New maintenance of the 2014.1 versions of our WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML controls have been released and are now available for download.

Major new features are described below.  See the announcement posts for the detailed list of enhancements and updates, including many items not listed below:

• WPF Controls announcement
• Silverlight Controls announcement
• WinRT/XAML Controls announcement

Auto-Calculation of Tick Mark Intervals

XYDoubleAxis, XYDecimalAxis, and XYDateTimeAxis have been updated to auto-calculate tick mark intervals when they aren't specifically set.  A new Axis Ticks QuickStart has been added that shows off automatic tick mark interval calculation.

Rendering Improvements

We've improved the rendering speed of data point labels, improved the rendering logic of bar charts, and updated data point labels to use a subtle border so that they don't blend in with surrounding chart objects of the same color.

Label Performance Improvements

Data point labels in pointer visibility mode now delay layouts until a pointer event occurs, thereby speeding up initial chart display.

Numeric Type Data Upconversion

XYChart now will automatically upconvert non-Double numeric type data to Double type so it can display.

Child Control Styles Applied to Some Auto-Generated Columns (WPF only)

ThemedDataGrid has been updated to style the child controls of auto-generated ComboBox and CheckBox columns.

Disabling Rafting Window Snap-to-Screen (WPF only)

Added the DockSite.IsRaftingWindowSnapToScreenEnabled, which can be set to false to prevent rafting windows from snapping to the closest screen when being displayed.

More Tabbed MDI Tile Options (WPF only)

Overloads to the TabbedMdiHost.TileHorizontally and TileVertically methods have been added that allow for a maximum number of columns/rows.  This permits additional tile configurations, such as a single row of tiles.

Double-Clicks Cycle Values (WPF only)

Updated double-clicks on property names to cycle through standard values if available.

CommitPendingChanges Helper Method (WPF only)

A PropertyGrid.CommitPendingChanges method has been added that forces any pending LostFocus bindings within property editors to update and ensure the data model is current.

Navigable Symbols Hierarchy Support

Navigable symbols now support hierarchy levels and item indentation.  This feature was added to allow XML element hierarchies to be displayed in the NavigableSymbolSelector.

Numerous Minor Enhancements

Many minor enhancements have been made, which can be seen in the detailed update list.

LL(*) Parser Framework

A Grammar.AddChildFrom overload was added that allows for specification of a desired child index.

Web Languages Add-on

The XML grammar was reimplemented using type-specific AST nodes, thereby reducing overall AST memory usage by an average of 40%.  A XmlNavigableSymbolProvider service was added to the XML language that provides contextual element and attribute display in a NavigableSymbolSelector control.  The XML and HTML editor demos were updated to showcase the new navigable symbol provider features.

Horizontal ListBox Control

The HorizontalListBox control was added, which allows for selection of items that are arranged horizontally with a uniform width.

UniformGrid Control (WinRT / Silverlight only)

The UniformGrid control was added, which is a Panel that can arrange content in a grid where all the cells in the grid have the same size.

RadialSlider Improvements

The RadialSlider class logic for snapping values has been improved.

DelegateCommand (WinRT only)

The DelegateCommand class has been added, which is an implementation of ICommand that uses delegates.

Last year, we created a sample for showing how a hosted Windows Workflow Designer instance could be integrated with Actipro WPF controls within a custom WPF application to provide a very elegant interface for end users. 

We have continued enhancing it and here's what it currently looks like:

Our Docking/MDI product is used to provide the tool window and multiple document interface.  Our SyntaxEditor code editor control, in single line edit mode, is injected as a custom expression editor.  When you combine SyntaxEditor with our .NET Languages Add-on, you are able to have it support powerful IntelliPrompt completion lists.  For instance, in the screenshot above, you can see the itemCount variable is showing up in the completion list since it was declared below.

In recent updates, we've:

• Updated App.OnStartup code to theme native WPF controls using Actipro themes.
• Added a Menu above the designer with options for closing the window, and toggling the tool window visibility.
• Added a custom completion ListBox implementation to work around issue where ListBoxItem would steal focus on click and Workflow Designer thought that it then had to close the expression editor.

When you put it all together, it's very easy to integrate Actipro WPF controls with rehosted Windows Workflow Designer instances in your applications.  It only takes a few minutes to get up and running, and once you do, the result is well worth the time.

Summary

If you rehost the Windows Workflow Designer in your WPF apps and would like our example, please contact us and we'll be happy to share it with you!

For those customers who downloaded either of the prior versions, this update is at the same URL as before.

The 2014.1 versions of our WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML controls have been released and are now available for download.

