DevExpress Reporting 20.2.3

All Platforms

• PDF Export - Visual Signatures
  • Includes a new XRPdfSignature report control that adds a visual signature to exported PDF files. Its features include:
    • Define multiple placeholders for secondary digital signatures within a report.
    • Define a date, reason, location, and an image for a primary signature in WinForms and WPF apps.
• Performance Enhancements
  • Refactored and re-redesigned the following aspects of the document generation engine:
    • Report controls style calculation and caching.
    • Control expression value pre-processing and caching.
    • Text measurement method calls (optimize frequency).
    • Chart processing.
  • DevExpress Reports v20.2 can now generate printable documents up to 30-35% faster than previous versions.
• Microsoft Excel Export Enhancements
  • XRCheckBox
    • Enhanced the visual appearance of checkbox items in reports exported to Microsoft Excel. Checkboxes now generate less merged columns and rows.
  • CachedReportSource
    • Changed the implementation of CachedReportSource. It now caches pictures obtained by URL in the document page storage. Image objects are created only once to reduce memory usage and time required to preview, print, and export the report.
    • You can now generate reports with BMP and JPG images faster and consume less memory when using Single Page export modes.
• Cross Tab Cells - Auto Height
  • Use the new XRCrossTabCell.RowAutoHeightMode property to manage auto height behavior for Cross Tab cells.
• Bar Code - Pharmacode Symbology
  • The XRBarCode report control can now generate Pharmacodes (Pharmaceutical Binary Codes). Set the XRBarCode.Symbology property to 'Pharmacode' and specify PharmacodeType to generate one-track or two-track barcodes.
  • One-track is a one-dimensional (1D) symbology used in the packaging of pharmaceutical products.
  • Two-track uses vertical positioning of half bars together with full bars to encode data.
• Picture Box - Base64-Encoded Image Support
  • You can now bind the Picture Box to a database field, which contains image data as Base64 strings.
• QRCode - Hide the Quiet Zone
  • Added the XRBarCode.Symbology.IncludeQuietZone option that allows you to hide the quite zone. The quiet zone is a blank area around the QRCode.

Microsoft Visual Studio Report Designer

• Convert Your RDLC Reports to DevExpress Reports
  • With this release, you can migrate your RDLC reports (SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), SyncFusion BoldReports, Active Reports) to DevExpress Reports via the updated report conversion tool. The new converter supports the following RDLC report controls and features:
    • TextBox, Rectangle, Image, Line.
    • Data Binding, Expressions, and Parameters.
    • Convert DataSet to SqlDataSource.
    • Convert Tablix to Band Structure (both vertical and horizontal bands).
    • Convert Tablix to Cross Tab.
• Convert DataSet to SqlDataSource
  • You can now convert your DataSets to SQL data sources. Compared to DataSets, SQL data sources are serialized together with report layouts. As such, you don't need to implement custom data source serialization in your reporting solutions when using a SQL data source.
• Add Data Sources in Report Explorer
  • You can now invoke a context menu for the Components node i the Report Explorer. The Add Data Source command adds a new data source to the report.

Web Reporting

• JavaScript Modules
  • Refactored the client code and moved from namespace declaration to a modular approach. You can now use native import directives to exclude unnecessary code and dependencies when code is built into bundles.
• Async Report Storage
  • Extended the capabilities of the web report storage with asynchronous save and load operations. You can also leverage the 'IReportProviderAsync' service - it resolves a report ID to a report instance and expedites subreport load operations. With v20.2, applications can access threads from the ThreadPool while reporting components load, save or export reports.
  • To switch to asynchronous mode:
    • Implement async counterparts of ReportStorageWebExtension methods.
    • Replace the 'CreateDocument', 'ExportTo', and 'GetModel' method calls in your application with async counterparts.
    • Create and register the 'IReportProviderAsync' service.
    • Call the 'UseAsyncEngine' method at startup to activate asynchronous operations.
• Merge Reports with PDF - Microsoft Azure and Linux Support
  • The XRPdfContent control allows you to embed pages from an external PDF file into a report. The XRPdfContent control works in both Microsoft Azure and Linux.
  • If your application is deployed on Linux or Azure and you want to merge your reports with PDF documents, install the SkiaSharp v1.6.0 NuGet package and set the new PrintingOptions.Pdf.RenderingEngine property to 'Skia'.
  • For Linux, you must also install the SkiaSharp.NativeAssets.Linux NuGet package.
• Web Report Designer - New DateTime Constants in the Filter Editor
  • You can now compare DateTime values with predefined constants such as "This Year", "This Month", "Tomorrow", etc.

