.NET 8 WPF News

Share Reports Instantly with Export to Image

May 15, 2025
Image export allows users to share report snapshots, preserving formatting for clear and instant visual communication.

The export to image feature in reporting tools allows users to save a static visual representation of their reports in common image formats such as PNG or JPEG. This functionality offers numerous benefits, including simplified sharing across diverse platforms without requiring specific software, ensuring the consistent presentation of data by preserving formatting and visualizations, and enabling offline access for users who may not have continuous network connectivity. Example use cases include easily embedding key performance indicator dashboards into presentations or emails for broad dissemination, archiving reports for historical record-keeping, and providing accessible versions of data insights for individuals who prefer or require visual formats.

Several .NET WPF reporting controls offer image exporting including:

  • MindFusion.Reporting for WPF facilitates saving report layouts and data visualizations as universally viewable image files for easy sharing and embedding in various documents.
  • Stimulsoft Reports.Wpf enables users to export their interactive WPF reports to static image formats, ensuring consistent visual representation across different platforms.
  • ComponentOne FlexReport WPF (part of ComponentOne Studio WPF by MESCIUS) allows you to generate image renditions of complex reports, simplifying distribution.
  • DevExpress Reports (Multi-Platform) (part of DevExpress Reporting) lets developers export visually rich reports to various image formats.

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

Compare .NET WPF reporting controls

Optimize the User Interface of WPF Applications

May 9, 2025
Toolbars centralize essential commands in a compact, customizable strip, improving productivity and creating a more intuitive user experience.

A toolbar user interface component is a horizontal or vertical strip that contains a set of buttons, icons, dropdowns or menus designed to provide quick access to commonly used functions within a software application. These customizable toolbars streamline user interactions by grouping related tools in a consistent and easily accessible location, often near the top or side of the interface. Toolbars enhance productivity by minimizing the number of steps required to perform frequent tasks, improving efficiency, and reducing the need to navigate through deeper menu hierarchies. Such a component also contributes to a cleaner and more organized interface, helping users perform actions more intuitively and with fewer interruptions.

Several WPF user interface suites provide you with toolbars, including:

  • DevExpress WPF enables developers to build flexible, dockable toolbars that support runtime customization and command binding for dynamic user experiences.
  • ComponentOne Studio WPF by MESCIUS allows the design of tabbed and grouped toolbars with support for ribbon-style interfaces, making it easier to organize sets of commands.
  • Telerik UI for WPF provides a toolbar control featuring automatic overflow handling and a tray system, ensuring responsive layouts and customizable tool arrangements.
  • Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise offers customizable toolbars, and allows WPF developers to combine various UI elements and tools to create task-focused interfaces.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our comparison of WPF user interface suites.

Compare WPF UI Suites

Visualize Spreadsheet Data in Three Dimensions

May 2, 2025
Spread.NET v18.1 adds new WPF surface chart that transforms complex spreadsheet data into interactive 3D surfaces.

Spread.NET by MESCIUS is a powerful tool for building Excel-like applications in your .NET projects. It lets you create interactive spreadsheets, grids, dashboards, and even forms within WinForms, ASP.NET, and WPF applications. With its rich feature set, including a robust calculation engine, formula support, and Excel compatibility, Spread.NET empowers developers to build data analysis tools, budgeting apps, scientific dashboards, and more, all within the familiar .NET environment.

The Spread.NET v18.1 update introduces a new surface chart feature for WPF, providing developers with the capability to render spreadsheet data on a three-dimensional plane. By offering this advanced charting functionality, developers can create more sophisticated data visualization solutions within their WPF applications, allowing end-users to gain deeper insights into complex data and identify key correlations that may not be evident in two-dimensional representations. This feature expands the analytical tools available within Spread.NET, allowing for more nuanced and comprehensive data exploration.

To see a full list of what's new in v18.1, see our release notes.

Spread.NET is licensed per developer and is available as a Perpetual License with a 12 month support and maintenance subscription. We can supply any Spread.NET license including new licenses, maintenance renewals, and upgrade licenses. See our Spread.NET licensing page for full details.

For more information, visit our Spread.NET product page.

Gain Instant Feedback with Tailored Rating Controls

May 2, 2025
Rating controls offer enhanced user engagement and precise data capture for customer satisfaction through customizable designs.

Rating controls in data editors provide a visually intuitive and standardized method for capturing subjective assessments. Users can interact with visual scales like stars, sliders, or thumbs to express opinions or evaluations on a predefined spectrum. These controls can also be precisely tailored with options like half-star ratings or continuous sliders, allowing for nuanced feedback beyond basic scales and providing a clearer understanding of sentiment that leads to more insightful analysis and better decision-making.

Several .NET WPF data editor collections provide rating controls including:

  • Actipro Editors for WPF offers customizable rating controls, enabling intuitive subjective data capture with flexible scales for detailed user feedback analysis.  
  • ComponentOne WPF Input and Editors (part of ComponentOne Studio WPF by MESCIUS) provides versatile rating controls, facilitating consistent collection of nuanced opinions.
  • Telerik UI for WPF Data Editors (part of Telerik UI for WPF) lets you capture user sentiment with an intuitive, customizable rating control supporting stars, shapes, and precision.
  • DevExpress WPF Data Editors (part of DevExpress WPF) features interactive rating controls, allowing subjective data collection with adaptable scales for enhanced clarity.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our .NET WPF Data Editors comparison.

Compare .NET WPF Data Editors Components

Render Complex Scripts in PDFs

April 30, 2025
XFINIUM.PDF enhances multilingual document rendering with support for Arabic, Devanagari, Thai and other complex scripts.

XFINIUM.PDF is a comprehensive software library designed to empower developers with robust tools for integrating PDF functionalities into their applications across a wide range of platforms. This library enables the creation, editing, and manipulation of PDF documents with a single codebase. This cross-platform approach eliminates the need for platform-specific development, significantly reducing development time and effort while ensuring consistency in functionality and user experience across devices. Ideal for applications that require advanced document workflows, digital signatures, form handling, or PDF generation, XFINIUM.PDF offers a solution for businesses and developers seeking to deliver PDF capabilities across diverse environments.

The latest version of XFINIUM.PDF significantly expands its text rendering capabilities by introducing support for complex scripts. This enhancement enables accurate representation of right-to-left and context-sensitive scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew, and more intricate Indic scripts including Bengali, Devanagari, Tamil, Thai, and Khmer. By incorporating these languages, XFINIUM.PDF now offers developers a more versatile and globally inclusive PDF generation toolkit, making it an excellent choice for applications requiring multilingual support and precise typographic control in diverse linguistic contexts.

XFINIUM.PDF is licensed per developer and is run-time royalty free. All licenses include a 12 month subscription which provides all major and minor product updates and technical support. See our XFINIUM.PDF licensing page for full details.

XFINIUM.PDF is available to buy in the following products: