.NET News

Design Smarter Reports with Built-In AI Assistance

October 13, 2025

Stimulsoft BI Designer 2025.4.1 adds an AI-powered Report Wizard that enables instant report creation and customization from a text query.

Stimulsoft BI Designer is a powerful reporting tool designed to create visually appealing and interactive reports. It allows users to design and develop complex reports with ease, integrating data from various sources and presenting it in a clear, concise, and informative manner. With its rich feature set, Stimulsoft BI Designer is widely used in diverse industries, including finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing, to generate reports for analysis, decision-making, and compliance purposes. Key benefits include its intuitive interface, extensive customization options, and support for multiple data sources, making it an essential tool for organizations seeking to enhance their reporting capabilities and gain valuable insights.

The Stimulsoft BI Designer 2025.4.1 update introduces an AI-powered Report Wizard that improves the report creation process for developers by transforming plain text queries into fully structured reports. It supports various report types, including simple lists, grouped, master-detail, and column-based formats, automatically analyzing connected data sources to generate accurate layouts. Developers can further refine and adjust report designs through custom queries, enabling efficient customization without manual configuration. This feature significantly reduces development time and enhances productivity within the Stimulsoft BI Designer environment.

To see a full list of what's new in 2025.4.1, see our release notes.

Stimulsoft BI Designer is available as a perpetual license and is licensed per creator. A creator is a person who creates reports, dashboards, or forms in a standalone (desktop) designer or online designer. The creator may install one copy of the standalone (desktop) designer. See our Stimulsoft BI Designer licensing page for full details.

Stimulsoft BI Designer is available individually or as part of Stimulsoft Ultimate.

Find Text Fast in Any PDF Document

October 10, 2025

Quickly locate words or phrases within PDF documents using flexible search options to improve navigation and content review.

A text search feature in a PDF component allows developers to programmatically locate specific words or phrases within a PDF document. This functionality typically supports options such as case sensitivity, whole word matching, and navigation between search results. It is particularly useful in applications where users need to quickly identify and interact with relevant content in large or complex documents. By enabling this feature, developers can enhance the user experience in document viewing or editing environments, reduce manual search effort, and support features like text highlighting, annotation, or content extraction for further processing.

Several .NET WPF PDF components offer text searching including:

Telerik UI PDF for WPF (part of Telerik UI for WPF) lets you search through PDF text using simple options like match case or exact words to quickly find what you need.
ComponentOne Studio WPF PDF (part of ComponentOne Studio WPF Edition) allows you to look for specific words or phrases in a PDF with flexible settings for more accurate results.
IronPDF for .NET provides a way to scan PDFs for text, helping users locate important information or sections without manually reading everything.
Syncfusion WPF PDF (part of Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise) enables users to search text in PDFs and see results highlighted, making it easier to review content.

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

Compare .NET WPF PDF Components

Build Rich Navigation with Blazor Menus

October 10, 2025

Blazor UI libraries deliver flexible menu components with nested items, visual customization, and integration into modern web layouts.

Menu controls in a Blazor UI suite are user interface components that provide structured navigation through an application by organizing links or actions into hierarchical menus. These controls are particularly useful in web applications that require intuitive, accessible, and dynamic navigation elements. In Blazor, menu controls can be rendered either through server-side or WebAssembly-based components, allowing developers to build interactive menus using Razor syntax and C#. They support features like multi-level nesting, icons, templates, and binding to data sources, making them adaptable to a wide range of layouts and user experiences. Menu controls integrate smoothly with routing and layout systems, enabling developers to maintain a consistent navigation experience across the application.

Several Blazor UI suites provide Menu controls, including:

DevExpress ASP.NET and Blazor lets you build hierarchical menus with templates, icons, and orientation support, including a responsive layout with collapsing behavior.
Telerik UI for Blazor allows you to create multi-level menus with item templates, icons, and URL-based navigation that integrates with Blazor routing.
Nevron Open Vision for .NET provides context and ribbon menu controls for Blazor WebAssembly, with theme support, icons, checkable items, and multi-click interaction.
Blazorise offers a responsive Bar component that supports horizontal and vertical modes, with nested dropdowns and layout-friendly navigation options.
Smart UI (Smart HTML Elements) provides a dedicated Blazor Menu control with nested items, multiple display modes, rich styling, and context menu support.

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

Compare Blazor UI Suites

Add Real-Time Comms with WebSocket Support

October 8, 2025

Enable fast, two-way communication in .NET apps using secure WebSocket connections built for performance and modern deployment needs.

WebSocket internet protocol support in a .NET communications component enables full-duplex communication channels over a single, long-lived TCP connection. This protocol is particularly useful for scenarios requiring real-time data exchange, such as live chat applications, interactive dashboards, or financial trading platforms. Unlike traditional HTTP requests that follow a request-response pattern, WebSockets maintain an open connection, allowing servers to push updates to clients without being explicitly requested. In a .NET context, this support is typically built into libraries like ASP.NET Core or third-party components, offering developers tools to efficiently manage persistent, low-latency connections while reducing overhead compared to polling or long-polling techniques.

Several .NET Comms & Messaging components offer WebSocket including:

IPWorks SSL .NET Edition by /n software lets you integrate secure WebSocket (ws/wss) support with TLS 1.0–1.3, certificate management, and full-duplex data exchange.
Rebex WebSocket enables WebSocket clients across modern and legacy .NET platforms with full TLS 1.2/1.3, SNI, and SHA‑2 certificate support.
PowerWebSockets by Noemax facilitates high‑throughput, cross‑platform WebSocket communication in .NET, offering asynchronous messaging and server/client symmetry.

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

Compare .NET Comms & Messaging

Greatly Enhance your WinForms Data Visualizations

October 7, 2025

Attend the MESCIUS CodeClinic Live Webinar to experience the full potential of ComponentOne's FlexGrid in your Windows applications.

ComponentOne FlexGrid is a powerful Datagrid for your .NET WinForms applications, enabling .NET developers to display, edit, and analyze large data sets within a familiar Excel-like experience. It is optimized for high-performance and flexibility, allowing you to customize every aspect of the control.

On Wednesday, October 15th, at 11:00 AM EDT, MESCIUS (formerly GrapeCity) will be presenting a CodeClinic Live Webinar to demonstrate how you can upgrade your approach to data visualization through performance tuning, customized operations, and advanced data operations while learning practical tips and best practices. Key highlights include:

Discover how FlexGrid can upgrade or fully replace your current WinForms datagrid.
Explore a comprehensive overview of FlexGrid’s advanced capabilities.
Watch live demonstrations showcasing performance boosts, cell-level customization, and modern data rendering.
Gain practical, hands-on strategies to take full advantage of FlexGrid’s speed and flexibility.