.NET Developer Tools Debut at VSLive!
Since the VS.NET launch, third-party vendors have continued to refine and augment their product offerings.
by Patrick Meader
VSLive! Orlando, September 18, 2002
It's been nine months since Microsoft released the highly anticipated and much talked-about Visual Studio .NET at VSLive! San Francisco in February. That event signaled more than a coming-out party for the much anticipated Visual Studio .NET; it also marked the coming-out party for 55 vendors who timed their announcements to coincide with VS.NET's launch.
In the time since the launch, these vendors have continued to refine and add to their product offerings, even as other vendors have entered the market. The trend continued Monday at VSLive! Orlando, where several new products and upgrades to existing .NET-related products were announced. Vendors who announced new tools at VSLive! Orlando included Data Dynamics, Compuware Corp., Crystal Decisions, FarPoint Technologies, Infragistics, Innovasys, and Sapien Technologies. The new offerings spanned the gamut of Visual Studio .NET add-on products, from controls that simplify adding functionality to Windows Forms applications, to augmented versions of reporting and database tools.
Tools that simplify desktop development continue to be popular among developers. Infragistics announced a handful of new Windows Forms tools that will augment its NetAdvantage Suite. NetAdvantage 2.0 introduces UltraWinToolbars, UltraWinEditors, and UltraWinGrid 2.0. Together, these tools enable .NET developers to mimic the look-and-feel of Windows XP, Office 2000, and other Microsoft user interface conventions in their own applications. For example, developers can use the UltraWinToolbars tool to create the dockable toolbars you find in Visual Studio .NET. Meanwhile, Innovasys released its own Visual Studio .NET-style toolbar control, DockStudioXP. This toolbar is a COM control that can be utilized from either Visual Studio .NET or Visual Basic 6.0. Innovasys also announced the release of HelpStudio, a standalone help authoring system. Both Innovasys products are available now.
On the reporting front, Crystal Decisions announced a new version of Crystal Reports, the reporting tool that ships with Visual Studio .NET. This version of Crystal Reports includes a new Report Application Server, an embeddable server you can integrate into your applications, as well as support for Unicode, among other features. Data Dynamics also weighs in with a new version of its reporting tool: ActiveReports. ActiveReports for .NET's features include the ability to create reports using VB.NET or C# and a report designer that integrates directly into the VS.NET IDE.
A handful of new entries attempt to simplify life for those whose jobs depend on accessing and manipulating data. For example, Alphora announced the Dataphor Application Development Toolset, a new database application framework for automating the task of creating and automating database apps. The toolset includes two parts: a data access engine, and a front-end to facilitate and simplify creating and maintaining database applications. Another tool that aims to help database developers: FarPoint Technologies' Input Pro for Windows Forms, which provides several common controls for entering data that is validated automatically. Finally, Compuware Corp. announced an upgraded version of its DevPartnerDB suite. DevPartnerDB 4.1 for SQL Server features several new capabilities, including stored-procedure performance profiling and extended support for SQL Server 2000.
In a different vein, Sapien Technologies announced PrimalCode, a code development environment for Web projects. Web developers can use this tool as a more economical, less -resource-intensive alternative to the VS.NET IDE.
The continued refinement and growth of the .NET add-on market bodes well for the VS.NET development community. There is a tremendous advantage in being able to buy functionality for a nominal sum rather than create it from scratch. From its inception, Visual Basic was augmented by a rich collection of third-party add-ons, and these add-ons were a major part of the tool's success and popularity. Visual Studio .NET's own rich add-in model follows in VB's footsteps, making integration more robust and more seamless than ever—a win-win scenario for both third-party vendors and the developers who use their tools.
About the Author
Patrick Meader is editor-in-chief of Visual Studio Magazine and .NET Magazine.
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