ComponentOne 2021 Roadmap

ComponentOne 2021 Roadmap

.NET 6, WinUI, Data Services, MAUI, and More

2021 is going to be a big year for .NET and ComponentOne. We have a TON of improvements planned that we are excited to finally share. As always, our focus is to deliver useful and customer requested features for our top controls while also supporting new .NET platforms.

This year's three major releases will include .NET 6 support, plus new controls and enhancements for Blazor, WinForms, WPF, and ASP.NET MVC Editions, new data service components, and new UI controls for the latest .NET platforms - WinUI and MAUI.

Getting Ready for .NET 6

Microsoft has announced the yearly release timeline for .NET with .NET 6 to be released before the end of 2021. The even-numbered versions will be LTS (long term support), which means Microsoft is committing to support .NET 6 for the long term. We plan to support .NET 6, including designer support, by this time for WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET MVC, Blazor, and our Service Components.

Continuing .NET 5 Migration

Migrating to .NET 5 is a good first step to prepare for .NET 6. Check out our .NET 5 roadmap and resources as we continue to port our WinForms and WPF controls throughout the year. Everything that we port to .NET 5 will be ready for .NET 6 support.

Flexible UI Controls for WinUI and MAUI

WinUI and MAUI are new .NET platforms that succeed UWP and Xamarin for building modern Windows and cross-platform mobile applications. In 2021 we will be releasing new editions for these platforms, including our most popular controls like FlexGrid. You can expect to see a preview version for ComponentOne WinUI controls available mid-year and MAUI controls by the end of the year.

Data Service Components with More Integration

Our data service components will continue to expand with more features and data source connectors, including JSON and ServiceNow connectors and user-defined cached databases for SQL Server.

To help you integrate data from various data sources, we’ll be making them easier to use with Visual Studio integration tools. For example, you’ll be able to configure connections and datasets using drag-and-drop, point, and click within Visual Studio. Plus, with FlexReport integration, you’ll be able to create reports from online data sources like Salesforce, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 more easily.

Blazor

New Blazor UI Components

In 2021, we plan to release several new Blazor components, including a Popup Window, DateRange Picker, Tooltip, Masked Input, TreeView, Accordion, DataFilter, and PDF Viewer.

FlexGrid for Blazor Enhancements

In addition to the new components that enhance FlexGrid functionality, such as new editors and filters, FlexGrid itself will get several enhancements.

Built-in Excel Import and Export

We’ll be adding a new FlexGrid.Excel library to handle all import and export functionality.

Reorder and Resize Columns

Allow end-users to reorder columns and resize column widths.

Column Footers

Column footers can display fixed cells at the bottom of the grid – great for displaying totals for each column or anything you want.

Load and Save Column Layout

If end-users can reorder columns, you will naturally want to persist the column layout between runs of the application.

Pinned Columns

pinning columns allows the end-user to freeze any column. When a column is pinned, it automatically moves to the far-left and becomes frozen.

Excel and Amazon-like Filtering

We will be providing more and new ways to provide filtering FlexGrid for Blazor, including Excel-like filtering and Amazon-like filtering.

WinForms

FlexGrid for WinForms Enhancements

We won’t be slowing down with FlexGrid and .NET Framework enhancements for WinForms.

Pinned Columns

Pinning columns allows the end-user to freeze any column. When a column is pinned, it automatically moves to the far left and becomes frozen.

Column Bands Designer

Configure multi-row column header "bands" at design-time more easily at design time. Plus, end-users will be able to drag and reorder a group of columns together by dragging the band.

Runtime, Multi-Column Sorting

Extend programmatic multi-column sorting to the runtime, so end-users can achieve it by clicking column headers.

Multi-Range Selection

Allow end-users to select multiple non-adjacent ranges of cells using the control key.

Selection Statistics

Get and display statistics for selected cells more easily, just like in Microsoft Excel.

FlexPivot for WinForms Enhancements

We plan to improve the usability of FlexPivot for analyzing complex data sets with runtime conditional formatting, chart grouping, and more options.

Runtime Conditional Formatting

Put the power of conditional formatting in your end-user’s hands thanks to integration with C1RulesManager. This component lets the user create and manage conditional format rules applied to the FlexPivot DataGrid.

Chart Axis and Legend Grouping

FlexPivot charts will support visual axis grouping and legend grouping to display hierarchical views better.

Pie Charts and More Palettes

Get added support for pie charts and more palettes to customize your visualization.

FlexChart for WinForms Enhancements

For our new FlexChart and FinancialChart controls, you can look forward to more chart types and runtime customization features.

Break-Even Charts

Break-Even charts represent the difference between cost, sales volume, and profits. It shows the sales volume level at which total costs equal sales and helps in doing profit planning.

Ribbon for Runtime Chart Customization

We’ll be shipping a complete ribbon tool + sample for runtime chart customization using C1Ribbon. This means end-users can modify and design elements of the chart – customizable for each application.

Additional WinForms Enhancements

We have plans for additional useful enhancements in several popular WinForms controls, including Maps, Command, InputPanel, and GanttView. Plus, we plan to complete porting most controls to .NET 5/6, including several themes such as ExpressionDark and HighContrast, plus improved HighDPI icon support for TreeView and InputPanel.

WPF

FlexGrid for WPF Enhancements

For both .NET Framework and .NET 5, we will continue to enhance our WPF DataGrid component, FlexGrid.

Built-in Excel Import & Export

For .NET Framework, this remains a sample using C1Excel, but for .NET 5, we are making Excel import and export a built-in feature with the new FlexGrid.Excel library.

Runtime Multi-Column Sorting

Extend programmatic multi-column sorting to the runtime, so end-users can achieve it by clicking column headers.

Classic Filter Row

Display a row of cells at the top of the grid for fast and convenient column filtering.

Hover Cell Styles

Highlight cells with a different color when the user mouses over them. You can set the hover style mode to highlight rows, columns, or single cells. The mouse over brush is displayed over the selection color, and the colors are blended when using semi-transparent brushes.

Scroll Tips

Customize and display tooltips that appear on the scrollbar as the user scrolls. This can help notify the user of where they are within an extensive data set.

User Data

Attach user-generated or metadata to rows and cells to help achieve custom solutions. User data gives you a flexible solution to store additional information on a row or column object without modifying the data model.

FlexPivot for WPF Enhancements

Our new FlexPivot for WPF 5 will see the following new features.

Cube Support

With cube support, the FlexPivot control will support various cube features such as KPI, status, and trend data.

Group Ranges

With grouped ranges, you can create hierarchical displays based on groups (also known as "buckets") rather than unique, similar values. This is very helpful when visualizing a number value on the rows or columns of the pivot grid.

Filter Slicer Panel

The filter slicer panel allows end-users to apply and see what filters are applied to the pivot table more quickly.

Additional WPF Enhancements

We have plans for additional useful enhancements for several popular WPF controls, including DockControl, FlexChart, FlexPivot, Scheduler, and RichTextBox. Plus, we plan to include a new System theme for all controls and complete porting most controls to .NET 5/6.

ASP.NET MVC & JavaScript

New Controls and Enhancements for ASP.NET MVC

For ASP.NET MVC, we will continue to release updates alongside our Wijmo JavaScript controls. In 2021 you can expect to see a new DateRange Picker and Maps control, plus enhancements across the entire suite as always.

Share Your Feedback

We’re looking forward to 2021, and we hope you are too! Feel free to share feedback and comments on this roadmap below.