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| Intelligent, on-demand background data retrieval |
- On-demand data retrieval (data virtualization) ensures that only records that are visible are requested from the server. This greatly reduces the amount of data to be transferred, which increases the perceived speed of the datagrid. Also reduces strain on the server.
- The only Silverlight datagrid to display remote data blazingly fast, thanks to its powerful background (asynchronous) record retrieval system! (See it in action.)
- Data virtualization is presented through a convenient infinite scrolling scrollbar experience instead of the typical Web-grid paging interface.
- An ingenious design uses passive pre-fetching in the background to cache records before and after the ones currently being requested, so when scrolling or paging up or down, the end-user instantly sees the data: there are no just-in-time requests that make the end-user wait, which makes your application feel sluggish.
- Active pre-fetching is used to keep the cache full when the datagrid is idle.
- Asynchronous (background) data requests keep the UI responsive at all times. No other datagrid currently on the market does this.
- Enabled for all of the datagrid’s features, so there’s no trade-off between capabilities and performance.
- The datagrid supports WCF Data Services and WCF RIA Services, so developers get all the advantages of this system with just a few lines of code.
- Supports practically any type of custom data source. For example, provide code to access Twitter for the appropriate event, and the datagrid can consume and display that kind of data with all the benefits of data virtualization.
- Supports SQL databases and remote lists. (New in v1.3)
- Can even provide data virtualization for streams and other “endless” sources, such as forums and blogs!
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| Optimized network communications and data source queries |
- No discovery. The datagrid doesn’t need to know anything about the data source: the total row count, the number and size of groups, or any other information. Other datagrids need to send this sizable query to the source, wait for the response, and then handle it. Xceed’s Silverlight datagrid doesn’t do this, letting it load faster.
- Efficient queries. Uses relative queries, so they execute faster on the server. The result is that navigating through the datagrid is snappier. No other datagrid does this.
- Query throttling, which greatly enhances heavy scrolling performance. During heavy scrolling, queries to the server for data rows that are no longer needed are voided, which reduces the server load and the datagrid’s CPU usage.
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| Most compelling UI experience in Silverlight, for the Web and beyond |
- Smooth-scrolling animations. Reduces the perception of lag thanks to the time required to execute the smooth scrolling effect. Fades in empty rows and data once they arrive. Also improves readability by letting the eye track record data as it is scrolled: instead of jumping into existence, it moves fluidly into place. (See this in action.)
- Sticky columns allow a column to remain visible in the viewport while other columns are scrolled out of view. (New in v1.1)
- Fixed group headers and footers allow important information to be visible and anchored at the top or bottom of the viewport at all times, including when groups are collapsed. (New in v1.3)
- Provides a deferred vertical scrolling mold for enhanced responsiveness when fluid scrolling is not desired. (New in v1.4)
- Supports SharePoint through a Web Part that developers can use to integrate the control into SharePoint sites, providing insertion row, editing, and even delete (Del key) capabilities. (New in v1.4)
- Animated column reordering and resizing.
- Animated group collapse/expand.
- Animated row insertion/deletion.
- Animated drag-and-drop to create groups.
- Fully asynchronous architecture to ensure that the UI remains responsive at all times.
- Fully stylable, so you can adapt it to your own look.
- Supports implicit styles, so the entire app can be styled in minutes with a couple of lines of code. Also supports explicit styles.
- Unprecedented number of customizable elements. 100% compatible with Expression Blend.
- Animated sticky headers smoothly push previous headers off the screen.
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| Views and themes |
- A gorgeous 2D tabular view.
- Column headers support drag-and-drop column reordering, column resizing, click-to- sort, and dragging to “Group-by” row. (See this in action.)
- Automatically changes rows height to fit the contents of the largest cell.
- Nine beautiful Silverlight themes meticulously designed by our graphical artists, with more on the way!
- Silverlight (matches Microsoft’s default Silverlight theme)
- Metro Dark and Metro Light (inspired by Microsoft's Metro design philosophy, as seen in Windows Phone 7, providing a bold new look with a configurable accent color that could be used to match company colors, for example) (New in v1.1)
- LiveExplorer (from our LiveExplorer demo application)
- Signature (from our PDC09 demo application)
- Excel 2007 (black, blue, and silver)
- JetPack (silver) (New in v1.3)
- Each theme provides an alternating row style.
- Includes the XAML source code to styles and templates, so you have a great starting point for developing your own.
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| Data grouping |
- Blazing fast grouping. Creating, expanding, and collapsing groups is always snappy.
- Grouping, as well as expanding and collapsing groups, can be controlled via code.
- Sticky group headers and footers to make it easy to work with the data. (New in v1.1)
- Supports UI virtualization, preserving memory and reducing load time, even when grouping.
- Interactive “Group-by” row allows end-users to easily create and manipulate groups themselves.
- Group navigation control (quick search) for increased usability.
- True nested grouping (hierarchical, multi-level grouping) increases readability and therefore productivity.
- Customizable group-level configurations. Each level of grouping can have a different UI representation, to better distinguish different levels.
- Sticky group containers help make sure end-users don’t get lost in their data.
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| Data binding |
- Supports binding to any local list, WCF Data Services Web service, WCF RIA Services Web service, or custom Web service.
- Indicator glyphs let end-users know when virtualized data is being loaded and committed, and when there has been an error.
- Data virtualization vastly improves performance and reduces memory usage, especially when working with large data sources. Also supports grouping.
