Editors for WinRT - Edit Boxes Overview

by Avatar Bill Henning (Actipro)
Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 10:18am

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In today's post, I'd like to give an overview of how edit boxes in our new WinRT/XAML Editors product work, and why we created them.

What Are Edit Boxes?

Edit boxes are controls that allow for the editing/selection of common data type values. Unlike many other third party editor controls, the Actipro Editors have been specifically designed to work great for whichever form of input (keyboard, mouse, or touch) is utilized by the end user.

DateEditBoxFocused

They are designed to visually fit right in with the standard Windows Store and Windows Phone controls.  Each editor's main appearance is similar to a standard TextBox, where the value can be typed in via a keyboard for maximum efficiency. Certain keyboard keys and the mouse wheel can often be used to increment/cycle values.  Custom validation and conversion logic between text and real object values can even be injected.

Most editors also contain a default popup picker that is geared for mouse and touch-based input. The popup can easily be invoked by tapping the edit box's drop-down button.

DateEditBoxOpened

Controls List

ColorEditBoxClosed

ColorEditBox - Allows for the input of a Color value.

CornerRadiusEditBoxClosed

CornerRadiusEditBox - Allows for the input of a CornerRadius (top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left) value.

DateEditBoxClosed

DateEditBox - Allows for the input of a DateTime value's date component.

DateTimeEditBoxClosed

DateTimeEditBox - Allows for the input of a DateTime value.

DoubleEditBoxClosed

DoubleEditBox - Allows for the input of a Double (floating-point number) value.

EnumEditBoxClosed

EnumEditBox - Allows for the input of a Enum (flags and non-flags enumeration) value.

GuidEditBox

GuidEditBox - Allows for the input of a Guid (unique ID) value.

Int32EditBoxClosed

Int32EditBox - Allows for the input of an Int32 (integer) value.

PointEditBoxClosed

PointEditBox - Allows for the input of a Point (X, Y) value.

RectEditBoxClosed

RectEditBox - Allows for the input of a Rect (X, Y, width, height) value.

SizeEditBoxClosed

SizeEditBox - Allows for the input of a Size (width, height) value.

ThicknessEditBoxClosed

ThicknessEditBox - Allows for the input of a Thickness (left, top, right, bottom) value.

TimeEditBoxClosed

TimeEditBox - Allows for the input of a DateTime value's time component.

Options Galore

Edit boxes all support nullable values, meaning that a DateEditBox for example returns a value of Nullable<DateTime>.  An option can be set to require that a non-null value is set.

The editors can be set to provide read-only display of data.  When not read-only and if nulls are allowed, a clear button appears when the control has focus.

The popups for the edit boxes can be fully customized.  Each editor also supports placeholder text and optional header content.

Summary

This is just an introduction to what the edit boxes can do.  In our next series of posts, we'll take a look at each edit box control and its related popup picker in detail.

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WinRT/XAML Controls v2014.2 Released

by Avatar Bill Henning (Actipro)
Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 2:32pm

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The 2014.2 version of our WinRT/XAML controls have been released and are now available for download.

Major new features are described below.  See the announcement post for the detailed list of enhancements and updates, including many items not listed below.

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This version makes all the WinRT/XAML controls compatible with Windows Phone, meaning that licensed controls will work in both Windows Store and Windows Phone apps!

PhoneSampleBrowser

We've even added a nice phone-based Sample Browser app to show off usage of the controls on the phone.

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Actipro Editors is a brand new product that we've been working on for quite a while now and provides over 30 user input controls for common .NET data types such as dates, times, numbers, colors, enumerations, sizes, and many more.

ColorEditBoxNoAlpha

Each of the controls features unique designs that have been specifically crafted to support input by keyboard, mouse, and touch. Data entry is quick and efficient regardless of the input method utilized by the end user, which is especially ideal for universal applications.

All of the controls fully support Windows Store and Windows Phone apps, with alternate appearances as appropriate for phone usage.

We will be blogging and walking through all of the controls in the next couple weeks so keep an eye on our blog.

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We've added a new MicroSegmentChart control for use on dashboards, infographics, or as progress indicators.

SegmentChartType

More details on this control soon too.

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Along with various minor enhancements and updates, we have added a brand new premium Python Language Add-on that supports advanced editing for Python v3.x and v2.x.  This first release includes parsing, syntax error reporting, code outlining, smart indent, delimiter highlighting/completion, and more.

CodeOutlining

Look for another update soon featuring automated IntelliPrompt!  See this previous blog post for more details on the new add-on.

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Several other fun new controls and converters are included with this version too.

  • Added the TransitioningContentPresenter control, which uses animated fade, slide, push, and zoom transitions when new content is set.
  • Added the ContentTransitionPreview control, which demonstrates a content transition by continuously cycling two content items.
  • Added the ParallaxConverter that can be used to create a parallax background scrolling effect.
  • Added the BooleanNotConverter that can invert boolean values.

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