http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/blogs/jimmys_blog/atom.aspxCommunity Server2009-02-01T20:13:00Zhttp://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/blogs/jimmys_blog/archive/2009/07/01/input-pro-for-silverlight-june-2009-is-released.aspx2009-07-01T07:08:00Z2009-07-01T07:08:00Z<p>Several days ago we released Input Pro for Silverlight June 2009 - the first official release of this product. We believe this powerful input control suite will greatly enhance the input experience of your Silverlight applications and make the task of receiving and validating data from end users much easier.</p><p>&nbsp;We've added several important features and fixed some bugs since the <a href="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/blogs/jimmys_blog/archive/2009/02/01/introducing-inputpro-for-silverlight.aspx" target="_blank">preview version</a> was released. One of such features is the new FpElasticSlider control:</p><p>&nbsp;<img src="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/photos/farpoint_blog_images/images/79709/original.aspx" height="41" width="168"></p><p>It is the one used to change the edit value in date time and numeric controls. Unlike the standard slider control defining value range, FpElasticSlider controls the rate of change by firing Updating events in a frequency specified by the ball's offset from midpoint. The more offset, the more frequent. This makes the end users be able to easily change a value to a desired value by sliding. If you want to have a try, go to the <a href="http://lab.fpoint.com/inputsilverlight/">demo page</a>.</p><p>Another useful new feature is validation states. Users can use MaxValue and MinValue to define the data range of Input Pro controls, or handle Validating event to do custom validation. When validation fails, the control will enter invalid state:</p><p>&nbsp;<img src="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/photos/farpoint_blog_images/images/79714/original.aspx"></p><p>We also added an AutoDropDown feature for date time controls. When you edit the text portion of date time controls, the calendar can automatically pop up and sync with the value change.</p><p>&nbsp;<img src="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/photos/farpoint_blog_images/images/79717/original.aspx"></p><p>Here I just list some of the new features. See more info about the product, check out <a href="http://www.fpoint.com/netproducts/inputsilverlight/">Input Pro for Silverlight</a>. <br></p><img src="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/aggbug.aspx?PostID=79706" width="1" height="1">Jimmyhttp://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/members/Jimmy.aspxhttp://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/blogs/jimmys_blog/archive/2009/02/01/introducing-inputpro-for-silverlight.aspx2009-02-02T01:13:00Z2009-02-02T01:13:00Z<p style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="2">Data input and validation are essential part of almost all applications. A set of highly dependable and flexible input controls can relieve the burden of application developers and make them concentrate on the core business logic. InputPro for Silverlight is created to focus on data input and validation and tries to be such a control set in Silverlight</font><font size="2">.</font></p><p style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">InputPro for Silverlight is a brand new product designed from scratch. We take time to design it and try to make it powerful but still easy-to-use. Our philosophy is make basic things easy and hard things possible. We hope this philosophy could result in consistent and concise interfaces and fluent input experience. Here are some highlights of the control set:</p><ul><li>Fully support .NET format strings and format providers. We don't want to invent a new format language and force the user to learn it. The date time controls support both <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/az4se3k1%28VS.95%29.aspx">Standard Date and Time Format Strings</a> and <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4%28VS.95%29.aspx">Custom Date and Time Format Strings</a>, and the number controls support both <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dwhawy9k%28VS.95%29.aspx">Standard Numeric Format Strings</a> and <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8%28VS.95%29.aspx">Custom Numeric Format Strings</a>. <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.globalization.datetimeformatinfo%28VS.95%29.aspx">DateTimeFormatInfo</a> and <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.globalization.numberformatinfo%28VS.95%29.aspx">NumberFormatInfo</a> are also supported respectively to enable more flexible format control.</li><li>Internationalization and localization support. By utilizing .NET <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b4w53z0y%28VS.95%29.aspx">parsing</a> and <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/26etazsy%28VS.95%29.aspx">formatting</a>, the controls are built-in culture-aware. The date time controls also have local calendar (Japanese currently) and timezone support.<br></li><li>Smart and fluent input experience. We did a lot of jobs to help the user enter a correct value fluently. Character filtering, smart caret movement, spinning, value slider etc. are all the helpers.</li><li>Unlimited and customizable undo/redo. We make every single edit operation undoable. The length of undo queue is unlimited (limited by the available memory) by default, but you can explicitly set a limit on it. You can also programmatically create a custom undo unit by calling the BeginChange and EndChange methods. Custom undo units behave same as other undo units.</li><li>Customizable parsing and formatting. If you are not satisfied with the default parsing and formatting, you can handle corresponding events to add your own parsing/formatting logic.</li><li>Customizable key/command binding. The commands include both basic keyboard operations (caret movement, text selection etc.) and useful shortcuts (spin, clear, drop-down etc.). There's a default binding key for each command, but you can also change it with your own.</li></ul><p>The first preview build of InputPro for Silverlight has been published. You can try the demo and download the build <a href="http://lab.fpoint.com/inputsilverlight">here</a>. This build includes the following controls:</p><p style="font-weight:bold;">Date time controls:</p><ul><li>FpDateTime: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.datetime%28VS.95%29.aspx">DateTime</a>.<br></li><li>FpDateTimeOffset: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.datetimeoffset%28VS.95%29.aspx">DateTimeOffset</a>, a new added type since .NET Framework 2.0 sp1, recommended to be the default date and time type for application development by MSDN.</li></ul><p style="font-weight:bold;">Numeric controls:</p><ul><li>FpDecimal: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.decimal%28VS.95%29.aspx">Decimal</a>.</li><li>FpDouble: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.double%28VS.95%29.aspx">Double</a>.</li><li>FpInteger: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.int32%28VS.95%29.aspx">Int32</a>.</li><li>FpLongInteger: value type is <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.int64%28VS.95%29.aspx">Int64</a>.</li></ul><p style="font-weight:bold;">Mask control:</p><ul><li>FpMaskedTextBox</li></ul><span style="font-weight:bold;">Text control:</span><br><ul><li>FpTextBox</li></ul><span style="font-weight:bold;">Controls to support the above controls:</span><br><ul><li>FpCalculator<br></li><li>FpErrorReminder</li><li>FpSpinButton</li></ul><p>These controls are currently in Preview Quality Band and are open to feature requests and feedback. I'll write more about these controls in the following days. Your comments are important for us to make a better product. Please try the demo and tell us what you think about it:</p><p><a href="http://lab.fpoint.com/inputsilverlight">InputPro for Silverlight Demo Page </a><br></p><img src="http://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/aggbug.aspx?PostID=74193" width="1" height="1">Jimmyhttp://www.clubfarpoint.com/Forums/members/Jimmy.aspx