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What's New in FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms 3
FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms introduces these new features available in the latest version of the product.
More Display and Interaction Options
You can set up the display to allow Outlook-style grouping of rows. For large amounts of data, this is helpful to display the data in the order the user needs. The user selects columns by which to sort and the component then organizes and displays the data in a hierarchy with rows organized accordingly. To select a column by which to group and display that data, either double-click on the header of that column or click and drag that column into the grouping bar at the top of the page.
You can provide grouping to allow users to sort the data with multiple levels of groups by dragging additional column headers into the grouping area. You can set up the display so that the items are shown initially all expanded or all collapsed when grouping is performed. You can set the colors and other formatting of both the hierarchy names and the data in the rows when grouping is performed.
We have found ways to improve performance that is most obvious when saving or loading files, working with import and export, and when working with large spreadsheets.
- New layer that allows controls to be hosted on the sheets.
You can place controls on a sheet (not just on the FpSpread component but on a specific sheet) to provide more interaction with the user. Anything that can be derived from the Control class in the .NET framework can be hosted on a sheet in FarPoint Spread. The child control is placed on a separate layer, the controls layer. This is separate from the cells of the data area of the sheet and is separate from the shapes and other graphical elements on the drawing layer.
- Right-to-Left support for viewports, columns, rows, the tab strip, and other areas.
You can handle support for right-to-left layouts in the FarPoint Spread component to support applications where the language is written from right to left, such as Hebrew, Arabic, or Farsi, so the user interface would be displayed naturally with right-to-left orientation. Currently these aspects of the layout are changed with the right-to-left support: column resizing on right instead of left, direction attribute in HTML export, filter and sort indicators, order of columns, popup and sticky notes and cell note indicators, scroll bars, shapes, sheet name tabs, and viewport columns.
- Event handling to allow custom painting for the sheet tab and gray area.
- Annotation mode for free-hand drawing
You can allow free-hand drawing on top of the spreadsheet using the annotation mode. Annotation mode allows the user to draw in free-hand mode on the shapes layer and to save the annotation on the sheet as a shape. Use StartAnnotationMode and StopAnnotationMode to turn on and off the ability of the user to draw on the drawing layer and trigger actions with corresponding events, AnnotationModeStarting and AnnotationModeEnding. You can also customize what occurs using the OnAnnotationModeStarting and OnAnnotationModeEnding methods.
- Animated (marquee) focus border
You can customize the focus indicator for the active cell by using the FocusRenderer property of the FarPoint Spread component (which uses the IFocusIndicatorRenderer interface). For animated indicators, you can use the IAnimatedFocusRenderer interface.
- Renderer for gradient in header cells
You can change the appearance of header cells by adding a color gradient. You can have a gradient from one color to another color.
- HitTest information for locating cursor (for accessibility compliance)
You can use the HitTest method for finding the location of the cursor (pointer) on the spreadsheet component to help with development of applications where accessibility issues are concerned. Whether you are meeting accessibility standards and displaying information for the user based on cursor location, or want to provide additional interactivity based on cursor location, you can use this capability to customize the display and user interaction. You can find whether the cursor is over a part of the header, the tab strip, or a particular viewport of the data area.
- More Spread Designer enhancements
- New default action maps (extend, move, or scroll) based on screen coordinates
More Cell Type Features
- New data-bindable multiple-column combo box cell
You can create a combo box cell with multiple columns in the drop-down list. You can provide a drop-down list as well as an editable area allowing the user to type in values as well as choosing from a displayed list. You specify the list of items, the number that is displayed at any time, and whether the cell is editable by the user. The multiple column of the combo box can be data bound.
- Automatic completion for combo box cells
Available in the VS2005 version of the product, you can customize the automatic completion feature in combo box cells.
You can use a list box cell to display a list -- allowing the user to select from the displayed list. You can specify the list of items, whether to include icons to appear along with text, the number that is displayed at any time, and other aspects of the display
- Gradient mode for button cells
- Gradient style for progress indicator cells
- Picture style for progress indicator cells
New Undo/Redo Actions
With the undo/redo feature, you can add capability to your application to undo various actions in the spreadsheet performed by your end user. You make use of the UndoAction class and several specific classes that correspond with those various user actions. There is also a manager class that keeps track of the end user actions that can be undone and re-done.
- Cell editing undo/redo
- Clipboard operations undo/redo
- Row or column resizing undo/redo
More File Export Options
- New save sheet to HTML table
You can save an individual sheet or a range of cells in a sheet to an HTML table in a file or stream if you need to display the sheet in a Web browser. This does not save the entire spreadsheet, only an individual sheet. This saves as much of the formatting information or presentation-related settings as possible, depending on whether that information can be translated to an HTML element or attribute.
- New save spreadsheet data to simple XML
You can save the data in the spreadsheet (on an individual sheet) to an XML file or stream if you need to process the data further and want the data in a structured format.
More Formula Capabilities
- More formula functions bringing the total to 320 different functions
- GoalSeek capability
- ROW, COLUMN functions
- VALUE function
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