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.

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.

Controls List

ColorEditBox - Allows for the input of a Color value.

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

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

DateTimeEditBox - Allows for the input of a DateTime value.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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

More details on this control soon too.

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.

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

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.

What We Accomplished

In this quarter, we published a very large 2014.1 version maintenance release of our WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML controls.  These versions included several new controls and some big feature enhancements for our existing controls.  Check out the release posts for more detail.

What’s Coming Next

We are in the middle of several large projects right now.  The first is one that we recently mentioned, which is a full advanced language add-on for the Python language.  As mentioned in this post, the language will support both the Python v2.x and v3.x syntax.  It will have full parsing, syntax error reporting, code outlining, smart indent, and more.  We also have begun working on automated IntelliPrompt features, which we will post about in the coming weeks.

Another area we have invested a good amount of time in recently is a new control product offering for WinRT, one that already has a counterpart in our WPF controls.  Can you guess which one?  That being said, the designs we've come up with include some new unique interfaces that are very friendly for all forms of input.  We will delve more into this in future blog posts too, once we are a bit closer to ready for release.  We're really excited to reveal these controls.

And of course we are continuing to enhance and update our existing controls, along with designing some new controls, as we start collecting updates for the future 2014.2 versions.

Blog Post List

Control Product Development

• SyntaxEditor Python Language Add-on Coming Soon
• Chart Automatic Tick Calculation
• SyntaxEditor XML Add-on - Navigable Symbols
• PropertyGrid Double-Clicking Enhancements
• HorizontalListBox Control
• UniformGrid Coming to WinRT and Silverlight Controls
• Windows Workflow Designer SyntaxEditor Integration Updates
• JSON Language Coming to WinForms SyntaxEditor

Control Product Releases

• WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML Controls v2014.1 Maintenance Releases

In today's post I'd like to formally announce that a new Python language add-on is coming to SyntaxEditor (WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML platforms) in its 2014.2 version.

What is Python?

Python is a very popular programming language that uses indenting to create blocks of code (as opposed to curly braces as in languages like C), and attempts to allow users to write code in fewer lines than is possible in other languages.  Python has a standard library of API features that has grown very large over time.

These days, Python code comes in two flavors: v2.x syntax and v3.x syntax.  Unfortunately there are breaking changes between the two syntaxes.  But we've got you covered since you can tell our PythonSyntaxLanguage class which version to use and it will parse things accordingly.

Features

Here's a screenshot of the Python language in action within SyntaxEditor:

The first release of the Python language will have these features:

• Support for both Python v2.x and v3.x syntaxes.
• Syntax highlighting.
• Abstract syntax tree (AST) generation.
• Automatic code outlining based on AST structure.
• Reporting and automatic squiggle display of errors for invalid syntax.
• Mouse hover quick info for syntax errors.
• Line commenting.
• Smart indent.
• Code block selection.
• Delimiter (bracket) highlighting and auto-completion.

Beta Testers

Since this is a brand new language add-on, we would love to get your help beta testing it.  If you are a SyntaxEditor customer and would like to assist us in testing the Python language add-on, please contact us at our support email address.

Summary

This new Python language add-on will roll out in the 2014.2 version of our WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML controls.

New maintenance of the 2014.1 versions of our WPF, Silverlight, and WinRT/XAML controls have been released and are now available for download.

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

• WPF Controls announcement
• Silverlight Controls announcement
• WinRT/XAML Controls announcement

Auto-Calculation of Tick Mark Intervals

XYDoubleAxis, XYDecimalAxis, and XYDateTimeAxis have been updated to auto-calculate tick mark intervals when they aren't specifically set.  A new Axis Ticks QuickStart has been added that shows off automatic tick mark interval calculation.

Rendering Improvements

We've improved the rendering speed of data point labels, improved the rendering logic of bar charts, and updated data point labels to use a subtle border so that they don't blend in with surrounding chart objects of the same color.

Label Performance Improvements

Data point labels in pointer visibility mode now delay layouts until a pointer event occurs, thereby speeding up initial chart display.

Numeric Type Data Upconversion

XYChart now will automatically upconvert non-Double numeric type data to Double type so it can display.

Child Control Styles Applied to Some Auto-Generated Columns (WPF only)

ThemedDataGrid has been updated to style the child controls of auto-generated ComboBox and CheckBox columns.

Disabling Rafting Window Snap-to-Screen (WPF only)

Added the DockSite.IsRaftingWindowSnapToScreenEnabled, which can be set to false to prevent rafting windows from snapping to the closest screen when being displayed.

More Tabbed MDI Tile Options (WPF only)

Overloads to the TabbedMdiHost.TileHorizontally and TileVertically methods have been added that allow for a maximum number of columns/rows.  This permits additional tile configurations, such as a single row of tiles.

Double-Clicks Cycle Values (WPF only)

Updated double-clicks on property names to cycle through standard values if available.

CommitPendingChanges Helper Method (WPF only)

A PropertyGrid.CommitPendingChanges method has been added that forces any pending LostFocus bindings within property editors to update and ensure the data model is current.

Navigable Symbols Hierarchy Support

Navigable symbols now support hierarchy levels and item indentation.  This feature was added to allow XML element hierarchies to be displayed in the NavigableSymbolSelector.

Numerous Minor Enhancements

Many minor enhancements have been made, which can be seen in the detailed update list.

LL(*) Parser Framework

A Grammar.AddChildFrom overload was added that allows for specification of a desired child index.

Web Languages Add-on

The XML grammar was reimplemented using type-specific AST nodes, thereby reducing overall AST memory usage by an average of 40%.  A XmlNavigableSymbolProvider service was added to the XML language that provides contextual element and attribute display in a NavigableSymbolSelector control.  The XML and HTML editor demos were updated to showcase the new navigable symbol provider features.

Horizontal ListBox Control

The HorizontalListBox control was added, which allows for selection of items that are arranged horizontally with a uniform width.

UniformGrid Control (WinRT / Silverlight only)

The UniformGrid control was added, which is a Panel that can arrange content in a grid where all the cells in the grid have the same size.

RadialSlider Improvements

The RadialSlider class logic for snapping values has been improved.

DelegateCommand (WinRT only)

The DelegateCommand class has been added, which is an implementation of ICommand that uses delegates.