What's New in WinRT XAML 2013 v3

November 15 2013

Studio Enterprise 2013 v3 is already here and there are many exciting new things in Studio for WinRT XAML. This release is completely centered around Windows 8.1 as we move forward with new changes - some even taking advantage of 8.1 features. For instance, each control now supports the RequestedTheme property which allows you to specify a light or dark theme for any control in your app. The C1PdfViewer and C1FlexGrid controls have been enhanced to take advantage of the latest Windows 8.1 features. Plus, we have a few new controls and major enhancements to existing ones. Read more below. Download Studio for WinRT XAML 2013 v3 (8.1)

FlexGrid Enhancements

The C1FlexGrid control has been enhanced to take advantage of new 8.1 features (changes in the base ScrollViewer) for better performance. You'll notice this improvement when you interact and scroll the grid. You can now even zoom in and out by stretching and pinching!

PdfViewer Enhancements

The C1PdfViewer control now supports the Windows 8.1 PDF API (Windows.Data.Pdf). You can enable this by setting the new RenderMode property to System. Using this new System render mode each page is displayed as an image, and it's more reliable for rendering any PDF content because it's not relying on our own custom parsing engine. But if you still prefer to use the default rendering mode you'll enjoy added support for AcroForm objects, sticky notes and annotations. These new features are only compatible with the default rendering mode which renders pages as framework elements.

Export Images and UI Controls to PDF

The C1PdfDocument component (part of the ComponentOne PDF library) now supports drawing images to PDF documents. This feature was sorely lacking when we introduced this component last release and it's finally here! This also enables you to render your entire UI to a PDF in Windows 8.1 using the native RenderTargetBitmap class with the C1PdfDocument component. We've included a sample in this release that shows how you can do this.

New Sparkline Control - Debut!

Get a light charting control for simple data visualization with the new C1Sparkline control. This is the first individual sparkline control ever offered by ComponentOne! (aside from the ones inside Spread). Sparklines are a great way to visualize trends in a small space, such as in data templates and on dashboard tiles. View sparklines as win/loss bars, lines or columns and highlight various points with markers and colors. Learn more.

New Excel Library

Our classic Microsoft Excel library that helps you work with XLS and XLSX files in code now arrives on the Windows Store platform. Export your data to Excel with an easy to use component - you don't even need to have Microsoft Excel installed! Create and load files with this easy to use component. Access and modify data in individual sheets as if they were a simple grid composed of rows, columns and cells. The WinRT version does support the older XLS format, which was not possible in Silverlight or Windows Phone. See more features.

Make a drop-down for anything! The C1DropDown control helps you make custom drop-down editors without having to mess with popups and flyouts. Use it to create that specialized drop-down for anything imaginable such as a color picker, an autocomplete textbox, or even a hierarchical combobox. Learn more.

RadialMenu Enhancements

If you're looking for color selection functionality we have you covered with the C1RadialMenu control too. You can now add color selection with this release. Menu items can be displayed as solid colors, providing the user a full wheel of color options.

RichTextBox Spell-Checking and Printing

You can now print documents from the C1RichTextBox control using standard Windows printing techniques. The control supports a paged layout as well, so users can visualize how the document will appear when printed. In addition to printing we've added spell-checking and multi-language dictionary support to the control. Learn more.

New Maps Control (BETA)

Finally, the popular C1Maps control arrives in a WinRT XAML version. Display map information from various sources and render KML files. Get mapping between screen and geographical coordinates so you can superimpose your own custom elements onto a map. The control supports only Bing maps in this Beta version. Learn more.