Grids News

Boost App Accessibility with Keyboard Navigation

December 21, 2023
DevExpress WinForms 23.2 lets users interact with data fields and UI elements using arrow keys and shortcuts.

DevExpress WinForms is a comprehensive suite of 190+ UI controls and development tools designed for building high-performance desktop applications. It offers a broad array of customizable controls, from data grids and ribbon interfaces to advanced charts, maps, and diagramming components. This empowers developers to rapidly create functionally rich applications, while adhering to accessibility guidelines and touch-enabled technology for modern Windows environments.

The DevExpress WinForms 23.2 release adds accessible keyboard navigation support to several controls, including the Ribbon, Backstage View, Recent Control, Data Grid, TreeList, CardView, Breadcrumb Editor, and Expression Editor. Users can navigate using arrow keys, keyboard shortcuts, and the Enter and Escape keys.

To see a full list of what's new in version 23.2, see our release notes.

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

DevExpress WinForms is available to buy in the following products:

Boost Blazor Grid Performance with Virtual Scrolling

December 19, 2023
Effortlessly load and render large datasets by only rendering rows that appear in the currently viewable area.

For large datasets, traditional grid scrolling struggles to maintain performance, often becoming sluggish and resource-intensive. Virtual scrolling provides a more efficient alternative. Instead of rendering the entire dataset at once, it dynamically fetches and displays only the visible rows, keeping the rest cached and unloaded. This significantly reduces the number of elements in the application, resulting in a noticeably smoother scrolling experience, even with millions of data points. Virtual scrolling empowers users to seamlessly explore expansive datasets without compromising performance or responsiveness.

Several Blazor grid components support virtual scrolling including:

  • DevExpress Blazor Data Grid (part of DevExpress ASP.NET and Blazor) is a high-performance, feature-rich grid with seamless virtual scrolling for large datasets.
  • FlexGrid for Blazor (part of ComponentOne Studio Blazor by MESCIUS) is a flexible and customizable grid with efficient virtual scrolling for data-intensive applications.
  • Infragistics Blazor Data Grid (part of Infragistics Ignite UI) is a comprehensive grid solution with advanced virtual scrolling capabilities for enterprise-level applications.
  • Syncfusion Blazor DataGrid (part of Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise) is a versatile grid with optimized virtual scrolling for handling massive datasets seamlessly.
  • Telerik UI for Blazor Grid (part of Telerik UI for Blazor) is a powerful grid component which uses smooth virtual scrolling to navigate large data sets efficiently.

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

Compare Blazor Grid Components

Highlight Cell Data with Conditional Formatting

December 6, 2023
Apply visual cues to specific cells, rows, or columns based on their data values, making it easier to identify patterns and trends.

Conditional formatting in grids allows users to apply visual styles to cells or ranges based on the data they contain. It enhances data readability and analysis by highlighting critical values, outliers, or trends in a data-driven manner. For instance, a cell might be colored red if it contains a value below a certain threshold, thereby drawing attention to potential issues.

Several WinForms grid components support conditional formatting including:

  • DevExpress WinForms Data Grid (part of DevExpress WinForms) enhances data visualization with rich conditional formatting rules including custom visual styles.
  • FlexGrid for WinForms (part of ComponentOne Studio WinForms by MESCIUS) enables conditional cell styles, visual indicators and data-driven formatting.
  • Infragistics WinDataGrid (part of Infragistics Ultimate UI for Windows Forms) includes sophisticated formatting rules, conditional cell backgrounds, and data-driven visual cues.
  • NOV Grid for .NET (part of Nevron Open Vision for .NET) provides custom formatting expressions, data-driven cell styles and conditional background colors.
  • Telerik UI for WinForms GridView offers rule-based cell formatting, visual indicators, and data-driven formatting logic.

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

Compare WinForms Grid Components

Make your Grids and Spreadsheets More Accessible

December 5, 2023
Handsontable 14.0.0 improves screen reader support and adds new keyboard shortcuts to help make navigation more intuitive and inclusive.

Handsontable is a JavaScript data grid component that provides a spreadsheet-like user experience for web applications. It allows developers to easily integrate data tables into their web pages, enabling users to manipulate data in a familiar and intuitive way.

Handsontable V14 now meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards, making it easier for people with disabilities to use the grid. This release also enhances screen reader compatibility by incorporating ARIA attributes into the HTML markup, ensuring seamless navigation for users of NVDA and JAWS on Windows, and VoiceOver on macOS.

To see a full list of what's new in version 14.0.0, see our release notes.

For more information, visit our Handsontable product page.

How to Save Searches in Grids

November 29, 2023
Use Isomorphic Software's SmartClient to save search preferences, instead of repeating the same process time after time.

SmartClient is a comprehensive JavaScript component suite compatible with React, Vue, Angular, and more, that empowers you to craft large-scale, high-productivity Enterprise web applications. Its modern class system fosters clean encapsulation of application modules and screens, resulting in a more maintainable and comprehensible codebase.

In this blog post, Alex Fashakin demonstrates how to use SmartClient's built-in feature to save search preferences on grids. Steps include:

  • Creating the DataSource
  • Building the UI for the Saved Search feature
  • How to save searches on grids
  • Adding visible UI for storing search preferences

Read the complete blog to learn how to boost productivity with the SmartClient saved search feature.

For more information visit our SmartClient product page.