Developer Product Briefs

Accelerate the Delivery of .NET Apps

Check out a number of .NET add-ins, including one that helps accelerate the deliver of .NET Framework solutions.

• By Editors Visual Studio Magazine
• 03/01/2004

C#Builder
C#Builder for the Microsoft .NET Framework accelerates the delivery of .NET Framework solutions with a design-driven approach to development. It provides support for direct interoperability between the .NET Framework, the J2EE platform, and CORBA infrastructure. It also delivers native support for major enterprise-class databases, including Borland InterBase, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and IBM DB2. C#Builder enables integration of the UML modeling environment, development, and runtime phases with Borland Enterprise Core Objects to create a model-driven application design system for the .NET Framework. You can use C#Builder and the ASP.NET framework to build XML Web services and server-side HTML applications with ASP.NET WebForms. Professional $999.
Borland
Phone: 831-431-1000
Web: www.borland.com

VBdocman .NET 1.0
VBdocman .NET 1.0 is a VB.NET add-in that lets you generate technical documentation for your VB.NET and ASP.NET projects automatically. It parses source code and automatically creates tables of contents, indexes, topics, cross-references, and context-sensitive help. Users can create their own formats of output documentation. The predefined output formats include Help 2, CHM, RTF, HTML, and XML. You can add other descriptions manually or let VBdocman .NET extract them from special tags in source code comments. VBdocman .NET works with VB.NET 2002 and 2003 on all Windows platforms that support VS.NET. $179.
Helixoft
Web: www.vbdocman.com/net

Updates:

Enterprise Blocks 1.1
Enterprise Blocks features a two-tier component architecture that lets you integrate the processes of data analysis into existing business solutions without having to integrate a separate application. Enterprise Blocks contains a set of .NET class libraries for building database queries using object-oriented techniques. These classes sit on top of the database API and allow you to assemble data analyses. The product also contains a suite of .NET Web controls that provide aggregated levels of analytical functionality in component form. For instance, the Workbook Web control has built-in charting that supports 38 chart types. $1,995 per server.
Enterprise Blocks
Web: www.eblocks.com

GpsTools 2.0
GpsTools lets you include GPS and mapping support in your Visual Studio applications. GpsTools provides access to GPS position, speed, and satellite information without requiring you to know low-level GPS protocols. You can define and use raster maps to draw objects on icons, lines, and rectangles, and you can connect the maps to the GPS. GpsTools includes a set of samples in Visual Basic, C#, C++, and JavaScript. GpsTools is available for Windows and Pocket PC as ActiveX and .NET components. $49.
franson.biz
Phone: +46-70-238-02-00
Web: http://franson.biz/gpstools/

InstallShield Express 5
InstallShield Express offers assistance with your Windows installations. It features a Project Assistant and a visual checklist interface; no scripting is required. Express includes productivity wizards, task-oriented views, and built-in support for more than 70 redistributable technologies. You can rebuild an installation without retrieving and compressing all the files again. It integrates into the Visual Studio .NET IDE and offers support for .NET, Web services, and Smart Device applications. $349.
InstallShield
Phone: 800-374-4353
Web: www.installshield.com

MySQLDirect .NET 1.80
MySQLDirect .NET Data Provider 1.8 gives you direct access to MySQL Server for the Microsoft .NET Framework. MySQLDirect .NET is a 100-percent managed alternative to using ODBC or OLE DB providers. Based on ADO.NET technology, you can use MySQLDirect .NET in the same way as the standard providers. It supports the latest MySQL Server versions 4.1, 4.0, and all available data types, and it enables you to access MySQL Embedded Server. It provides extended monitoring capabilities with the DB Monitor tool, supports multiple query execution, lets you fill DataSet with multiple queries, and lets you store data in the DataReader object. It features design-time editors, a migration wizard from ODBC and OLE DB .NET Data Providers, and an integrated MyBuilder tool for visual building queries. Support for Borland C#Builder has been added. Standard Edition $99.
Core Lab
Web: www.crlab.com/mysqlnet

Spread 6
Spread 6 helps you incorporate advanced grid and spreadsheet features into your applications. It offers flexibility at the cell level for maximum control over the display and entry of the data and many events to respond to user changes. Its large feature list includes import/export capabilities, enhanced printing, 13 cell types, and formulas. New features include the abilities to define multiple column and header rows, merge columns or rows that contain identical data, use the new search feature to find specific text or values, rotate the cell or header text, identify any column by giving it a unique name, and display a spin button. It also features a new Percent cell type and enhanced Currency and Number cell types. $479.
FarPoint
Phone: 800-645-5913; 919-460-4551
Web: www.fpoint.com

