.NET News

Organize Complex User Interfaces in WPF

January 19, 2026
Employ UI suites with docking features to give users control over layout arrangement, floating panels, and persistent workspaces in WPF apps.

Docking controls are a key element of user interface design that enhance the usability of complex applications. They allow users to rearrange windows or panels within the main application window, making it easier to create personalized, efficient layouts. These controls typically support drag-and-drop interactions and automatic alignment, which help users maintain a tidy and organized workspace while working with multiple tools or data views. Docking frameworks often include features like tabbed documents, floating windows, and layout persistence, all of which contribute to a more flexible and user-driven application environment. This makes docking especially useful in professional software environments that involve large volumes of information or tool-based workflows.

Several WPF UI suites provide you with docking support, including:

  • DevExpress WPF offers a comprehensive docking system with advanced layout persistence, tabbed document interfaces, and runtime customization.
  • ComponentOne Studio WPF by MESCIUS provides a docking control that supports auto-hide, floating windows, and full integration with its theme and layout systems.
  • Telerik UI for WPF supports dockable and floatable panes, tabbed documents, nested docking, layout saving/loading, and other docking behaviors suitable for complex UIs.
  • Infragistics Ultimate UI for WPF features a flexible docking framework with rich layout options, including nested panes and content serialization for saving and restoring layouts.

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

Compare WPF UI Suites

Add Keyboard Navigation to Charts in .NET

January 19, 2026
Enhance chart accessibility in .NET applications by enabling keyboard navigation for smoother data exploration and improved user experience.

Charts with keyboard navigation support are designed to improve accessibility and usability by allowing users to explore chart data using only the keyboard. This feature is especially valuable for users who rely on assistive technologies or prefer keyboard interaction over a mouse. It typically includes capabilities like navigating between data points, series, or chart elements using arrow keys, accessing tooltips or data labels, and sometimes triggering events like selection or focus changes, all through the keyboard.

Several .NET chart components support keyboard navigation, including:

  • DevExpress ASP.NET MVC Chart (part of DevExpress ASP.NET and Blazor) supports accessibility features, allowing keyboard interaction across UI components.
  • Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Charts (part of Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core) includes support for arrow key movement between data points and ARIA integration.
  • jQWidgets Chart (part of jQWidgets) is part of a framework that emphasizes WAI-ARIA compliance and keyboard interaction across its widgets.
  • Syncfusion .NET MAUI Charts (part of Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise) is built on a platform supporting keyboard input, extendable to visual components in custom apps.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our comparison of .NET chart components.

Compare .NET Chart Components

Control DataGrids with Natural Language

January 16, 2026
Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, MVC and Blazor let users reshape, navigate, and export data using simple text prompts.

Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, MVC, and Blazor are component libraries for building modern web apps with .NET. Each provides a rich set of customizable UI elements, like grids, charts, and forms, tailored to its respective framework, helping developers create responsive, interactive, and accessible user interfaces.

The latest update to the Telerik UI DataGrid introduces AI-driven controls that respond to natural-language prompts, making it easier for users to work with complex datasets. Users can now reorder, resize, and toggle column visibility just by describing what they want. Pagination, row selection, and data export to Excel, PDF, or CSV formats can also be handled through conversational input, reducing clicks and improving accessibility for both technical and non-technical users.

Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, UI for MVC, and UI for Blazor are all licensed per developer and have two licensing models: an annual Subscription License and a Perpetual License. The Subscription License must be renewed to continue using the software. The Perpetual license is a one-time purchase granting access to the current released version and includes a one-year subscription for product updates and technical support. See our Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC or Telerik UI for Blazor licensing pages for full details.

Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC and Telerik UI for Blazor are available to buy individually or as part of the following products:

Build DevExpress WinForms UIs inside Rider

January 15, 2026
DevExpress DXperience 25.2 adds Visual designers that integrate with JetBrains Rider to simplify WinForms UI configuration during development.

DevExpress DXperience is a comprehensive set of UI controls and developer productivity tools for building data-driven desktop and web applications using technologies such as WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET, Blazor and JavaScript, focusing on consistent user experiences, advanced data visualization, reporting, dashboards, and design-time features that support the development and long-term maintenance of complex business applications.

The DevExpress DXperience 25.2 release introduces JetBrains Rider support, allowing developers to visually configure and customize major DevExpress UI WinForms components directly within Rider’s designer environment. This integration brings familiar design-time experiences to teams using Rider, making it easier to adjust layouts, component properties, and UI behavior without leaving the IDE. By aligning DevExpress visual designers with Rider, the update supports faster iteration, clearer UI intent, and a more consistent development experience across tools.

DevExpress DXperience is licensed per developer and is available as a Perpetual License with a 12 month support and maintenance subscription. See our DevExpress DXperience licensing page for full details.

For more information, visit our DevExpress DXperience product page.

Reuse Report Sections with Flexible Subreports

January 14, 2026
Embed modular reports into master layouts to simplify complex scenarios and reduce duplicated logic across data sources.

Subreports allow independently maintained reports to be embedded within a master report, enabling a modular and flexible reporting design. Each Subreport can be created, maintained, and reused separately, while connecting to the master report through parameters that dynamically filter its data from a separate data source. This approach simplifies complex reporting scenarios, improves consistency, and reduces maintenance effort by avoiding duplicated logic. Common use cases include displaying detailed line items within summary reports, combining data from multiple databases, or reusing standardized sections such as invoices, audit details, or customer histories across multiple reports.

Several ASP.NET Core reporting controls offer support for subreports including:

  • DevExpress Reporting lets you embed reusable subreports, link multiple data sources via parameters, and manage complex report structures efficiently.
  • TX Text Control .NET Server for ASP.NET facilitates dynamic subreports for documents, enabling separate data sources and parameter-driven content reuse.
  • Telerik Reporting allows you to design modular subreports, pass contextual parameters, and combine independent data queries within reports securely.
  • FastReport .NET WEB lets you integrate flexible subreports, filter datasets through parameters, and reuse report components across web applications easily.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our ASP.NET Core reporting controls comparison.

Compare ASP.NET Core Reporting Controls