Free Controls on the Web

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ASP.NET VERSIONS: 1.0 | 1.1

 

Free Controls on the Web

Copious Complimentary Controls Abound on the Internet If You Know Where to Look

 

By Steve C. Orr

 

There are hundreds of high-quality third-party controls out there that you can use to make development easier. Most of the best ones cost a significant amount of money (although they often are worth it). However, there are some exceptions to the rule yes, there are fine controls available that are completely free of charge.

 

Why are they free? The reasons vary. In many cases, the developers are simply generous individuals. In other cases, a company may give away some controls for free to get you interested in other products they sell. No matter what the reasons are, you benefit. To that end, I ve compiled a list of free controls for your perusal and experimentation.

 

Menus & Navigation

A good menu/navigation system is something that every Web site of significant size needs and yet, amazingly, there isn t any such control included with ASP.NET. Therefore, most Web developers feel forced to build their own, reinventing functionality that has already been built countless times before. You can take a more efficient approach by using one of the fine menu controls available on the Internet. Following is a sampling of a few of the free ones from which to choose.

 

skmMenu is a standard-looking open-source dropdown menu that would generally be placed near the top of your page. You can configure colors, fonts, and sub-menus via code or bind to an XML file that holds this data. It has thorough documentation online and off and plenty of code samples.

http://skmmenu.com/menu/

 

Titanium Soft provides a free dropdown menu control, as well. Although the documentation is not as thorough as skmMenu, the menus appear to be slightly more polished visually, so they might be worth the extra experimentation. The source code is also available for free download, so you can beef up the functionality in case it doesn t initially meet your needs.

http://www.titaniumsoft.net/tsweblib.aspx

 

Timothy Humphrey has been generous enough to provide a fairly deluxe dropdown menu too, with detailed documentation and examples available to help you get ramped up quickly. It s configurable via XML files, and is available free of charge through a standard GNU general public license. He also provides some other interesting controls, such as a tab control and tree control.

http://timothy.humphrey.name/thwc/

 

Dommelen Slide Menu is a nice option if you want a menu on the side of your Web site instead of the top. It makes efficient use of space, while providing a familiar and friendly user interface. The only downside is the sparse documentation. There also is an interesting slide menu bar available for free.

http://At-Krays.Net/csharp.html

 

obout Inc. s Slide Menu presents a user interface similar to the Dommelen Slide Menu, and ups the ante by providing plenty of online documentation and intuitive sample code that demonstrates the various ways the menu can be customized. Although the free basic version appears to be quite functional, there is a Pro version available for purchase that provides extra functionality, such as binding to an XML file.

http://www.obout.com/sm3/basic.aspx

 

Figure 1: obout provides a rich Slide Menu control free of charge that you can use to implement navigation for your Web site.

 

Grid Controls

I don t mean to put down the standard ASP.NET DataGrid control it is, after all, light years ahead of any grid control that Web developers had available to them in the past. However, there is room for improvement. For starters, the standard DataGrid is very server-based, requiring postbacks to perform even the most basic functions. This makes the performance a lot weaker than it could be if the functionality were moved to the client side. Here are a couple of free grid controls that move sorting and paging to the client side, where it (arguably) should be for optimal performance in most situations.

 

The DataIslandGrid Control by Reflection IT is a superb example of what is available for developers. It serializes the data to XML and uses little-known (IE 5+) DHTML functionality to bind on the client side. Advanced JavaScript and CSS functions are also leveraged to make all the magic possible. The source code is freely available, too, as well as thorough documentation so you can dig in and fully understand how it all works.

http://www.reflectionit.nl/DataIsland.aspx

 

The XGrid control by Carlos Aguilar Mares is another fine example of client-side grid functionality implemented as an Internet Explorer Behavior. It supports XML islands, row selection, and reloading the grid content without having to reload the rest of the page. It s all handled automatically; you don t need to know anything about XML or client-side code. The source code is freely available, and documentation and code samples are plentiful.

http://www.carlosag.net/Tools/XGrid

 