SQL Compare 3
SQL Compare lets you compare and synchronize SQL Server database structures. When you've made changes to a local database and need to push them to a live database on a remote server, SQL Compare automates the process of trawling through database schemas and generating migration scripts. It compares and synchronizes all database objects, including tables, stored procedures, views, and user-defined functions. It takes into account dependencies and referential integrity. Version 3.0 has been redesigned and re-coded using Microsoft .NET. It generates comparison reports, which are output to Word, and it features an enhanced scripting functionality. Scripts include full transactional logic, optimized table altering and table rebuilding, and SQL color coding. $195.
Red Gate Software
Phone: 866-733-4283
Web: www.red-gate.com

VB Watch 2.0
VB Watch 2 is a Visual Basic quality-assurance suite that measures performance and test coverage, diagnoses runtime errors, and debugs compiled code. It includes VB Watch Profiler, a runtime analyzer; VB Watch Protector, which provides diagnostic tools for exception handling; and VB Watch Debugger, which provides a view into running executables on a local or remote computer. You can now execute VB Watch as a standalone or add-in tool. It features profiler enhancements such as bar and pie graphs, flow charts, and the abilities to view source with profiling results as color-coded HTML, print results, and ignore specific code lines with filters. Protector enhancements include better error reports and the abilities to protect projects that have no UI, protect IIS projects, and autoincrement the version number of the project. Debugger enhancements include the abilities to monitor public variables, monitor memory use, and use remote debugging. Standard Edition $299; Enterprise Edition $990.
Aivosto Oy
Web: www.aivosto.com/vbwatch.html

VBVoice 5.1
VBVoice helps you create computer telephony and speech solutions. VBVoice 5.1 supports Visual Studio .NET 2003 and integrates additional platforms. You can write telephony and speech applications in VB.NET, C#, or J#. Advanced call handling through TAPI lets you create hardware-less solutions on IP-PBX environments. You can implement VBVoice telephony applications as Windows Services, and a new logging utility lets you control larger telephony systems and modular VBVoice applications. The Pronexus Runtime Manager now supports redundancy and gives you the option to enforce custom licensing of your own telephony application. Contact vendor for pricing.
Pronexus
Phone: 877-766-3987
Web: www.pronexus.com

WebGrid.NET 3.0
WebGrid.NET is a DataGrid component for ASP.NET Web development that lets you deliver information in hierarchical navigations with user interaction. You can do common tasks such as grouping, sorting, searching, and navigating nested tables' rows directly in the client and see the results in real time without page postback, making the Web apps work like Windows-based apps. WebGrid.NET supports Visual Studio .NET 2003, ASP.NET Web Matrix, and VS.NET 2002. WebGrid.NET contains the Intersoft WebCommonControl architecture, which enables UI and data interaction, a centralized interface object model, and client-side events. $499 Professional; $699 Enterprise.
Intersoft Solutions
Web: www.intersoftpt.com

XtraBars Suite 2
XtraBars Suite is a native .NET component library that emulates the menu/toolbar and sidebar navigation systems introduced in Microsoft Office XP and the .NET IDE. With version 2, you can allow your users to customize toolbars and menus automatically with drag and drop. XtraBars allows you to enable "hot" customization, which means users can manipulate menus and bars without activating the customization dialog. The new docking system lets you implement the same behaviors found in the VS.NET IDE, including window hiding. All dock windows are able to restore their positions each time the user executes your application. $299 with source code.
Developer Express
Phone: 702-262-0609
Web: www.devexpress.com

XtraGrid Suite 2
XtraGrid Suite is a native grid control suite for Visual Studio .NET. Version 2 includes two new views, Band View and Advanced Band View, that let you incorporate stacked columns and multiline column heights into your applications with unlimited band nesting. The XtraEditors Library features more than 10 new controls. The new DisplayFormat and EditFormat properties let you control display values and entered values independently. The new FormatEditValue and ParseEditValue events let you manage this process. The new incremental searching feature lets you simplify how your users locate information within the XtraGrid. Users can now navigate through grid rows and add/delete rows using the external Control Navigator. $399 with source code.
Developer Express
Phone: 702-262-0609
Web: www.devexpress.com