News
GrapeCity ActiveAnalysis 2.0 Visualization
.NET component-maker
GrapeCity announced today at the
VSLive! Conference in Redmond the launch of a Silverlight-based version of its data visualization and analysis control. GrapeCity ActiveAnalysis 2.0 allows Visual Studio developers to embed rich business analysis functionality into their .NET applications, offering features like online analytical processing (OLAP), data visualization and business intelligence. The new version was previously known as GrapeCity Data Dynamics Analysis.
Designed for Silverlight 4, the updated component supports the new capabilities in the latest version of Silverlight, including printing and the use of context-sensitive menus. Built-in support for Silverlight themes allows the ActiveAnalysis controls to integrate visually with Silverlight-based applications, said James Johnson, product manager for GrapeCity PowerTools.
"We've tried to keep feature parity through each of the platforms so there aren't really any features that exist only in the Silverlight control, but there are advantages of using the Silverlight platform over others," Johnson said.
Johnson said that the Silverlight version gives developers the advantage of not having to give users direct access to their databases and data sources, which is typically the case with the ASP.NET control. He also said that the Silverlight control performance can benefit from running on the client side.
ActiveAnalysis 2.0 adds support for the latest versions of Visual Studio and .NET Framework, and supports Internet Explorer 8 as a runtime environment. The product also extends design time and runtime functionality, making it easier for developers to control the behavior of the environment. For instance, a new Clear All option has been added for quick filters on the Web, and measures and attributes added at runtime can now be removed.
Johnson said that customer interest in Silverlight has been strong across GrapeCity's spreadsheet, reporting and analysis product communities. "When we started development of ActiveAnalysis 2.0, it was clear we needed to make Silverlight a big part of the new version," Johnson said. He said Silverlight offers customers a "best of both worlds" model of centralized resource management and Web-based application distribution, with many of the advantages that come from thick client development.
GrapeCity ActiveAnalysis 2.0 is available for Windows Forms, ASP.NET and Silverlight. Prices start at $999, with site licensing available.
About the Author
Michael Desmond is an editor and writer for 1105 Media's Enterprise Computing Group.