Infragistics Document Export Engine™ - NEW FOR ASP.NET !

Make your ASP.NET applications ready to collaborate across the office or the enterprise with the support of the Infragistics Document Export Engine, Infragistics.Documents, a complete class library for writing Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents. This library includes an intuitive interface-driven document object model (DOM) that guides you along as you compose layout elements into reports of any complexity and structure. Now your ASP.NET applications can get on the glidepath to satisfying the most critical-eyed of managers with printable, downloadable, graphically-rich documents that are polished to impress and inform.

Export to Portable Document Format

Create PDF documents easily using the Infragistics Document Export Engine, and then you can share these document files worldwide with the millions of users who can read the ubiquitous Adobe® PDF format. There is no need to deal with the complex file format issues necessary to write PDF files as the Infragistics Document Export Engine abstracts that all away beneath its object-oriented and interface-driven veneer. Your code need concentrate simply on the structure and graphical formatting that you want for the documents you are going to publish.

Some of the highly demanded features your users can take advantage of in their exported PDF documents are:

• Tables - Layout tables for grid-like presentation of information.
• Graphics - Add shapes, style borders and embed images into documents.
• Formatting - Full control over sectioning, margins, gaps and padding.
• Digital Signatures - Enable document consumers to verify the authenticity of its author and the integrity of its contents.
• Properties - Set metadata for the author, title, subject, copyright and other information useful for the search and classification of documents.

Export to XML Paper Specification

The new XML Paper Specification (XPS) introduced by Microsoft® has grown in acceptance with its inclusion as one of the open file formats in Microsoft's Office 2007 business productivity suite. Whenever your users disconnect from the network, or need material produced by your Web application to become mobile in the easily exchanged files of this open file format, the Infragistics Document Export Engine DOM provides you an easy way to generate high-quality XPS documents on-the-fly that they can download.

WebGridDocumentExporter™ – NEW !

WebGrid™ never looked this good now that the new release of the WebGridDocumentExporter™ control makes it easy to employ the Infragistics Document Export Engine to export WebGrid into reports and documents that your Web application users can download. The WebGridDocumentExporter works similarly to the existing WebGridExcelExporter™ control, so you would drag it onto your WebForm and add a Button that triggers an export by calling it's Export method.

By default, the PDF file generated from the WebGrid control will be written into the Page's Response stream to the exclusion of everything else so it can be downloaded by the browser. There are overloaded Export methods that allow you to supply a custom output stream, modify the format of the document from PDF to XPS, or export into an existing Report (a separate Section will be created to contain the WebGrid) or a specific, initially empty Section created using the Infragistics Document Export Engine DOM.

The exported PDF or XPS representation of the WebGrid is high-fidelity with the same filtering and sorting applied as was applied to the original WebGrid by the user, any group-by rows or columns moved will appear as they were in the original WebGrid, and child rows appear automatically expanded. Formatted cell values render in the document as specified for columns with editors, value lists or WebCombo™ boxes. An exported WebGrid will also include CSS styles that can be translated into report styles where possible, including those styles applied programmatically or using the Application Styling Framework™, but not including CSS classes specified by way of external style sheets.

Custom-tailor as much or as little of the WebGrid as you need during the export process with events which fire before and after the export is performed (for example, to apply filter conditions to the grid data), as well as before and after each row and cell are exported (allowing you to cancel or apply special formatting at an individual cell-by-cell level). 

Infragistics Excel Library – Enhanced for ASP.NET

With so much information outside of the reach of your ASP.NET applications, you will find the new enhancements to the Infragistics.Excel code library in NetAdvantage for ASP.NET 2007 Volume 3 empowering you to collaborate and share information more widely than before. This release of the Infragistics.Excel code library comes with a substantially improved Excel parser, and a greatly supplemented object model that exposes information to you about the Workbook, its Worksheets, and Worksheet contents.

Import Excel Workbooks

Now you can import information stored in Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet files (.XLS) into your ASP.NET applicationsm using the new Excel Object Model (EOM). Programmatically import information from one or several Infragistics Worksheet objects into your WebGrid™ application. When your users need to extract that information back into Excel, you can use the WebGridExcelExporter™ control to export them back into an Excel Workbook your users can take with them or share with others.

Tap the repository of information in the workbooks created by your users as a new source of data by using the classes of the Infragistics Excel library to read and map data values contained in an Excel Workbook to your own business domain objects.

Let users work disconnected with data they have exported to Excel format using the WebGridExcelExporter control in any of a wide range of spreadsheet programs which read and write this popular file format. Then let them upload their files (uploads must be handled separately by your application) back to your ASP.NET application so their changes can be reincorporated into a WebGrid.

You'll find new support in the Infragistics Excel class library for:

• Formulas
• Images
• Formatted Strings
• Frozen Panes
• Document Properties

Export More Than Ever Before

The enhanced Infragistics Excel class library allows you to export more of the WebGrid than was ever before possible. Now you can add images to the exported Worksheet containing your WebGrid's data, freeze or unfreeze panes to simulate fixed column headers, associate Excel formulas with cells in the Worksheet (note: UltraCalc formulas for the WebCalcManager™ are not converted into Excel formulas), and customize settings for how the Workbook appears to users when it is opened in Excel using Window, Display and Print Options that mirror those settings users can set from within the Excel application themselves. For example, you can use the Print Options to preinitialize an exported Excel spreadsheet file (.XLS) so that when it is printed by a user from within Excel, it automatically defaults to having Landscape orientation and is scaled to fit.

