ComponentOne Studio Enterprise 2006 v2

asp:review

ComponentOne Studio Enterprise 2006 v2

Now Activated with AJAXPower

By Mike Riley

One of the most popular component suites for the MicrosoftWindows platform has been updated to support several new features in its keywidgets. Longtime asp.netPRO readersmay recall BrianNoyes review of ComponentOne s suite several years ago. Although theproduct has incrementally improved since then, it hasn t had a breakout featureuntil this latest release. With the adoption of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML(AJAX) technology for its ASP.NET components, Studio has become interestingagain for .NET Web developers.

Figure 1: The suite includes aStudio Live Examples program that highlights the components in action.

This release also sports new enhancements in its .NETcomponents for Mobile and WindowsForms development, such as the ability to disable automatic data fetching inthe ADO.NET DataExtender, as well as the addition to the Reports for .NETselection of new fields, an export filter, and printer resolution properties. Full508 compliance support for the company s FlexGrid, List, and TrueGrid .NETproducts has been added, as well. The suite has also been upgraded to be fully.NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 compliant, ensuring that it continues to be astandard fixture in a developer s Visual Studio toolbox.

AJAX-enabled

ComponentOne has imbued their Web server-side controls,including their WebGrid, WebReports, WebTreeView, WebTabStrip, and WebTopicBarwidgets, with the power of AJAX. Themost impressive demonstration of this technology in action is when working withthe WebGrid control. Previous users of the WebGrid component will no doubtrecall the new page refresh each time an outline node icon was clicked toexpand a selection. While this wasn t too distracting when working with smalldata sets, it quickly became a hassle when dealing with multi-nested datarelationships. Using the new AJAX-enabled WebGrid, those erratic starts andstops are no longer a problem the experience is nearly analogous to workingwith the rich-client FlexGrid .NET Windows Form component. Sure, there stillpersists a slight delay between roundtrip data fetches, but by removing theabrupt page reloads, WebGrid really breaks the mold of how an HTML data gridbehaves. This stunning improvement will no doubt raise UI expectations amongboth .NET-based and other Web-oriented languages competing in the Web 2.0 space.

Figure 2: In addition to ASP.NET andWindows Forms components, the suite includes three Mobile.NET controls.

Seeing the effect work the first time was initiallyexciting (predominantly due to the realization that any .NET developer couldinstantly become a slick AJAXmagician without even knowing how the magic worked), but I must admit Isecretly hoped that ComponentOne was going to completely redefine the way itsdatabase-driven components would look and operate. Visually, it was a flashbackto more than a decade ago when this UI was so groundbreaking during the VisualBasic 4.x days. It took that many years to recreate the user experience in a Webbrowser? There must have been some UI leaps made since then. Here s a conceptthat might work after Windows Vista ships. Turn the grid into a 3D cube that,when expanded via the outline node, allows data related to that row to be flippedback and forth like forms in a file cabinet maybe even using the arrow keysand/or mouse wheel to scroll back and forth between the records. How about someeye candy options like zoom in/out of reports, drag/drop of plain text, andExcel files on top of the grid, which can then parse and auto-populate the gridelements based on that event?

Figure 3: The suite throws in aspell checking add-in that can catch static text spelling errors before the enduser has a chance to do so.

Part of the excitement around AJAXis the whole notion that it brings a new paradigm of manipulating Web pageelements to end users in a way that is fun and intuitive. Perhaps in the nextmajor release, ComponentOne can push past the current data grid expectation andblow developers away with a cool, productive new way to represent andmanipulate data views.

What Else Is New?

In what seems to have been a response to ComponentOne scompetitors, the company now includes a Studio Live Examples application thatcorrals working demonstrations of the suite s offerings in an easy-to-navigateinterface. ASP.NET and Windows Forms controls are exhibited, along with thesurprisingly small amount of code required to render such useful displays ofcontent. The Documentation tab provides the virtual book binding to theComponentOne Doc-to-Help-authored online documentation for the selectedcontrol; however, I still prefer using the integrated help in Visual Studio tolearn how to manipulate the suite s offerings.

Figure 4: The SmartDesigner dialog boxfor the WebChart provides easy design-time editing of the component s visualappearance.

While the release focuses predominantly on theAJAX-enabled ASP.NET controls, a few minor tweaks have been made to the otherpieces of the package. The new SmartDesigners for the FlexGrid, Preview, andList components help expedite look and feel settings, though the integrationstill felt slightly bolted on and disjointed. Dialog boxes for these settingswere certainly functional, but not very attractive. Hardboiled programmersmight not care, but in today s environment of open source, free components, thecommercial experience should be as effortless and attractive as possible.

Besides a handful of other minor tweaks, and the inclusionof SmartDesigners for the visual elements, few (if any) other significantenhancements were made to the suite since the previous release. Nevertheless,on the whole, the package offers a cornucopia of widgets for a .NET developerto have ready for nearly instant implementation. The AJAX-enabled componentscan quickly turn a mediocre ASP.NET data-driven Web site into a perceptivelyfaster and more intuitive Web user experience. Readers can view live onlinedemos of these components in action at http://www.componentone.com/products.aspx?ItemType=1&TabTypeID=1&PanelIndex=1&TabMapID=284&Itemid=66&Tabid=400&SubCategoryTypeID=0.

MikeRiley is anadvanced computing professional specializing in emerging technologies and newdevelopment trends. He also is a contributing editor for asp.netPRO. Readers may contact Mike at mailto:[email protected].

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.componentone.com

Price:US$999.99