Gauge Controls

CircularGauge Control

CircularGauge can be used to recreate everything from analog clocks to speedometers, seen in everyday life. Using multiple pointers, such as needles, or scales you can present several data points all from a single gauge control.

LinearGauge Control

LinearGauge can be used to recreate everything from rolling scales to thermometers. Orient the gauge either horizontally or vertically and everything will automatically adjust (with the exception of embedded controls).

DigitalGauge Control

DigitalGauge can be used to recreate segmented led displays, such as odometers in modern cars.

ToggleSwitch Control

The ToggleSwitch control works much like the native WPF ToggleButton, but looks like a real-life switch. The switch is fully animated and customizable, with two (circular and flat) styles from whch to choose.

LED Control

The LED control is great for presenting simple state (on, off, blinking) information to the end-user. The light is fully animated and customizable, with options for the light shape and colors.

Circular / Linear Gauge Features

Scales and Tick-Sets

Both the CircularGauge and LinearGauge support any number of scales which control the placement of the gauge elements, such as tick marks and pointers. In turn, any number of tick-sets can be specified when control value ranges and intervals, such as where major ticks should be rendered.

Ranges

To highlight areas of interest, ranges can be added with identifying colors. For example, a range with a dark red background can be added to a tachometer that encompasses 6,000 to 10,000 rpms. Ranges are supported by both CircularGauge and LinearGauge and can quickly convey information to the user.

Pointers

CircularGauge supports four distinct pointer types, while LinearGauge supports two different types. Any number of pointers can be included in a single gauge, which can present different value (either static or live). All pointers support smooth animation of value changes, providing for a more visually appealing effect.

Avg/Min/Max Converters

Using WPF data-binding, the average, maximum, and minimum values can be shown using value converters provided. The running average for all values can be calculated using only a few bytes of memory, or you can limit the number of values used for caculation.

Logarithmic Scales

The CircularGauge and LinearGauge support logarithmic scales with a configurable base. Logarithmic scales can be useful when more sensitivity is needs for lower values, since smaller values are spaced further apart.

Digital Gauge Features

Character Display

Several ASCII characters and all numbers can be displayed using 7 or 14 segments, a special trapezoid version with 7 segments, or dot matrix layouts. Certain characters, such as period and colon, are rendered in the space between characters. Italic characters can be replicated using built-in skew transform support.

Refresh Rate

By default, value changes are immediately reflected in the control's diplay. If there are several updates per second, it becomes difficult to read the values as they flash by. Increasing the refresh rate restricts the number of display updates and gives the user a chance to read the values as they change.

Scrolling Text

The DigitalGauge can now scroll the text displayed to the left or right using a configurable interval. This allows long text to be presented to the end-user using a marquee effect.

General Features

Customizable Look

Numerous options are available to change the look of the gauge and the associated elements. Choose your favorite frame and colors to use in the background of your gauge, or render your own. The same goes for most of the other elements.

Glass Effect and Frames

All the gauge controls allow more customization of the frame rendered. The frame rim is now independent of the frame background, which allows you to mix and match the various effects supported by each. In addition, a glass effect available that produces a more stunning look.

Embedding Controls

Any UIElement-derived object can be embedded and precisely positioned inside any of the three gauge controls, and this includes other gauge controls. For example, a DigitalGauge can be embedded inside a CircularGauge and, using WPF data-binding, can show a textual representation of the current value.

Dynamic Sizing

The gauges now support being resized dynamically, so that the inner elements resize proportionally. This is accomplished by specifying percentage-based sizes, but fixed-based sizes can still be used if desired.

Vector Rendering

Using the WPF rendering engine and precisely placed geometries, the gauge controls can scale to any size without losing resolution.

Right-to-left and Localization

All Gauge UI supports right-to-left layouts and all text in the user interface may be localized to other languages.

XBAP Support

Gauge fully supports use in XBAPs (browser applications). We have specifically engineered it to operate within the bounds of the XBAP security sandbox.

Extensive Documentation and Samples

Actipro has spent a lot of time refining the design of Gauge to take advantage of WPF best practices. We realize that a good product is only part of the equation though and have also worked very hard to write detailed documentation on the product. In addition to that, Gauge ships with the full source for many QuickStart examples that each focus on learning a specific feature.

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