Donald's Blog

Spread 8 (COM) Released!

2008-11-14T20:29:00Z

We’re excited to announce that we just released Spread 8, a major upgrade of our COM spreadsheet component!

Download the trial here - http://www.clubfarpoint.com/FarPointSupportSite/Modules/Download/trials.aspx?pcode=spread

Source Code for Spread 8 is also available for purchase. Contact our Corporate Sales team at CorporateSales@FarPointSpread.com for pricing.

Happy Developing!

Spread 8 – with Source Code – Coming Soon!

2008-11-11T21:02:00Z

Well, it’s official...we’re unlocking the vault. Now you can own the source to the most widely used COM development spreadsheet in the world! When Spread 8 releases here shortly, you will also have the option to purchase the highly guarded Source Code (written in C and C++). You will even get the source to the Spread Designer.

Don’t care about looking at the source? You can still get it and archive the Spread Source code along with your application to lock in the vault.

Watch for more information coming soon or email our Corporate Sales team now at CorporateSales@FarPointSpread.com to get your questions answered.

- Donald

PDC Badges – The ‘Censored’ File

2008-10-27T18:24:21Z

Microsoft announced a new social program for exhibitors and others at the PDC show this year (several of our guys are currently manning our booth…if you’re at PDC, stop by and say hello!).

Here is the skinny on the program, straight from Adam Kinney, the Badge Evangelist -

“This year at PDC we're starting a new thing called PDC Badges. Collecting Badges is the way for Attendees to capture their experience at the PDC conference. You can think of it as applying the Xbox Achievements system to a conference.

Badge holders given to attendees at registration will contain an extra slot to display a custom badge of their choice. Each attendee will start out with the official PDC 2008 badge and will be given new badges as a result of an accomplishment or in some cases being at the right place at the right time.”

So, we put our creative minds to work and came up with the following badges to hand out at the show:

Being how it’s almost Halloween, we went with that theme for several of the cards. Oh…and one of the badges was not allowed to be taken to the show…deemed ‘possibly offensive’…guess which one! And which one is your favorite?

If you’re at the show, stop by and grab your favorite one(s) and enjoy the show!

Donald

FarPoint Spread 8 (COM) Beta Posted!

2008-09-09T19:06:00Z

While nearly all of the other component vendors have fully abandoned their COM product line we are happy to announce that the beta for the latest COM version of Spread is now ready for download.

WHAT’S NEW

-------------------------

New Features

- New Formula Functions

- Ability to create a custom cell

- A 64-bit DLL control

- Shape and color settings for cell notes

- New OCX methods for saving and loading to/from a buffer

- New event for circular references

Enhancements

- Enhanced appearance

- Enhanced appearance for headers and sheet corners

- Enhanced appearance for scroll bars

- Enhanced appearance for sheet tabs

- Enhanced selection highlighting

- Additional export options when exporting to HTML

- Users can apply a secondary sort using control-click

We’re still looking for beta testers to run this through their existing projects and verify that with all the changes we’ve implemented, we didn’t break anything. If you would like to be part of the testing, please send an email to beta@fpoint.com.

- Donald

Spread for ASP.NET RC Posted!

2008-07-25T14:44:00Z

Yesterday we posted what should be the final testing build of one of our flagship products, Spread for ASP.NET. If you haven’t heard about it yet, we’ve added a lot of new features in this release with one of the primary focuses being on major performance enhancements. Other enhancements include support for Excel 2007 XML, PDF, and ODF; ASP.NET AJAX extender controls added as cell types; row template, row edit template, group footer; and a whole lot more.

Watch for it to be releasing soon!

Spread 8 (COM) Update

2008-06-18T17:46:00Z

First let me say a big thank you to all you loyal Spread customers for giving us your input on the new Spread 8 product. A lot of great suggestions have been submitted via our email survey and forum postings and every request was reviewed.

The biggest request we received was to provide you with an updated, more modern look. The second largest request was to provide a way for you to add your own custom celltypes. We’re happy to announce that both have been added!

The look has been updated to closely match Spread for Windows Forms and Excel. We have also added the ability for you to include your own controls in a Spread cell via callbacks.