WebChart™ – Enhanced

NetAdvantage for ASP.NET 2007 Volume 3 adds a new chart type -- the Histogram chart -- and several new features to the WebChart control that will enhance the data visualization capabilities of your Web applications.

New Chart Type - HistogramChart

Histogram is a new kind of column (or line) chart geared towards producing graphs where the X-Axis represents a number of discrete ranges (for example, adults aged 25-34) and the Y-Axis represent a total number of occurrences falling into each range. The ranges with the highest incidence of occurrences end up producing the tallest columns, clearly depicting for your users that there is a higher probability rate among those in the sample space who fall into that range.

You can data bind a histogram chart to a DataSet, DataTable or multi-dimensional numeric arrays (use the ColumnIndex property on HistogramChart to identify a particular column by its zero-based integer index), and numeric value lists. The data values depicted by a histogram represent the count of occurrences within a corresponding "range" (appearing as an axis label) which gives it countless applications when creating probability graphs based on actual incidences (for example, mortality charts in actuarial applications that show the mortality rate experienced by people in a given underwriting class based on their age range).

A histogram chart can be shown using either columns or as a line (for example, a normal distribution curve), and you can set Appearance properties similar to those that you can set on column chart types (e.g., ColumnSpacing to control how densely packed the columns appear) and line chart types (e.g., DrawStyle to control the line style used).

Export Charts to PDF/XPS

WebChart adds new support for exporting itself to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML Paper Specification (XPS) file formats that leverage the capabilities found in the new Infragistics Document Export Engine. All you have to do is create a Report using the DOM of the Infragistics Documents class library, create a Graphics context object using the CreateGraphics method of a Canvas in your Report, and then call the new RenderPdfFriendlyGraphics method which renders the scene graph of your chart to this Graphics context object. By creating the Report manually, you only need to include a reference to the Infragistics2.Documents.v7.3.dll in your Web application when you actually need to use this feature.

Transparency and gradient paths are not supported in charts exported to PDF or XPS. Any gradient paths will be replaced with an approximate linear or radial gradient where appropriate.

Positive and Negative Stacked Bar and Column Charts

Previously, WebChart would only support displaying all positive or all negative data in stacked bar and stacked column chart types with an error message indicating the data was invalid. Beginning in NetAdvantage for ASP.NET 2007 Volume 3, you can freely mix positive and negative data values in the data you supply to a stacked bar or stacked column chart type. Stacked bars and columns will render above and/or below zero. The contribution of any negative value to its proportion of a stacked bar or column continues to be based on its absolute value.

Support for Zero Data Points in Charts Having Logarithmic Axes

Mathematically, the logarithm of zero is undefined, and as a consequence of this axiom previous versions of WebChart would throw an exception if zero data values were passed as data for a chart with a Logarithmic axis. However, sometimes you may want to substitute another value for the logarithm of 0 to allow zero data points (perhaps standing for data without a value) to be supplied as part of a data set you wish to view on a logarithmically-scaled chart. Therefore, NetAdvantage for ASP.NET 2007 Volume 3 adds the LogZero property to the AxisAppearance objects which allows you to specify a substitute value for the logarithm of 0.

The LogZero property has a default value of Double.NaN (Not a Number) which continues the legacy behavior of throwing an exception for invalid zero data points when the axis of the chart is set to scale logarithmically. However, by setting this property to 1.0 (or another value) you cause the zero data point to plot as if it had this value. Causing the zero data point to plot parallel to the axis minimum value is equivalent to causing the zero data point to plot no visible chart element at all, which is typically what you will want when you allow zero data points in a logarithmically-scaled chart.

Fill Scene Graph Event

The new FillSceneGraph event is raised when all of the Primitives have been added to the WebChart's scene graph, but before the WebChart renders. You can handle this event and you will receive a FillSceneGraphEventArgs object with several properties such as the scene graph which allows you to add or remove Primitives before the chart renders instead of having to implement your own custom ILayer. 

WebGauge™ Designer – Enhanced

The new Relative Bounds Editor introduced in the WebGauge's Visual Studio .NET design-time wizard for NetAdvantage for ASP.NET 2007 Volume 3 enables you to more quickly create complex brushes visually and intuitively with no code. Each brush element on the control supports this new time-saving editor that lets you specify the (X, Y) of the top/left corner, the Width and the Height (in your choice of pixels or as a percentage) that define the bounds and the clip region of the brush.

The preceding screen shot illustrates how the Relative Bounds editor can be used to set percentage and pixel bounds for the blue MultiStopRadial brush element appearing in the WebGauge preview.  The designer can constrain the area in which this brush element will be applied, and sees instant visual feedback in the preview pane on what effect their changes are having on the finished radial gauge.

WebHtmlEditor™ – Enhanced

Three new features have been added to the WebHtmlEditor to enhance how well it fits in with the rest of your Web application, and to enhance its programmability on the client-side using JavaScript.

Drop Down Effects

New opacity (i.e., fade-in and fade-out) and sliding animation effects have been added to the drop down selection lists of the WebHtmlEditor toolbar to parallel the visual effects you can use other controls such as the WebMenu™ to create. This capability allows your Web site to present a more consistent user experience.

Insert At Caret

The new insertAtCaret function for JavaScript programmers using the WebHtmlEditor's extensive Client Side Object Model (CSOM) now allows you to interject text into the editor view at the current caret position. This provides greater convenience than having to locate the caret position manually and insert into the document's text.

Before Action Event

The event arguments passed to the BeforeAction client-side event that you can handle in JavaScript includes a new act member which will contain the name of the action to be performed.