- Because it works in the background (uses asynchronous operations), the data virtualization implementation isolates the UI from the data source, which keeps the application responsive while data is being retrieved. It also supports caching, pre- emptive data loading, and delayed triggering of events to avoid needless querying during scrolling.
- Filtering (filter row) in virtualized mode, letting you combine the advantage of a data virtualization performance boost and the flexibility of filtering.
- Fully supports Silverlight data binding.
- Can be bound directly to an array of simple types such as String, Decimal, DateTime, TimeSpan, Guid, or Primitive (e.g., SByte, Byte, Int32, etc.), and will show the value of those types in one column.
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| Input validation |
- Includes built-in data validation, at the cell or row level.
- The appearance of a cell or row when a validation error occurs can be completely styled.
- Error display is integrated with the included themes.
- Supports local data validation (IDataErrorInfo).
- Supports remote data (server-side) validation (INotifyDataErrorInfo).
- Supports IEditableObject.
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| Rich in-place editing |
- Updates source when the cell or row exits edit mode or immediately when the cell content changes. (See it in action.)
- Provides events for fine-grained control over the edit process.
- Provides programmatic control over edit mode.
- Supports many edit triggers and display conditions, such as Excel-like default keyboard and mouse edit behavior, including F2, Esc (cancel edit on a cell and restore the original value), Double-Esc (cancel edit on the entire row and restore the original values), and Enter.
- Allows you to specify an editor for a cell being edited.
- Cell editors can be displayed without entering edit mode, under a variety of conditions such as a mouse hover over the cell or row, the cell or row becoming current, the row being edited, or always.
- Single-click edit mode allows entering edit mode and activating items such as check, text, and combo boxes with one click.
- Any portion of the grid can be made read-only.
- Provides an insertion row object that allows for quick entry of new data.
- Automatically selects the appropriate default editor control depending on the field data type.
- Asynchronous editing capabilities (multi-editing). Thanks to background data validation, end-users can enter data and move on to the next edit without needing to wait for the server to validate the data. Other datagrids will freeze the UI until that first edit is validated!
- Default editors for all common data types.
- Supports creating custom cell editor controls.
- Includes a combo box editor that can be used to edit related fields.
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| Included editor controls |
- All included editor controls are usable either as cell viewers / editors, or independently outside of the grid for a more flexible and uniform interface.
- Includes these controls:
- CheckBox.
- AutoSelectTextBox.
- DatePicker/Calendar.
- ValueRangeTextBox.
- NumericTextBox.
- All controls are 100% stylable and templatable.
- Combinability/modularity: Embed controls into one another to create flexible, innovative new controls.
- The grid automatically picks the correct type depending on the data type of the column.
- Fully visual approach: Powerful designers help make development faster and easier.
- Extensibility: All controls can be extended to implement custom features, appearance, and behavior.
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| Filtering |
- Supports filter expression operations such as =, >, >=, <, <=, !=.
- Provides a filter row object.
- Supports programmatic filtering.
- Supports local filtering.
- Provides Excel-like end-user automatic filtering, which provides a drop-down box in the column header, allowing end-users to filter by one or more items, on a per-column basis.
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| Fully asynchronous architecture |
- Designed from the ground up to take full advantage of background operations to make sure the datagrid, and therefore the application, remains responsive at all times.
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| Other features |
- Includes a bonus WPF build of the product, letting developers use the same datagrid with the same API in both Silverlight and WPF projects, and therefore in a wider range of software. (New in v1.4)
- Includes 14 statistical functions whose results can be displayed both inside and outside of a grid in any element. (New in v1.3)
- Allows copy-paste to Excel. (New in v1.3)
- Provides export to Excel (asynchronous/synchronous) using the xmlss format, which is compatible with Excel 2002 and up, as well as with the Microsoft Office Web Components Spreadsheet Component. (New in v1.1)
- Asynchronous/synchronous comma-separated value format (CSV) export, which is compatible with a wide variety of applications. (New in v1.1)
- Sorting: Supports multiple-field sort and custom criteria sort, along with traditional sorting.
- Provides easy manipulation of the grid’s current row.
- Scrolls the view to any cell, row, group, or column.
- Provides fixed, non-scrolling header and footer regions into which you can put any number and type of row.
- Row selection modes. Can be by item and by range (extended, multiple, and single modes).
- Programmatic selection: also provides examples of code behind predefined selections.
- Selection is asynchronous.
- Supports placing objects into fixed headers and footers.
- Supports drag-and-drop column reordering and column resizing.
- Full keyboard navigation is possible through cells and rows.
- Supports localization and display of filter cell operators. (New in v1.3)
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| Silverlight technology |
- Object-oriented design created specifically for Silverlight 4, written in C# and XAML.
- Based on a flexible and extensible object model, with modular and reusable visual elements.
- The datagrid’s cells are true Silverlight content controls, so they can contain anything.
- Supports Right-To-Left text.
- Complete source code (C# and XAML) available in the Blueprint Edition.
- Seamless integration with the Silverlight base class libraries.
- Complete documentation fully integrated into Visual Studio.
- Includes a variety of VB.NET and C# sample applications to get you started.
- Performs full UI virtualization on both rows and columns, even when grouping data, so only elements currently in view are created and kept, meaning faster loading time, uses less memory. Container recycling (horizontally and vertically) also performed for improved scrolling speed.
- Design-time support in Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Blend.
- Can be used in conjunction with the MVVM and MVC design and architectural patterns.
- Integrates well into dashboard and business intelligence software.
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