.NET News

Add Rich Reporting to Blazor Apps with Ease

May 6, 2025
Embed interactive, data-rich reports directly in your Blazor UI with a flexible and responsive viewer component.

A report viewer is a UI element that renders and displays pre-built reports within a Blazor web application, allowing users to interact with them through features like pagination, parameter input, search, and export. It serves as the front-end interface for consuming reports generated by a reporting engine, often backed by data from databases or APIs. For developers, it enables seamless integration of reporting capabilities into Blazor applications without requiring page reloads or external viewers, supports responsive design for various devices, and maintains a consistent user experience through Blazor's component-based architecture.

Several Blazor Reporting Controls offer support for a report viewer including:

  • DevExpress Reports (Multi-Platform) (part of DevExpress Reporting) allows you to embed a native Blazor report viewer, with preview and export functionality.
  • ActiveReports.NET by MESCIUS lets you integrate a Blazor report viewer with customizable UI, supporting client-side export to multiple formats.
  • Stimulsoft Reports.Web facilitates embedding a Blazor viewer that supports interactive reports, multiple display modes, and various export options.

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

Compare Blazor Reporting Controls

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.

Structure Your Data for Smarter Decisions

May 2, 2025
Grid components with advanced visualization features help users make sense of complex data by organizing and summarizing information.

Data visualization and analysis features in grid components transform raw tabular data into structured, interpretable formats that support faster insights and decision-making. These features go beyond static display, offering dynamic ways to organize, summarize, and explore data directly within the grid interface, making it a powerful tool for both end-users and analysts.

Common features include:

  • Aggregation calculates totals, averages, or other metrics across rows to highlight trends at a glance.
  • Grouping allows rows to be organized by shared field values, making large datasets easier to navigate and compare.
  • Drill-down lets users explore underlying details by expanding grouped data or linked rows, providing a layered view of complex datasets.
  • Merging Cells helps visually consolidate repetitive values or headings, improving readability and reducing clutter.
  • Tooltips offer context-sensitive information on hover, helping users understand data without overwhelming the grid with visible labels.

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

Explore Blazor Data Visualization and Analysis Features

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

Diagnose Network Issues with ICMP Support

May 2, 2025
Use ICMP messaging to perform real-time network checks and improve diagnostics directly within your .NET application.

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) support within .NET components, provides developers with essential functionality for diagnosing and managing network connectivity within applications. By enabling interaction with ICMP messages - such as echo requests and replies used in the popular "ping" utility - developers can implement robust network health checks, latency measurements, and reachability assessments. This capability is especially valuable in enterprise environments, where real-time monitoring and diagnostics are crucial for maintaining service reliability and performance.

Several .NET communications and messaging components offer ICMP features including:

  • IPWorks .NET Edition by /n software lets you implement ICMP echo functionality, enabling applications to verify network connectivity and measure round-trip times between hosts. ​
  • SocketTools .NET Edition by Catalyst Development Corp. facilitates sending and receiving ICMP echo datagrams, allowing developers to assess host reachability.
  • Clever Internet .NET Suite for C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET allows you to perform ICMP operations, such as pinging remote hosts, to determine their availability and response times.

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

Compare .NET Comms & Messaging Components