The SuperDataGrid by Superexperts shies away from the client-side functionality that is so tightly bound to Internet Explorer, and moves back toward the more widely compatible server-side functionality. It extends the standard ASP.NET DataGrid control and adds built-in functionality for paging, sorting, editing, and caching so you don t have to dirty your hands with such matters. This quality control was created by Stephen Walther, renowned author of the highly recommended book ASP.NET Unleashed.

http://superexpert.com/default.aspx?id=427

 

Fancy Textboxes

I think it s fair to say that every Web site contains at least one textbox. The HTML textbox has been a standard for a long time, and it does its job quite well. Its only flaw is that it is just so plain. It can t display any fancy HTML formatting like people have come to expect from Windows applications. It provides no easy way for users to enter rich text, HTML content, or to restrict the content that users can enter. There are textboxes out there that will do these things, and more and they are merely a download away.

 

FreeTextBox by John Dyer is compatible with Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers. The user interface is nearly identical to Microsoft Word, so your users should find it to be quite familiar and intuitive. It s also nearly as functional as Microsoft Word, providing a truly rich environment for users to enter nicely formatted documents.

http://www.freetextbox.com

 

Figure 2: FreeTextBox allows your users to enter richly formatted documentation and is ideal for content management systems.

 

htmlArea is another great WYSIWYG text editing control available to allow users rich text entry. InteractiveTools.com has generously provided this control free of charge under a simple BSD open-source license. Although they don t provide support for the control, they do provide a free forum on their Web site that appears to be full of plenty of answers to common questions, as well as thorough online documentation. If you have the luxury of dictating that your users have Internet Explorer 5.0 or above, then this is an easy to use control that will likely be a valuable resource in your toolbox.

http://www.htmlarea.com

 

Rich Text Editor by Export Technologies is another fine example of a rich textbox Web control that is compatible with Internet Explorer. The control, documentation, and sample code are available for free; however, the source code is not. There are several styles available programmatically and declaratively that let you customize the look and feel of the control.

http://www.exporttechnologies.com/softwareDownloads.asp

 

Input Mask Control by Assisted Solutions is a great solution for limiting user input to certain types of values. From the user s perspective it works similarly to the classic VB6 masked edit control, so many users will find it to be quite familiar. Using Input Mask Control you can limit input to phone numbers, Social Security Numbers, ZIP codes, dates, times, and even a Canadian Social Insurance Number. Although the control is very simple to use, its functionality is also fairly limited. The masks are preset, so you can t enter your own customized masked formats, and the source code doesn t appear to be available, so you can t add them manually either.

http://www.assistedsolutions.com/components/InputMask.aspx

 

15 Seconds provides VB.NET source code for a masked edit control that you can customize to your heart s content. The associated article provides all you need to know about the control and how to add your own masks.

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/030506.htm

 

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Alex Kwok has been gracious enough to provide a free component for handling FTP transfers because the current implementation of .NET has a mysterious hole where this functionality should be. This FTP client appears to have all the basic functionality you d expect, such as uploading and downloading files, listing directories, and deleting and renaming files. A healthy dose of sample code is also available.

http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/dotnetftp.asp

 

GotDotNet.com provides another great example of an FTP client component. It allows you to upload, download, manage directories, and perform most other basic file operations. The VB.NET source code is freely available and well written. Sample code for using the control is also included in the download. An online forum lists many discussion topics about the component in case you d like to learn more about the inner workings and how to extend it.

http://www.gotdotnet.com/Community/UserSamples/Details.aspx?SampleGuid=DD5E4A38-7F5B-45E0-9C36-64B987947C20

 

Polls & Voting

Everybody likes to have the freedom to express their opinion. Online polls can be a fun reason for users to regularly return to your Web site. Online polls can also provide valuable feedback about the way your users think and feel. This information can then be used to mold your site into something they like even better. Creating a basic voting control isn t difficult, but creating a truly flexible and reusable control with a solid design takes more time than most developers have available. So save your valuable time and use one of these fine controls instead.

 

NetPolls from Votations.com is a flexible voting control that asks only that you register with their Web site. You can configure an unlimited number of questions in the form of radio buttons, checkboxes, and/or dropdown lists. It sports a fully customizable layout, and can be database driven. It s easy to get started with the control, and design time support is superb. The n-tier architecture is completely documented online.

http://www.votations.com/netpolls/

 

Figure 3: Votation s NetPolls control is flexible, easy to use, database driven, and looks sharp.

