.NET 8 WinForms News

Easily Retrieve Data from GraphQL APIs

April 3, 2025
Telerik Reporting 2025 Q1 supports native GraphQL integration with a dedicated data source for faster, easier access to GraphQL-powered data.

Telerik Reporting is a comprehensive and lightweight embedded reporting tool for .NET web and desktop applications. It enables developers and reporting users to create, design, and export visually appealing, interactive, and reusable reports to effectively present analytical and business data. It supports various technologies, including ASP.NET Core, Blazor, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET AJAX, HTML5/JS, Angular, WPF, WinForms, and WinUI.

The Telerik Reporting 2025 Q1 update introduces GraphQL native support with a dedicated GraphQLDataSource component, allowing developers to seamlessly connect reports to GraphQL APIs. This enhancement streamlines data retrieval by enabling precise queries that fetch only the necessary information, optimizing performance and reducing overhead. The Standalone Report Designer now includes an intuitive wizard that simplifies the setup process, guiding users through creating and configuring GraphQL data sources with minimal effort. By integrating GraphQL natively, Telerik Reporting enhances flexibility and efficiency, empowering developers to build dynamic, data-driven reports with greater ease and precision.

To see a full list of what's new in 2025 Q1 (19.0.25.211), see our release notes.

Telerik Reporting is licensed per developer and is available as a perpetual license with a one year support subscription, which is offered in three tiers: Lite, Priority or Ultimate. See our Telerik Reporting licensing page for full details.

Telerik Reporting is available to buy in the following products:

Easily Extract Attachments from PDFs

April 2, 2025
TX Text Control .NET 33.0 simplifies extracting embedded files, making it easier to access documents and support electronic invoicing standards.

TX Text Control .NET is a royalty-free, fully programmable document editor that empowers developers to add rich WYSIWYG word processing to desktop and web applications across various platforms. It provides everything from comprehensive text formatting and mail merge to PDF creation and processing, all through a robust API and intuitive user interface.

The TX Text Control .NET 33.0 release enhances the DocumentServer PDF namespace, making it easier to extract attachments and embedded documents from PDFs. This feature is especially useful for bundling related materials - such as images, spreadsheets, or additional documents - without requiring separate file handling. A key application is electronic invoicing with standards like ZUGFeRD and XRechnung, where machine-readable data is embedded alongside human-readable invoices.

To see a full list of what's new in version 33.0, see our release notes.

TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms and TX Text Control .NET for WPF are licensed per developer and are available as a Perpetual License with a 12 month support and maintenance subscription. See our TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms licensing page or TX Text Control .NET for WPF licensing page for full details.

TX Text Control .NET is available to buy in the following products:

Simulate Motion with Precise Assembly Mates

March 26, 2025
Eyeshot 2025 lets you define how components move together, making it easier to model and test mechanical behavior in real time.

Eyeshot by devDept Software empowers you to integrate robust CAD functionalities into your .NET applications. Supporting both Windows Forms and WPF natively, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools accessible through the Visual Studio toolbox. These include design for 2D/3D geometry creation and editing, drawing for automatic 2D view generation, simulation for geometry validation, and manufacture for CNC toolpath generation and simulation.

The Eyeshot 2025 release introduces Assembly Mates, enabling developers to define geometric relationships between components in a 3D assembly. As each mate is added, it restricts specific degrees of freedom, guiding how parts can move or rotate relative to each other. This makes it possible to simulate and visualize mechanical behavior in real time, offering a clearer understanding of component interaction before finalizing design constraints. By integrating mates directly into the modeling workflow, Eyeshot now supports a more dynamic and precise assembly modeling experience for engineering and CAD applications.

To see a full list of what's new in version 2025, see our release notes.

Eyeshot is licensed per developer and is available as an annual license, with either Lite or Priority support. See our licensing pages for Eyeshot Pro, Eyeshot Ultimate, and Eyeshot Fem for full details.

Eyeshot is available to buy in the following products:

Create Drill Through Reports in a C# .NET Application

March 25, 2025
Build interactive drill through reports using ActiveReports.NET by passing parameters and setting up navigation actions.

ActiveReports.NET helps you deliver beautiful reports with intuitive Visual Studio integrated report designers and rich controls. It provides code-based cross-platform reporting, easy-to-use designers, and a flexible API, enabling you to design and deliver powerful reports with intuitive, reliable, and user-friendly report designers and controls.

In this blog post, MESCIUS Product Manager Alec Gall shows you how to use ActiveReports to drill through from one report to another in your .NET application. Steps include:

  • Defining Parameters for Drill-Through Reports in ActiveReports
  • Creating Dynamic Report Titles and Data Filtering with Parameters
  • Adding Interactive Drill-Through Actions to Images

Detailed source code is completed and there is even a video that you can watch as you go through the steps.

Read the complete blog and begin providing a seamless way to navigate between related datasets in your .NET applications.

ActiveReports.NET is licensed per developer and is available with or without a 12 month support and maintenance subscription. See our ActiveReports.NET licensing page for full details.

Learn more on our ActiveReports.NET product page.

Optimize Data Input in .NET WinForms Grids

March 21, 2025
Use AutoComplete cells to enhance data entry by offering context-aware suggestions, reducing user effort, and decreasing the likelihood of errors.

An AutoComplete cell type in a grid control facilitates efficient data entry by providing predictive suggestions as users type, drawing from a predefined data source to minimize errors and enhance user experience. This functionality, often implemented via lookup editors, custom cell editors, or event handling, streamlines data input by displaying a dropdown list of matching values, allowing for quick selection and reducing typing effort, ultimately contributing to faster and more accurate data management within the application.

Several .NET WinForms grid controls enable the AutoComplete cell type including:

  • DevExpress WinForms Data Grid (part of DevExpress WinForms) enhances user input with an AutoComplete Cell Type, providing real-time suggestions from bound data sources.
  • True DBGrid for WinForms (part of ComponentOne Studio WinForms by MESCIUS) improves data entry efficiency with AutoComplete cells, minimizing errors by offering context-aware suggestions.
  • Telerik UI for WinForms GridView (part of Telerik UI for WinForms) enables seamless data selection with AutoComplete cells, reducing typing effort through intelligent, customizable predictions.
  • Infragistics WinDataGrid (part of Infragistics Ultimate UI for Windows Forms) optimizes UX with the AutoComplete cell type, simplifying structured input by dynamically displaying relevant choices.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our WinForms grid controls comparison.

Compare .NET WinForms Grid Controls