Following is the new feature list we have scheduled for Spread 8:

* New Formula Functions (close to 100 new formulas)

* Ability to create a custom cell

* A 64-bit DLL control

* Shape and color settings for cell notes

* SaveBlockToBuffer and LoadBlockFromBuffer

* Enhanced appearance

* Enhanced appearance for headers and sheet corners

* Enhanced appearance for scroll bars

* Enhanced appearance for sheet tabs

* Enhanced selection highlighting

* Additional export options when exporting to HTML

* Users can apply a secondary sort using control-click

To get these features rolled out to you as quickly as possible, some requests will not make it in the initial release. We decided not to hold up the release but rather provide you with these new features now.

Look for a beta around the end of July. Please email me at beta@fpoint.com if you are interested in joining the beta team. Thanks!

- Donald

Planning Spread COM Version 8

2008-02-05T18:42:18Z

Thanks to those of you who have been using our Spread COM product over the years. Lately, there have been several internal and external forum discussions regarding the future of this product in regards to adding new features. In short, we are planning on releasing a new major COM version, Spread 8! Now it’s your turn. What new features would you like to see added? Before you answer, please keep in mind that items requiring major architecture design changes, for example hierarchy view, likely will not be implemented. One of the major focuses for this release will be an updated look and feel, as well as 64-bit support and other enhancements. So, please consider leaving a comment below that answers these two questions: 1. What feature(s) would you like to see added to Spread 8 (COM)? 2. Would you upgrade to this new version? Thanks in advance for your input and we would appreciate your reply by the end of this week. It is greatly appreciated. And as always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We still have the comments from our original post back in 2006 when we began pondering this new version. - Donald

ActiveX, COM, farpoint, feature, Spread, Spread 8

FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms 3.0 Beta Available

2007-01-23T20:23:44Z

For those who are curious to see the latest features in the next release of FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms (version 3.0), the beta is available! Simply contact us and request a download. We will send you the download link in a confirmation email. If you are programming in .NET, then this is the spreadsheet component you need.

Like the FarPoint Spread for Web Forms 3.0 beta released last week, this Windows Forms version includes grouping (as in Outlook-style grouping) and, for those using formulas, the GoalSeek capability. And it also will includes these features that you've been asking for:

undo and redo actions
adding child controls to a sheet
annotations (free-hand drawing)
locating the cursor using HitTest (for accessibility)
new multiple-column combo box cell
new list box cell

As always, we want your feedback on these new features. For discussion on our Tech Support forum of these features in particular and the beta in general, see http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/forums/thread/42439.aspx
Let us know what you think! Please send an email to beta@FarPointSpread.com if you would like to sign up for the beta program. Thanks!

- Donald

FarPoint Spread for Web Forms 3.0 Beta Available

2007-01-18T18:46:57Z

For those who are curious to see the latest features in FarPoint Spread for Web Forms 3.0, the beta is available -- simply contact us and request a download. We will send you the download link in a confirmation email. If you are programming in ASP.NET, then this is the spreadsheet component you need.

This version includes grouping (as in Outlook-style grouping), conditional formatting (which has been available for a long time in our Windows Forms product, but is now also available in the Web Forms version), and a lot more. There are client-side scripting methods and more events.

For discussion of the beta on our Tech Support forum, see http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/forums/thread/41404.aspx
We would appreciate your feedback on this beta. Let us know! Please send an email to beta@fpoint.com if you would like to sign up for the beta program. Thanks!

- Donald

Show Us Your Shirt!

2006-08-17T13:40:23Z

In case you haven't seen it yet, we've created a special showcase image gallery where we are posting pictures of people wearing our FarPoint Shirts! The gallery currently contains a couple of pictures of some of the FarPoint folks standing next to the Stanley Cup (Go Hurricanes!), at the Durham Bulls ball park (home of Bull Durham, you remember that movie don't you?), and a few others. You can see it now at - http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/photos/default.aspx Did you receive one of our shirts? Then join in the fun and send us your pictures! Take the shirts on vacation with you, wear it at your local hangout or favorite spot, or just get creative and send us your best photo of you wearing the shirt. Then email them to me at donw@fpoint.com and I’ll post them shortly. Join in the fun today! - Donald

FarPoint Spread 8?

2006-01-05T19:05:47Z

A post was recently made on our forums asking if we're going to come out with a new version of our COM product, FarPoint Spread 8 - New Spread This is something we have been talking about internally. Is this something you would like to see? And if so, what new features would you like to see added? - Donald