 

Web wizard Scott Mitchell created a Content Rater control that will gather valuable feedback from users and faithfully store this information in a SQL Server database. The free C# source code is explained in detail, so you can easily extend this user control in case its already impressive functionality isn t enough to satisfy your requirements. You might start by converting it to a custom control so it will be more easily reusable across projects.

http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/042104-1.aspx

 

Figure 4: Scott Mitchell s Content Rater control can be a useful addition to nearly any kind of Web site.

 

Beloved MessageBox

Windows Forms programmers have it so easy. With a single line of code they can pop up a dynamically configured message box any time they feel like it. As you likely know, such a simple feature isn t nearly so easy for us Web developers. To achieve similar functionality, we ve got to deal with JavaScript, postbacks, and other related headaches. That is, unless you use one of these free controls.

 

Saravana Kumar has provided a nice, basic custom Web control that should take care of most MessageBox needs. You can display a basic alert message with an OK button, or you can display a confirmation message with OK and Cancel buttons. You can display the message when the form loads in the browser, or when the user hits the Submit button. You can also choose to execute custom client-side scripts upon user confirmation.

http://www.microsoft.com/india/msdn/articles/119.aspx

 

Mono Software is generous enough to provide a free Dialog component that claims to free you from the nightmare of ever-changing client-side scripts and bad-looking dialog boxes. Judging by the industry standard-looking dialog boxes that are far more flexible than anything you ll be able to display with basic JavaScript, the claim seems to be true. You can also display InputBoxes, a long-time friend of classic VB developers. In addition, the messages can be set to automatically display upon various server-side events.

http://www.mono-software.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=244&tabindex=4

 

Figure 5: Mono Software s Dialog component provides a way to display standard-looking dialog boxes that are flexible and easy to use.

 

Fancy Buttons & Image Generation

Image buttons can really add pizzazz to a Web site, but the maintenance can be a real pain. Every time you add a new page you need new buttons, and creating them can get time-consuming and tedious. Put an end to this misery and keep the pizzazz by using one of the following controls.

 

Art Buttons from Progressive Consulting Technologies is an intriguing component that lets you dynamically create beautiful image buttons of various colors and styles. The final output is quite attractive, although slightly inconsistent from my testing. Theme packs are available for free download to expand the button style choices. Even though the documentation is sparse, there is some sample code with which you can play. I d say this component is worth taking a look at if you d like to save some time with your image-button generation.

http://artforms.progressivex.com/Downloads.htm

 

Gavin Joyce released an ImageLabel control that will take any text and convert it to an attractive-looking image. You can control all kinds of properties, such as fonts, colors, sizes, borders, and shadows. The results look attractive and professional and are a fine addition to any Web site. The control is free, and the source code for it is available for US$40. An available online forum provides support.

http://www.gavinjoyce.com/components/imagelabel/

 

Once again, Web wizard Scott Mitchell comes through for us and provides another fine component that acts as a Rounded Corners Panel control. You d think putting rounded corners on a box would be a relatively easy thing to accomplish in ASP.NET, but it wasn t until this Web control came along. The code to accomplish this is complex, but it is available to you for free and it s explained well (with lots of code samples). There are quite a few options available for adjusting the look and feel of the panel, including headers, borders, colors and fonts.

http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/081104-1.aspx

 

Can t Be Done Software (now part of Aspose Software) has provided a dazzling library of Web Effects that you can add to your Web site to give it real flair. Instead of a static, boring background, you can create animated backgrounds that look more like screensavers than wallpaper. Additionally, you can create dazzling cursor animations, with stars and stripes circling around the mouse cursor, and other effects that are better seen than described. I encourage you to view the live demos on their Web site to see what I m talking about.

http://www.cantbedone.com/Default.aspx?REDIR=frmWebEffects.aspx

 

Want to add a little Flash to your page? Well, Flashlight by NetBrick Inc. provides a quick and easy way to include Flash objects in your Web page, as well as any other component that uses the standard