. This hint can be displayed even when the column caption is not clipped.
• Data Export Enhancements - The QuantumGrid supports export to the XLSX (Microsoft Excel 2007 and higher). When using new export routines, image format in the final output is the same as that defined in the grid.
• Filtering Enhancements - Incremental filtering mode for the Filter Row has been extended with a “deferred update” option. If this option is enabled, the View will be updated after a specified delay. This behavior allows an end-user to make several changes within the Filter Row (to create a more complete filter) before applying the entered filter criteria. When filtering large amounts of data, the deferred update option will reduce the amount of work being done and the number of filter requests generated compared to filtering the data with each keystroke.

ExpressPivotGrid Suite updates

• New Layout Style - In the new Compact Layout View, field values in the Row Area are grouped across a single column, providing more space for the report.  To make different field values standout in the column, rows are indented in a tree-like manner.
• Customization Form Enhancements - In advanced mode, the Customization Form displays additional panes mirroring related drop areas. This can be useful when fields in the View are clipped or drop areas are hidden. Manipulating fields across panes allows end-users to modify the report from within the Customization Form, without changing the View layout. By default, end-user actions in the Customization Form automatically result in updates to the View. Optionally, update commitments can be made explicitly by the end-user. For this purpose, the Customization Form provides a "Defer Layout Update" check box and an "Update" button at the bottom. Control over the Customization Form’s positioning is also very useful. It can be displayed in a standalone window or hosted within any windowed control.

ExpressLayout Control updates

• Layout Structure Inheritance - All layout elements can now be transferred to descendants of the layout control.
• New Layout Settings - New options for tabbed groups. With these settings, you can customize a tabbed group’s appearance in various ways. Group buttons can be positioned either on the group's left or right side. You can specify padding for each side of a layout element. Once specified, padding can be quickly triggered by changing individual padding options.
• Automatic tree expansion when dragging - In the Customization Form, a collapsed layout group is automatically expanded if a dragged layout element is positioned over the group's caption.
• Automatic tab switching when dragging - When the Customization Form is in tabbed View, dragging a layout element over the Layout Tree View or Available Items tabs automatically switches panes.
• Lock icon for layout groups - To ensure that end-users can see that a group is locked, the layout control displays a lock icon above the group's icon in the Customization Form.

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

Developer Express is a software development company based in the United States. It produces coding assistance tools and components for Delphi, C++ Builder and Microsoft Visual Studio developers. The major part of its product line is VCL, .NET WinForms and ASP.NET components that replicate the UI of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office applications. Developer Express has won many industry awards for its products.