DevExpress Reporting 21.2

Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 Support

• DevExpress installers now ship separate VSIX extensions for Visual Studio 2022 to ensure that all major design-time tools (like the "DevExpress" menu, DevExpress Template Gallery, Toolbox, etc.) are fully functional.

All Platforms

• Visual Studio Report Designer for .NET Apps
  • The Visual Studio-integrated Report Designer ships with the following enhancements:
    • You can now open standard XtraReport class files (*.cs) with the updated Visual Studio Report Designer. DevExpress now offers a unified design time experience for both Microsoft .NET Framework and .NET (.NET Core) apps.
    • Visual Studio 2022 RC3 and Preview 7 support.
    • .NET Core, .NET 5 and .NET 6 RC2 support.
    • Improved startup time.
    • Improved custom type discovery (from your assemblies) for both ObjectDataSource and EFDataSource.
    • With this release, the new out-of-process Report Designer is enabled by default.
    • XPObjectSource support.
    • System.Data.DataSet support.
• PDF Content - Embed PDFs into Report Pages
  • The XRPdfContent report control exposes a new 'GenerateOwnPages' property – a property that manages operation mode. This control can act like a subreport when the property is disabled. With the help of a control placeholder, you can limit the area to scale and embed PDF files directly into your report. This new mode is useful when:
    • You need to embed PDF file content into a report with common headers/footers (headers/footers will be printed on PDF file pages as well).
    • You need to print specific content (pictures, bar codes, page numbers, a report watermark) over the contents of your PDF file.
    • You need to design a pre-printed form and use a PDF file as a watermark.
    • You need to create a report document with an A4 paper kind and include a PDF file with different page dimensions.
• Report Designer - Expression UI Enhancements
  • It is now easier to define expression bindings within the DevExpress Report Designer. New enhancements include:
    • A new f-symbol button is displayed next to the selected control. This button allows you to invoke the Expression Editor instantly.
    • Enhanced the Expression Editor so you can set up expression bindings for various report control properties within the Expression Editor itself. A glowing formula-f symbol indicates that a property has an expression assigned.
    • The Properties Panels (displayed within the End-User and Visual Studio Report Designers) now highlight bindable properties with a formula symbol.
• Report Designer - New Toolbox
  • All runtime Report Designers feature a new two-column toolbox layout (and displays the entire set of report controls). You can expand/collapse the toolbox in the desktop version of DevExpress Reports (WinForms and WPF).
• Parameters - Print Display Values
  • The Expression Editor features a new 'GetDisplayText' function. This function allows you to print selected display values for a lookup parameter.

Blazor Report Viewer

• Search, Document Map and Export Options Panels
  • The Blazor Report Viewer has now reached feature parity with the HTML5 Document Viewer. The following UI elements have been added:
    • Export Options Panel.
    • Search Panel.
    • Document Map with Bookmarks.
• Multi-Page View
  • The Blazor Report Viewer can now display the entire document. You can scroll pages and zoom the view to see multiple pages at once.

Web Reporting

• Report Designer and Document Viewer - Updated User Interface
  • Updated the UI of the web reporting components. UI enhancements include:
  • The two-column toolbox displays the entire set of report controls at once.
  • A new centered toolbar and a separate button that allows you to switch between design view and preview.
  • New vector-based icon set is used across the entire web reporting product line (including Blazor).
  • Enlarged icons for quick actions in the Properties panel make these actions distinguishable for Web Report Designer users.
  • A new f button is displayed next to the selected control and allows you to invoke the Expression Editor right here, right now.
  • A new f indicator within the properties panel reflects a property's data-bound state. This will allow users to determine if a property supports data binding or if it is already bound to a data column.
  • Report Design Analyzer panel.
• Web Report Designer - Cross-Tab
  • The Web Report Designer now ships with a new Cross-Tab report control. This release also includes a Cross-Tab report wizard so you can create cross-tab reports faster and more easily.
• Web Report Designer - Report Design Analyzer
  • Integrated the Report Design Analyzer panel into the Web Report Designer. The Report Design Analyzer was designed to help you isolate, diagnose, and address common report design/layout-related issues.
• Development Mode API for Microsoft ASP.NET Core
  • Use this API to ensure that you use the same version of client side and backend libraries before you deploy your ASP.NET Core applications with reporting components.
• Miscellaneous Enhancements
  • Document Viewer: Use the ShowPrintNotificationDialog property to disable displaying a dialog that allows users to download the PDF file sent to printing.
  • Web Report Designer now displays the skeleton loading screen while opening a report.
  • Filter Editors in Web Report Designer now allow you to search through filtering functions.
  • A striped background is applied to hidden report controls whose Visible property is set to false.

WinForms Reporting

• Document Viewer - DirectX Support
  • The WinForms Document Viewer control now supports DirectX rendering for both UI elements and the report document. The benefits of DirectX rendering are numerous and include:
    • Up to 80% faster document rendering.
    • Smoother scrolling experience.
    • Enhanced responsiveness in multi-page view.
    • Enhanced glyph rendering quality thanks to DirectWrite.
    • Enable the viewer's UseDirectXPaint property to switch from the default GDI+ rendering to DirectX. Use the EnableSmoothScrolling property to change the scrolling mode.
• Miscellaneous Enhancements
  • Report Explorer and Field List panes now integrate instant search.
  • The Filter Editor's expression input area now uses the monospaced Consolas font for consistency with the user interface of the Expression Editor.
  • The intelligent code completion drop-down in the Scrips Tab now displays SVG icons.
  • A striped background is applied to hidden report controls whose Visible property is set to false.

WinForms and WPF Reporting

• Localization - CSV Import/Export
  • You can now export report localization strings to a CSV file and use this file to translate report elements with the help of third-party services. The Localization Editor can now import translations made within a CSV file and apply them to a report.
• Parameters Panel - Customization API
  • You can now create custom layouts of the Parameters panel. New API addresses the following usage scenarios:
    • Reposition labels with parameter description.
    • Insert horizontal separators.
    • Arrange parameter editors into expandable groups.
    • Show/hide parameter editors based on a condition.
    • Enable/disable parameter editors based on a condition.
    • Display parameter editors side-by-side.
• Report Designer - Enhanced Manage Queries Dialog
  • The Manage Queries dialog now integrates the Query Builder and lists all types of queries (SQL queries, custom queries, and stored procedures). You can create, copy (clone), edit, and delete queries.
• SQL and Data Federation Data Sources - Right Outer Join and Full Outer Join
  • The SQL and Data Federation Data Sources now support Right Outer and Full Outer join types.

WinUI Reporting

• New Report Viewer for WinUI
  • DevExpress Reports for WinUI is now available. The WinUI Document Viewer control includes the following features:
    • Preview and Print Reports.
    • Export to PDF, XLS, XLSX, RTF, DOCX, MHT, HTML, TXT, CSV and Image.
    • Zoom and Page Navigation.
    • Parameters Panel.
  • Note: Unlike other DevExpress WinUI components, DevExpress Reports for WinUI is not free. You must own a active DevExpress Reports Subscription (or higher), to use DevExpress Reports within a WinUI project.