DevExpress WinForms 22.2

Microsoft .NET 6.0/7.0 - Windows

• Added full support for Microsoft .NET 7.
• This release now requires .NET 6 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 (v17.0) or higher.
• This does not affect .NET Framework customers, the product assemblies will continue to target .NET Framework 4.5.2 in this release cycle.

Skins and Vector Icons

• New Microsoft Office Palettes for WXI Skin - New Office-inspired palettes have been designed for the Microsoft Windows 11-inspired WXI skin. These include:
  • Office White.
  • Office Colorful.
  • Office Dark Gray.
  • Office Black.

UI Templates (EAP)

• DevExpress UI Templates have been designed to increase productivity for both new and experienced developers (built specifically for the Windows Forms platform). With templates, you can add elegant UI forms such as Log-in, Sign-up, Card Payment, and Address forms to your WinForms project in minutes. Note: this EAP is available to active Universal subscribers and is provided solely for early testing purposes (C# only).
• What's Inside - This EAP is limited to 25 templates and includes UI forms, buttons, group controls, standalone data editors, and predesigned side-by-side master-detail CRUD UIs (C# only). All WinForms UI Templates leverage existing DevExpress WinForms controls, fully support WinForms MVVM, DirectX Hardware Acceleration, DevExpress Application Skins, and HTML & CSS Support. UI Templates are configurable and can be extended as needs dictate.
• Side-by-Side Master-Detail Grid/Tree Views with CRUD UI - 6 new UI Templates (User Controls) have also been created with ready to use side-by-side master-detail view. All templates ship with the predesigned CRUD UI, support MVVM architecture, and integrate the WinForms Data Grid, TreeList, Layout, and Data Editors.

Data Grid

• Enable/Disable and Show/Hide Detail Tabs on Demand - Added new options in the GridView.DetailTabStyle event which allow you to enable/disable and display/hide individual detail tabs (in code) based on a specific condition.
• Master-Detail - Apply Display Attribute to List Properties - You can now apply the 'Display' data annotation attribute to list properties within your data objects.
• BandPositionChanged Event - The BandPositionChanged event now fires when a band changes its position or visibility:
  • A user drags the band and drops it to a different position.
  • A user hides or drags the band to/from the customization form.
  • Band visibility was modified in code.

DirectX Form

• Support for Bar Items - The form header can now display Bar Items. Like the Toolbar Form, the DirectX Form header includes two regions that can accept Bar Items.
• Support for Docking - Extended the list of DirectX-compatible controls and components that can be placed/displayed inside the DirectX Form. With this release, the DirectX Form supports both the DevExpress Dock and Document Manager components.
• Miscellaneous Enhancements:
  • You can now place controls on various DirectX Form regions.
  • Added <input> tag support in HTML & CSS Templates.
  • Enhanced interaction with the WinForms Scheduler control.

Data Editors

• Step Progress Bar - Shining Shadows - The new ShadowDrawMode adds a glow effect to indicators and connectors. You can apply a glow effect to active elements, inactive elements, or both active and inactive elements.
• ListBox - Display Custom Content When the List Is Empty - The new CustomDrawEmptyForeground event allows you to display custom content within the ListBox control when it does not includes items. You can use the standard custom draw API or render an HTML Template within the list box.
• List Editors - Sort Items in Ascending, Descending, and Custom Order - THe WinForms CheckedComboBoxEdit now supports sort operations in unbound mode. Use its new SortOrder property to sort items in ascending or descending order. A CustomSort event has also been added to the ListBox, Checked ListBox, Image ListBox, and Checked Combobox controls. Handle this event to sort list items using custom sort logic.
• LookUp Enhancements:
  • Incompatible Value Type Exception - All lookup editors (LookUpEdit, SearchLookUpEdit, TreeListLookUpEdit, and GridLookUpEdit) now offer warnings when bound to incompatible type values. You can also enable the ThrowExceptionOnInvalidLookUpEditValueType option to detect data type issues and throw an exception.
  • Clear Value on Delete/Backspace Press - Users can now clear a lookup's value by pressing Delete or Backspace key if the editor allows the user to reset its value with the keyboard (AllowNullInput option is enabled).
  • SVG Support in Dropdown Window - The LookUpEdit can now display SVG graphics within its dropdown (out-of-the-box).
  • Select First Item on Enter - The new SelectFirstRowOnEnterKey option allows users to select the first item within the dropdown list when they press the Enter key after a search operation.
• New DateOnly/TimeOnly Masks in Text Edit (.NET 6+) - Added new Date-Time masks which help you edit DateOnly and TimeOnly data structures. When one of these masks is used, the text editor automatically converts its EditValue to an appropriate type.

