.NET COMPONENTS: Developer Express

Developer Express offers a set of .NET components, which help developers add extra functionalities to their applications, without writing extra lines of code. Though, there are several separate .NET component products available with this, we have only covered a few of them. And, all the products are priced separately. The components that we've covered can be used for making better user interfaces, edit controls and navigation bars.

XtraNavbar



This provides many user interface options. A developer can create user interfaces that are more convenient for the end user of the application to browse through. XtraNavbar lets you incorporate many features in your application, such as Standard SideBar Style View (designed to emulate the visual and behavioral characteristics of MS Outlook and VS.NET), TaskBar Style View (designed to emulate the visual and behavioral characteristics of Win XP), small and large icon support and 12 unique paint styles.

ASPxNavigationBar 



ASPxNavigationBar is a part of the ASPxNavigation suite, which consists of two individual component libraries: ASPxMENU and ASPxNavBar. The ASPxNavigation suite is a C# component library written for ASP.NET and the .NET framework. Using this you can incorporate a customizable navigation bar in your Web page or give your end-users a structured way in which they can navigate among Web pages. The ASPxNavBar replicates the look and feel of the Win XP explorer bar. The navigation group offers client-side expansion and collapse, client-side drag and drop. Each navigation group comprises individual links. ASPxNavBar lets you customize these links. It also provides full control over the use of styles, so you can change the background of the headers. 

XtraTreeList Suite



This is a data visualization system that lets you display information as a tree or as a grid or both. By using a combination of both grid and tree view, you can design a visually appealing user interface.

XtraEditor



This component includes 15 data edit controls, using which you can display and edit data in your applications in a better way. XtraEditor gives you the flexibility to design your own data editors. Some of the interesting libraries in XtraEditor are: Calc Edit (a numeric editor whose drop down window displays a calculator), Color Edit (allows the user to select a color and it supports three color options: Custom, Web and System) and Check Edit (a check box control with the ability to represent three states, true, false and null).

XtraBars



XtraBars simplifies the way in which you build navigation and form customization capabilities in your application. It helps you to incorporate the application customization features, which are there in MS Office and Win XP in your application. 



Overall, the components offer several additional features and functions that can be useful for your applications. The components are easy to use and the good thing is that you can actually get the source code of the components if you need, though you have to pay extra for that. 

Ankit Kawatra