Released: May 26, 2021

Updates in 21.1

Features

Microsoft .NET Core & .NET 5

• XAML Designer - Suggested Actions
  • Suggested Actions are now available in Microsoft Visual Studio Preview builds and include the following new features:
    • Support for non-visual elements (Toolbar & Ribbon items, Data Grid columns).
    • Support for nested elements (for example, TableView options are now available from GridControl).
    • New Property Editors.
    • Appearance Tab.
• XAML Designer - Image Gallery
  • The DevExpress Image Gallery is now available for .NET Core and .NET 5. The Image Gallery includes thousands of high-quality raster and vector icons (SVG). The gallery can be accessed via Suggested Actions, the Properties window and Visual Studio's main menu.

MVVM

• Compile-Time ViewModel Generation
  • This feature uses C# Source Generators introduced in .NET 5 to generate boilerplate code for your ViewModels at compile time. Command declarations, property change notifications, IDataErrorInfo implementation and service support will be automatically added to a partial class linked to your ViewModel.
  • Compile-time code generation shares benefits associated with both runtime-generated POCO ViewModels and standard ViewModelBase descendants:
    • ViewModels are free of repetitive boilerplate code.
    • Generated code is stored in partial classes. You can view and debug the code easily.
    • ViewModel classes are the same at design time and runtime.
    • Best possible runtime performance since classes are generated in advance.
• EventToCommand - Event Args Back Conversion
  • When passing event args to a command, you can define back conversion logic and return values from a command to an event. This should simplify situations when an event expects a return value and UI-specific event args cannot be passed to a ViewModel. Examples of such events are validation, custom sorting and custom display text, etc.

New TreeView

• This update marks WPF TreeView's official release. The TreeView control includes the following features/capabilities:
  • Bind to Data.
  • Hierarchical Data Templates.
  • On-Demand Data Loading.
  • Data Filtering and Search.
  • Data Editing.
  • Clipboard Management.
  • Drag & Drop.
  • Multiple Selection.
  • Context Menu.
  • Node Icons and Checkboxes.
  • Custom Node Content.

Data Grid

• New Command API
  • The following command counterparts for WPF Data Grid events that expect a return value have been created:
    • CustomColumnDisplayText, CustomGroupDisplayText.
    • CustomColumnGroup, CustomColumnSort.
    • CustomUniqueValues.
    • CustomRowFilter.
    • CustomSummary, CustomSummaryExists.
    • AddingNewRow.
    • RowCanceled, NodeCanceled.
    • RowUpdated, NodeUpdated.
    • RowDoubleClick, NodeDoubleClick.
    • ValidateRow, ValidateNode.
  • These commands pass a typed parameter and expose UI-independent event args to the ViewModel. This change allows you to return values back to an event by simply modifying the command parameter at the ViewModel level.
• MVVM Support in Virtual Sources
  • You can implement data operations for Virtual Sources at the ViewModel level without introducing dependencies to the UI. Virtual Sources introduce new command properties in addition to events. Command parameters expose a platform-independent API that allows you to pass data from the ViewModel to the Data Grid.
• Bind to gRPC
  • Added the ability to use Virtual Sources to bind the WPF Data Grid to gRPC service.

Accordion

• Appearance API
  • Accordion and AccordionItem classes implement the following appearance properties:
    • Background.
    • Foreground.
    • BorderBrush.
    • BorderThickness.

Data Editors

• Date Picker - Time Intervals
  • The WPF DateEdit now supports time intervals when used in DatePicker mode (hour, minute and second).
• Mask Input Enhancements
  • The WPF DateEdit control can now automatically increase or decrease a neighboring segment value when a user spins through DateTime mask segment values and the value passes its minimum or maximum threshold. This behavior is controlled by the ChangeNextPartOnCycleValueChange option.

Map Control

• Custom Start/End Caps for MapLine and MapPolyline
  • MapLine, MapPolyline and MapSpline vector items now include StartLineCap and EndLineCap properties. These properties allow you to display a custom shape at the beginning and at the end of each vector element.
• Bing Maps - New Map Types and GIS Providers
  • The BingMapDataProvider supports the following new map types:
    • RoadGray.
    • RoadLight.
    • RoadDark.
  • Added a new BingMapDataProvider.TopLayer property to set the display layer that renders atop the imagery set (BaseMap, Background, Foreground and TrafficFlow).
  • New GIS providers include:
    • BingTrafficIncidentDataProvider - Displays pushpins with traffic incident information.
    • BingRouteIsochroneDataProvider - Generates a semi-transparent polygon with a pushpin to visualize the distance reachable from a given location, and supports driving and walking modes.
  • BingRouteDataProvider also offers two new route optimization options: MinimizeTimeWithTraffic and MinimizeTimeAvoidClosure. Its new OptimizeWaypoints property rearranges route waypoints and reduces route cost.
• Restrict Map Panning to an Area
  • You can now retain user focus on a specific region and prevent them from moving out of that area. Use the new 'MapControl.ScrollArea' property, to limit user access to map areas.
• Colorizer for MapLine, MapPolyline and MapSpline
  • Colorizers can be applied to the following map vector items:
    • MapLine.
    • MapPolyline.
    • MapSpline.
  • Once calculated, the color is assigned to the line's Stroke property.

PDF Viewer

• Printing Enhancements
  • Improved the DirectX printing engine so that documents are printed faster, with a smaller print job size.