Gauges

• DirectX Support - The DevExpress WinForms Gauges control is now rendered using the DirectX engine when placed inside a DirectX Form.

HTML & CSS Support

• HTML & CSS Templates for Message Boxes & Dialogs - The WinForms Message Box and Dialog components now support HTML & CSS Templates.
• HTML & CSS Templates for Tooltips - The WinForms ToolTips now support HTML & CSS Templates.
• Accordion - Support for HTML & CSS Templates - The WinForms Accordion control now supports the WinForms HTML & CSS Template engine. HTML & CSS Templates allow you to create fully custom user interfaces in the shortest possible time. New APIs can generate templates for nearly every Accordion UI element.
• HTML Selection - Users can now select text displayed by HTML templates.
• Custom Draw HTML - You can now draw an HTML template within the Custom Draw event handlers. The event parameter includes the e.DrawHtml method. This enhancement was introduced across most of DevExpress WinForms UI controls.
• Visualize Data Collections - Added a new <dx-collection> tag which renders a template for each element in a collection.
• HTML Template Collection - Created a new HtmlTemplateCollection component - an external template storage. HTML & CSS templates added to this collection can be used by different UI controls.
• CSS Style Selectors - You can now conditionally apply styles directly in HTML markup. The use of HTML markup is both easier and faster than handling events in code behind. Use the new dx-class attribute to specify CSS selection conditions.
• Colorize SVG - 'Fill' CSS Property Support - The <img> tag now supports the fill property. Use this property to set the color for an SVG image.
• Position and Z-index Properties - The HTML & CSS engine now supports position and z-index CSS properties - invaluable tools to manage HTML element layout within a template.
  • The 'position' property specifies the position of an element in a template. This property accepts the following values: 'static', 'relative', 'absolute', and 'fixed'. The element's 'top', 'right', 'bottom', and 'left' properties determine its final location.
  • The 'z-index' property specifies the z-order of a positioned HTML element. Use this property to position elements in layers on top of one another. Overlapping elements with a larger z-index cover those with a smaller z-index.
  • The 'z-index' property only works with elements whose 'position' property is explicitly set to 'absolute', 'fixed', or 'relative'.

Layout Containers

• Stack & Layout Panels - Skin-Dependent Indents and Separators - Added a new UseSkinIndents option.
  • When enabled, the Stack and Table Panels use the following settings from the currently active skin:
    • Panel padding.
    • Control margins inside panel cells.
    • Horizontal and vertical separator width.
  • Use a panel's padding and a control's Margin properties to specify custom indents.
  • You can also create horizontal and vertical separators to arrange UI controls into groups.

Scheduler

• Resource Headers - Added HTML & CSS support.
• Show Popup Menu - New Event Arguments - Added new arguments to the PopupMenuShowingEventArgs class. This class provides data for the PopupMenuShowing event. New arguments include:
  • Allow - Gets or sets whether to enable a popup menu. Allows you to disable the popup menu as needed.
  • HitInfo - Identifies the clicked menu UI element.
  • MenuType - Gets popup menu type.
  • Point - Gets the position used to invoke the popup menu.

TreeList

• Expand/Collapse Nodes Using Right/Left Arrow Keys - Users can now use Right and Left arrow keys to expand/collapse nodes. This is the default behavior in the WinForms TreeList control with one column (in TreeView mode).
• Skinned Paddings and Configurable Indent in Preview Sections - Minor enhancements have been made to TreeList skins to maintain look and feel consistency across all DevExpress "grid-based" UI controls (added padding to content displayed in preview sections). A new PreviewIndent property has also been added. This property allows you to specify left horizontal offset for content displayed in preview sections.
• BandPositionChanged Event - Added the BandPositionChanged event which fires when a band changes its position or visibility:
  • A user drags the band and drops it to a different position.
  • A user hides or drags the band to/from the customization form.
  • Band visibility was changed in code.

Accessibility

• Improved accessibility and UI automation - Enhanced support for assistive tools and added support for UI Automation patterns in the WinForms Vertical Grid, Property Grid, and NavBar controls. The controls have also been optimized for better memory consumption and boundary detection.

Visual Studio 2012/2013 Deprecation

• Support for Visual Studio 2012 and 2013 has been deprecated. The demo apps now target .NET Framework 4.7.2 (.NET Framework 4.7.2 targeting pack is available in Visual Studio 2017, 2019, and 2022). Demo app changes do not affect .NET Framework customers in any manner - the product assemblies will continue to target .NET Framework 4.5.2 in this release cycle.

Installation & NuGet

• The Unified Component Installer now includes an option to install localized resources for certain languages (DE, ES, JA). These resources will not be installed by default - you can install them at your discretion. Note: localized resources may be incomplete. Navigate to Localization Service to download community sourced localization for other languages.