Major new features are described below.  See the announcement posts for the detailed list of enhancements and updates, including many items not listed below:

• WPF Controls announcement
• Silverlight Controls announcement
• WinRT/XAML Controls announcement

Metro themes have been dramatically refined and updated in this version, mostly in the area of Docking/MDI.  Updated UI includes subtle border lines, new auto-hide tab appearance, title bar gripper decorations, and more.

Metro themes will now not show images on tabs by default, and have changed auto-hide tabs to require a click (instead of hover) to open.  These updates match Visual Studio 2013 behavior.

We've added new events for the auto-hide popup (flyout) that fire when it is opened or closed.  The popup is also now displayed using a faster default animation speed.

When the DockSite.AutoHidePopupOpensOnMouseHover property is false, clicks on auto-hide tabs are required to toggle the auto-hide popup opened and closed.

New built-in property editors for FontFamily, FontStretch, FontStyle, and FontWeight type properties have been added.

New key tip specific theme resources have been added and key tips in Metro themes now render more like Office 2013.

CheckBox-based menu items now are capable of supporting tri-state display.

Delimiter auto-completion logic for insertion and subsequent scope tracking has been greatly improved.  Delimiter indent provider can now optionally support square braces.

Added a new property that allows SyntaxEditor to measure itself based on text contents.  This works great for smaller documents in both multi-line and single-line modes.

Updated single-line mode to support word wrap, which is very useful when combined with the new view line measuring option.

Bookmark indicators now support an IsEnabled state.

LipsumGenerator class added to support generation of "lorem ipsum" placeholder text.

Changed block indent mode to retain whitespace after the caret when Enter is pressed.

.NET Languages Add-on

Numerous improvements to the VB language's handling of identifiers and variable declarations that don't include a type.

Web Languages Add-on

Added IntelliPrompt completion for keywords and symbols to the JavaScript language.

Added a new advanced JSON language that can be used to view/edit JSON files, along with a new related QuickStart.

Updated JavaScript language to support multi-line strings via backslash continuation.

Many improvements to Metro themes (mostly in the Docking/MDI area described above), and improved WindowChrome (and RibbonWindow) rendering when maximized.

WPF/Silverlight Only

Added the RadialSlider control, which is a circular slider that can be used to input any scalar value.

Added the RingSlice control, which renders a portion of a ring at designated angles and radius.

Added the CircularThumb control, which is a thumb gripper with a circular shape and arrow adornment.

Added three samples for new Shared Library controls.

WinRT/XAML Only

Added the AppBarHint control, which is a visual hint to users that app bars exist on a page, and can be tapped to toggle them open. 

Added a related QuickStart.

Sample Browser (WPF/Silverlight only)

Added the ability to toggle description sidebar on some samples.

Yesterday we announced that a new Metro Light theme is coming to our WinForms Controls in the 2014.1 version.  This new theme was modeled after Visual Studio 2013's appearance and helps give your app a sleeker look.

Differences in Auto-Hide Tab Behavior

In the newer Visual Studio versions, auto-hidden tool windows are represented by a UI element that no longer looks like a tab.  Instead, the "tab" contains the tool window's name with a thick line underneath. 

In this screenshot, you can see the mouse hovering over the Events auto-hide tab:

Another change in Visual Studio is that hovering over the tab no longer automatically shows the tool window in a flyout.  Users must now click to display the flyout.

Our DockManager already has a AutoHideShowOnMouseHover property that can be set to false to achieve that sort of behavior.  For the 2014.1 version, we have enhanced it further.  If the property is false, and a tool window's auto-hide tab is clicked while the related tool window flyout is displayed, the flyout will now toggle closed.  This achieves similar functionality to how Visual Studio 2013 works.

Summary

These additions to give your WinForms app a fresh new Metro look will be available in the 2014.1 version of our WinForms Controls.

We've had metro themes in our WPF control products for over a year now and recently announced that they are getting some very nice updates for their 2014.1, with a number of refinements and enhancements.

Today I'd like to announce that a Metro Light theme is coming to our WinForms Controls as well!  This new theme gives your WinForms apps a Visual Studio 2013-like appearance.

Theme Description

First, we've added an additional option to the WindowsColorSchemeType that is called MetroLight and uses a flat color scheme similar to Visual Studio 2013's look.

Next, we created brand new renderers for our Bars, Docking/MDI, and Navigation products that draw the controls using the Metro appearance.  SyntaxEditor and Wizard already look good in Metro Light with their existing renderers.

Here's the Bar Controls demo, showing off the new theme:

Notice how the entire window has a nice flat appearance and subtle touches like the dotted gripper title bars are included.

Summary

This great theme addition to give your WinForms app a fresh new Metro look will be available in the 2014.1 version of our WinForms Controls.