Infragistics Control to Develop Windows Forms

Recently, I was trying to find third party controls to improve the UI of mymost recent project. After doing a quick search, I come across anexcellent looking UI focused companycalled Infragistics.

Since my project was a Windows based application, I was trying to find aWindows Forms toolset that could delivera quality UI experience with little or no need to implement code.  As a web developer who typically works with jQuery and CSS, designing an exceptionalUI in Windows is a verychallenging transition. Knowing this, I wanted to find a product that allowed me to use both of these, and also made it easy to create a Windows interface.However, I found that the Infragistics product, NetAdvantage for Windows Forms, can easily assist withthis limitation.

Infragistics not only provides controls for Windows Forms application development,but also for:

• ASP.NET
• Silverlight
• WPF
• jQuery / HTML5
• Windows Phone
• Reporting
• iOS
• Android
• Windows UI

Within a few minutes,I downloaded the Windows Forms tools and easily integrated them with Visual Studio 2010.Overall, I am very impressed with the product, and in this review I intend to show you exactly why. First things first, download the Windows Formscontrols from the Infragistics website: Windows Forms Trial.

Once you install the trial in your VS environment, it will give you lots of tools to develop rich UI.Below I have my VS toolbox, filled with controls and tools.

Here arejust some of the very important controls thatIuse in myroutine development cycle.

Chart Controls

This product has a wonderful collection of chart controls made to design highly customized visualizations that cover all of your chart creation needs;it even supports both 2D and 3D charts.With it support for both Gantt View and Gauge, it is very easy bind your data.

Rich Editor control section

In the editor section, NetAdvantage for Windows Formsprovides manytoolsthatgive you the ability to integratesome of the most handy user experiencecomponents into your applications. It contains following controls and more:

·         Combo 

·         Editors 

·         Extras 

·         Form Manager 

·         Ink Provider 

·         Spell Checker

Layout Configuration

Proper layout configuration is one of most challenging tasks for any developer.By using NetAdvantage for Windows Forms,this difficult task is into transformed intoa piece of cake.The following is a small sampling of the types ofcontrols that are available for you to implement better, higher quality layouts:

·         Message Box Manager 

·         Panel 

·         Splitter 

·         Tab 

·         Tabbed MDI 

·         Tile Panel 

Menus & Lists

NetAdvantage for Windows Forms has many attractive looking controlsthat allow you to develop menus and chartswithin your application. Not only do they look visually stunning, but the feel for the user is smooth as well! Infragistics’ Windows Forms offerings for Menus and Lists include:

·         Explorer Bar 

·         Navigation Bar 

·         List View 

·         Toolbars 

·         Tree 

Touch Experience

It’s a great help to be able to build more modern applications for tablets and other touch-enabled devices with the touch-supported Tree, and many other controls. Support for touch metrics allows you to resize anycontrol, making elements larger in order to generate better interactivity. The Tree also features panning gesture support like vertical, fast, slow, and multi-direction panning and flicking; and multi-gesture support like tap, double tap, tap & drag, and tap & hold.

Pricing

In order to obtain a free trial for any current Infragistics product, you must follow these steps:

1.      Select the Product to Download

2.      Log In to Your Infragistics Account

a.       No Account? Create One!

3.      Download your Free Trial

4.      Once Your Free Trial Expires (30 Days), Subscribe to Continue Use!

Once you subscribe, your subscription entitles you to one year of access to all Infragistics upgrades, service releases and support.

I highly recommend subscribing to Infragistics for your toolset accessbecause it will allow you to continue to receive all Infragistics upgrades, ensuring that all new browsers, operating systems, security standards, etc. are supported within the Infragistics products you are developing with.

Considering a Purchase?

It’s truly very easy to integrate Infragistics controls in your application. Once you download and install, the entire library of controls will automatically populate in your toolbox and you can .just drag and drop in your windows/web form. That’s all you have to do to start to making the magic happen. Still not sure the tools are for you? Then you should definitely followed my advice to purchase a subscription, so  you will have Infragistics’ great developer support team to assist you with any trouble you may encounter.

Conclusion

You really do get what you pay for when you work with Infragistics in terms of both quality and support. jQuery4u recommends the Infragistics controls for any serious developer who is trying to create robust mission-critical applications for either Windows Forms or Web Forms. I really think you’ll be happy with their products. Have a peek at the Windows Forms trial version and then decide for yourself!