What's New in XAML 2013 v2

There is so much to cover in the 2013 v2 release of Studio for WPF, Silverlight, WinRT XAML and Windows Phone. You can now download this update from the web site. If you're interested in more than one studio, I recommend installing Studio Enterprise. The web installer lets you select which studios you wish to download and install. In this post I highlight 12 of the coolest new features and controls.

Enhanced Touch Support in Studio for WPF and Silverlight

With Windows 8, the tablet and PC have converged into one. Studio for Silverlight now supports dragging gestures (and in some cases pinching as well) when scrolling through content, so now your desktop apps can work great on touch devices too! Check out this video which shows some of the types of touch gestures that work. The following controls have improved handling for drag and pinch gestures, making them more suitable for use in apps developed for touch screens. C1FlexGrid, C1ListBox, C1Maps, C1TreeView, C1ComboBox, C1PropertyGrid, C1Chart, C1DataGrid, C1Book, C1ColorPicker, C1CoverFlow, C1Knob, C1OutlookBar, C1ReportViewer (only selection), C1PdfViewer (only selection), C1RichTextBox (only selection), C1TileView and C1Window (resize and move).

Entity Framework DataSource Control in Studio for WPF and Silverlight

ComponentOne Entity Framework DataSource™ adds ease-of-use and performance enhancements to the ADO.NET Entity Framework and RIA Services. It improves and simplifies data binding with these frameworks by solving common problems related to loading, paging, filtering, and saving data. It also provides performance enhancements such as fast loading and transparent scrolling over large data sets with Virtual Mode. Formerly part of ComponentOne Studio for Entity Framework, all of these features are now available inside Studio for Silverlight. Learn more. Deliver data virtualization with C1FlexGrid and C1DataGrid using the new C1DataSource control. It works like paging on the data layer, but the user can scroll through the data as if all rows were on the client.

C1Chart Enhancements

The C1Chart control now supports a DirectX rendering mode in WinRT XAML. Render up to 500,000 points in seconds with native DirectX rendering. Just set the RenderMode property on your data series to take advantage of this feature. DirectX rendering is supported for line and scatter chart types only. Added new stacked step area chart type to all versions of C1Chart.

// set stacked step area chart type  
chart.ChartType = ChartType.StepAreaStacked;  

New offset and overlap properties for bar and pie charts. Easily adjust the distance between bars, pie slice offset distance and pie chart radius width.

// set bar overlap between series by 25%  
BarColumnOptions.SetSeriesOverlap(chart, 0.25);  

// set pie slice offset relative distance from center to 0.1  
PieOptions.SetOffset(chart, 0.1);  

// set inner radius of pie chart to half of outer radius  
PieOptions.SetInnerRadius(chart, 0.5);  

Hide axis labels much more easily with the new AnnoPosition.None enumeration.

// hide x-axis labels  
chart.View.AxisX.AnnoPosition =  AnnoPostion.None;  

More legend positioning options. Plus, now you can have the legend overlap the plot area by setting the OverlapChart property.

// put legend to the top right  
legend.Position = LegendPosition.TopRight.  

// allow legend to overlap chart  
legend.OverlapChart = true;  

Cosmopolitan Dark Theme in Silverlight and WPF

Based off the latest modern UI styles, now you can add this dark version of our Cosmopolitan theme in your Silverlight and WPF projects. Apply this modern theme to your ComponentOne controls and even standard controls in your application. This brings the total number of themes to 14. See the full list of available themes and learn how to apply themes.

Book Control in WinRT XAML

Present your UI elements as if they were pages in a real book or magazine with ComponentOne Book™ for WinRT XAML. The C1Book control provides an interactive and unique way to visualize items, complete with gesture support and smooth, page-turning animations. Learn more. Also, Silverlight and WPF users can now display one page at a time with page-turning animation with the new PageMode property.

RadialMenu Control in WinRT XAML

Improve user experience and save on screen real estate with ComponentOne RadialMenu™ for WinRT XAML. Modeled after popular Microsoft apps, the C1RadialMenu control gives you a unique and touch-friendly alternative to the traditional context menu. When opened or closed, the C1RadialMenu control spins out smoothly like a pin-wheel, and displays nested menu items around a central button. Learn more.

RichTextBox Control in WinRT

You can now use the C1RadialMenu control along with C1RichTextBox to provide complete RTF editing. Display and edit formatted text as HTML documents with ComponentOne RichTextBox™ for WinRT XAML (Beta). The C1RichTextBox control supports basic HTML formatting, CSS, lists, hyperlinks, tables, images, and more. Use the control to display HTML content from the Web or use it as a rich text editor. Learn more.

ProgressBar Control in Silverlight

New C1ProgressBar control modeled after the native progress indicators used on Windows 8 and Windows phone to provide a modern "loading" experience. Learn more.

C1PdfViewer Enhancements in All Platforms

• Document Info: Access document information like author and title from the new DocumentInfo property.
• Bookmarks: Obtain a list of bookmarks found within any PDF document and navigate to them. Internal bookmark links also navigate when the user clicks them. Use the Bookmarks property and GoToBookmark method to use this new feature.
• Get Single Page: You can now obtain any single arbitrary page as a FrameworkElement using the new GetPage method. This is useful if you are using the C1PdfViewer control in custom PDF scenarios.
• Zoom At: You can zoom in to a specific screen coordinate using the new ZoomAt method.

New OrgChart Control in WinRT XAML

Create hierarchical diagrams that show the structure and relationships of your data. ComponentOne OrgChart™ for WinRT XAML leverages the rich data binding mechanisms of the platform to provide a flexible, yet simple control. The C1OrgChart control has the same API as the Silverlight and WPF version. Learn more.

FlexGrid Enhancements

Directly output your FlexGrid UI to any printer in WinRT. The C1FlexGrid control provides a GetPageImages method that breaks up the grid into a list of Visual Elements representing each page in a document which allows for printing in WinRT with use of a PrintDocument. Rows are never cut in half on page breaks, and each page shows full column headers for best readability.

Display Animated GIFs in Windows Store Apps

Render GIF and animated GIF images. Put powerful imaging capabilities at your fingertips with ComponentOne Imaging™ for WinRT XAML. Quickly load and edit images (PNG and JPEG) and save them back, or display animated GIFs. Learn more.