Blazor Reporting

• Customization API for Document Viewer and Report Designer
  • You can now customize the user interface and functionality of DevExpress Document Viewer and Report Designer components in your Blazor applications.
  • Use the following new properties to access events:
    • DxDocumentViewerCallbacks (available in DxDocumentViewer).
    • DxReportDesignerCallbacks (available in DxReportDesigner).

WinForms Reporting

• Report Script Editor Enhancements
  • Enhancements to the script editor embedded into Visual Studio and WinForms End-User Report Designer include:
    • The level of indentation is preserved when moving a caret to a new line.
    • The TAB key press now inserts whitespaces and mimics the behavior of Visual Studio code editor.
    • You can now zoom in and out the scripts code using the CTRL key and the mouse wheel.
    • The "DevExpress.Reporting.CodeCompletion" NuGet package is now a multi-target package and allows you to use the DevExpress.XtraReports.v20.1.CodeCompletion.dll assembly built for .NET 4.5.2 and .NET Standard 2. You can now activate code completion in ASP.NET Core applications.
      Use the new "DevExpress.WindowsDesktop.Reporting.CodeCompletion" NuGet package to activate the code completion for WinForms .NET Core Desktop apps.
      You also need to install the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis NuGet package and enable script execution as described in Script Execution Mode.
  • All these enhancements are in effect for C# language only.

WPF Reporting

• Report Designer - Cross Tab Control
  • The new Cross Tab report control is now available for those using the WPF End-User Report Designer. End-users can now create cross tab reports using the integrated Report Wizard and modify cross tab options via smart tags.
• Suggested Actions for WPF .NET Core Reporting
  • Both the Document Viewer and Report Designer now support Suggested Actions. This feature gives you easy access to common properties when a control is selected.
  • Suggested Actions requires Visual Studio 2019 Preview v16.8 or higher. .NET Core applications use the new WPF XAML designer by default. For .NET Framework apps, you need to enable the following option in Visual Studio: Tools > Options > Preview Features > New WPF XAML Designer for .NET Framework (requires restart).
• WPF Report Designer - Edit Bindings Dialog
  • The WPF Report Designer now includes the Edit Bindings dialog. This dialog allows you to quickly validate and correct data bindings for report controls.

WinForms & WPF Reporting

• Federation Data Source - Data Flattening
  • The Federation Data Source allows you to flatten (or expand/denormalize) your data source structure via a Transformation option. The inner elements of your data source (such as arrays and lists) can now be transformed into a row set. This option is especially useful for JSON, Microsoft Entity Framework, Object, and XPO Data Sources.
• Select All Columns and Unbound Columns
  • Added two new options for your Join Federation Data Source Queries.
    • Use "*" (all columns) operator to select all data source columns in the Federation Data Source Wizard. Also implemented a new SelectAll method.
    • Create unbound columns using Criteria Language Syntax.
• Document Viewer - Anchoring Report Controls
  • Report controls stay now anchored to the left, right, or both sides of their containers when orientation, margins, or paper kind change in the Print Preview.
  • Use the PreviewOptions.SyncWithReportPageSettings to control this behavior.
• Localization Editor - Culture Codes
  • The Localization Editor now displays the culture code near the language name.