Pivot Grid

• Appearance API
  • The WPF Pivot Grid ships with the following new appearance settings:
    • Background.
    • Foreground.
    • BorderBrush.
    • BorderThickness.
• Async Data Processing Enhancements
  • DevExpress Pivot Grid can now invoke multiple operations in a background thread. The asynchronous API has been enhanced to return the Task<> object, so you can leverage the 'await' operator.

Ribbon & Toolbars

• Deferred Page Loading
  • The WPF Ribbon control's new API allows you to load Ribbon page content on demand (to improve startup performance). This approach works best for applications with many Ribbon pages and items. To enable deferred loading, populate GroupCollectionTemplate with ribbon groups.
• MDI Ribbon - Deferred Merge Operations
  • Ribbons used within MDI applications (with multiple tabs/pages) can now execute merge operations more quickly (and consume fewer resources). Commands (bar items) within inactive tab(s) are merged onto the main form's Ribbon only when the tab is activated for the first time.

Rich Text Editor

• Startup Performance Enhancements
  • Improved the WPF Rich Text Editor's startup performance.
• Charts (CTP)
  • The WPF Rich Text Editor can now display, print and export (to PDF) documents with charts.
• Repeat Row as Header
  • Added a new table row option - "Repeat as header row at the top of each page".
• Watermarks
  • The WPF Rich Text Editor allows you to import and export documents with watermarks. Watermarks are displayed, printed and exported to PDF. New API allows you to insert picture and text watermarks, specify watermark options or remove existing watermarks from a document.
• RC4 CryptoAPI Encryption
  • The WPF Rich Text Editor can import and export RC4 CryptoAPI encrypted DOC files. RC4 CryptoAPI is now the default encryption method for binary files if you use the Strong encryption type to encrypt your documents.
• ActiveX Controls
  • The new API allows you to access ActiveX controls in code, obtain associated properties (type, name and ProgID) and remove these controls from a document when necessary.

Sankey Diagram

• Selection
  • Users can now select diagram nodes and links. The Sankey Diagram control supports the following selection modes:
    • Single.
    • Multiple.
    • Extended (a combination of single and multiple selection modes).
  • Use the 'SankeyDiagram.SelectionMode' property to specify a desired selection mode.
• Layout Customization
  • The Sankey Diagram now supports a linear layout algorithm. Use the SankeyDiagramControl.LayoutAlgorithm property to customize node positioning:
    • ResolveOverlapping - Automatically repositions nodes to avoid link overlap.
    • NodeAlignment - Aligns all nodes: far, center or near.
  • You can also implement a custom layout algorithm by deriving from 'SankeyLinearLayoutAlgorithm' or 'SankeyLayoutAlgorithmBase'.

Scheduler

• 'One Month' View
  • The WPF Scheduler control includes a "One Month" View option. This release ships with two key enhancements for the Scheduler's One Month View:
    • Support for groups.
    • Support for work days.
• Improved Time Zone Support
  • Updated the WPF Scheduler's date-time storage mechanism for better control over time zones. A new 'DataSource.TimeZone' property allows you to specify the time zone in which the Scheduler stores date-time values in the data source.

Spreadsheet

• RC4 CryptoAPI Encryption
  • The Spreadsheet Document API and WinForms/WPF Spreadsheet controls can import and export RC4 CryptoAPI encrypted XLS files. RC4 CryptoAPI is now the default encryption method for binary files if you use the Strong encryption type to encrypt your documents.
• Progress Indication
  • The Spreadsheet control can now indicate the progress of lengthy operations (file load/save operations and export to PDF/HTML). Implement an 'IProgressIndicationService' interface to create a custom progress indicator as needs dictate.
• Accounting Number Alignment
  • If you apply the Accounting number format to a cell value, the Spreadsheet displays the currency symbol on the left and numbers on the right.
• Microsoft Excel 2016 Charts – Enhancements
  • With this release, the WPF Spreadsheet control adds new UI elements designed to insert Excel 2016 charts and change chart types.
  • The WPF Spreadsheet control can now render, print, and export (to PDF) Sunburst and Treemap charts.
• Startup Performance Enhancements
  • Improved the WPF Spreadsheet's startup performance.
• Document Themes API
  • You can now access and modify document theme in code. Load a custom theme from a THMX file or customize predefined theme colors as needed.
• Image Replacement
  • Use the new 'Picture.ChangeImage' method to replace an existing worksheet image with a different image. You can specify whether to retain the size of the original image or use new image attributes (size and proportions).
• Copy a Cell Range as Image
  • You can now copy a cell range and paste it as an image into another application.

Sunburst and TreeMap

• Legend and Titles
  • DevExpress WPF Tree Map and Sunburst controls can now display legend and title elements. Use the following properties to enable and customize legends and titles as necessary:
    • HierarchicalChartControlBase.Legend.
    • HierarchicalChartControlBase.Titles.

Themes

• Theme Preload Enhancements
  • Enhanced Theme Preload functionality and improved startup performance for consecutive forms and dialogs for DevExpress-powered WPF apps. You can now run Theme Preload synchronously and allow applications to load all theme resources during startup (while a splash screen is displayed on-screen). Once the application is loaded, all forms that require theme resources will be initialized and will open faster.

Miscellaneous

• New Barcodes - Identcode and Leitcode
  • Extended the barcode library with two new barcode types:
    • Deutsche Post Identcode.
    • Deutsche Post Leitcode.
  • Use the new 'DeutschePostIdentcodeGenerator' and 'DeutschePostLeitcodeGenerator' classes to generate Deutsche Post Identcode and Deutsche Post Leitcode barcodes at runtime.