We are very excited to announce the Beta of Q3 2008 for RadControls ASP.NET AJAX. The beta is now available for download in your accounts (check attached screenshot).
These are the key areas in which we have been working in the past couple of months:
Improved Performance:
In our continuous effort to have very stable and super-performing controls in all scenarios, we are making several important optimizations across all controls which will solidify our position as the leading vendor when it comes to reliability and performance of UI controls. For more info on our efforts please refer to our Top Performance page
Client-Side Features:
We continue to introduce unique client-side features in all controls and most importantly in RadGrid and RadScheduler.
Improving Data Access:
With the newly acquired OpenAccess ORM tool we are enhancing the data access capabilities of all databound controls.
MVC Support:
RadControls can now be used in ASP.NET MVC Applications. Check these blogposts form more details:
RadControls in ASP.NET MVC
RadGrid with AJAX in ASP.NET MVC
jQuery integration:
It will now be easier to integrate RadControls with jQuery to achieve slick animation effects as well as client-side databinding
Right-to-Left Support:
Extending RTL support across several other controls (RadToolTip, RadWindow, RadForm Decorator)
Charting is now merged in the Telerik.Web.UI.dll
Check this blogpost for full details.
Pleases review the ONLINE DEMOS and DOCUMENTATION
We are looking forward to your feedback. Any comments or suggestions are very welcome.
Below is the full list of what’s new/fixed in RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX Q3 Beta (Version Number 2008.3.1016):
RadAjax
What’s Fixed:
- Fixed select html elements should be explicitly hidden under IE6
RadCalendar
What's New:
- RadCalendar rendering is now changed to use accessible tables and CSS sprites. All skins are reworked for the new rendering.
- Added support for binding to List<DateTime>
- RadTimePicker: added support for binding to custom collection of DateTime
- Added a check for null event handler in AttachEventListener
What's Fixed:
- Fixed date picker design-time exception.
- Added a CSS class to a hidden textbox, which should not be decorated by RadFormDecorator
- Improved the javascript code, which calculates elements' position, to not throw javascript errors when the body margin is "auto"
- Fixed when you select date in the DatePicker the page will no longer scroll to the top
RadChart
What’s Fixed:
- Fixed an issue with manually defined positions for labels.
- Fixed an issue with double precision values for Y axis items
RadColorPicker
What’s Fixed:
- When RadColorPicker is in an AjaxPanel, after callback, the palette was empty. This is now fixed.
- When RadColorPicker is loaded with AJAX in a column of the RadGrid/in RadToolTip, the selected color element inherits CSS from the grid/tooltip and is displayed incorrectly. This is now fixed.
RadComboBox
What’s New:
- Added MaxHeight property.
- Added AccessibilityMode property. By default it is set to false. If it is set to true noscript tag containing select html element will be rendered. This select will be displayed instead of RadComboBox if JavaScript is disabled.
- Added new server side methods FindItemByText, FindItemByValue, FindItemIndexByText and FindItemIndexByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindItem server side method. It takes one parameter - predicate which is used to find the item.
- Better performance - lazy initialized items. They are initialized when the dropdown is opened or they are accessed for the first time.
- Added protected virtual methods for server-side events – OnItemDataBound, OnTextChanged,OnSelectedIndexChanged
- Support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the ItemTemplate
What’s Fixed:
- RadComboBox crashed in Safari/Chrome if MarkFirstMatch property was set to true and AllowCustomText to false. This is now fixed.
- Fixed a JavaScript error in FF in some cases when RadComboBox is focused.
RadEditor
What’s New:
- Allow the ToolsFile to be loaded from an absolute url (starting with http://).
- Moved the client code for the syntax highlighter to the dialog ascx file so it can be customized.
- Moved the client code for the table previewer to the table dialog ascx file so it can be customized.
- Added Clean Attributes Filter in RadEditor. It runs together with the XHTML filter and fixes deprecated element attributes to make the content XHTML compliant.
What’s Fixed:
- Allow for multiple external dialogs to be opened at the same time.
- Fixed a problem when the XHTML filter is turned off.
- Fixed a problem in Internet Explorer when the text of an anchor contains part of the href.
- Fixed a problem with the EnableImageEditor property of the image manager dialog paramenters not being applied.
- Fixed a problem in the Image Map dialog when the image URL contained spaces.
- Fixed a problem when pasting content at the end of the line in Firefox 3 - the editor lost focus.
- Fixed a problem with the table dialog - heading rows and columns boxes were not updated properly when loading the dialog for the second time.
- Fixed a problem with checkboxes in some dialogs with Firefox 3.
- Fixed a problem where the editor will remove an empty alt attribute from images in non-IE browsers.
- Fixed a problem with the ContentAreaCssFile property - classes from that file should not be visible in the Apply Class dropdown.
- Fixed a problem with embed elements in Firefox.
- Fixed a potential problem with selecting the whole content and applying a class in Firefox 3.
RadFormDecorator
What’s New:
- Right-to-Left Support
What’s Fixed:
- Setting checked and enabled state of elements through JavaScript now available in all browsers.
- Button rendering fixes
RadGrid
What’s New:
- ADO.NET Data Services support added
- Added support for codeless inserts for DetailTables when bound to DataSource controls
- Added header context menu
- Added support for hierarchy with parent table relations and Null or DBnull values
- Added support for OpenAccessDataSource server-side filtering (OQL)
- Added codeless hierarchy support with OpenAccessDataSource
- Added RetrieveDataTypeFromFirstItem property to determine if the Data item type will be retrieved from first item in the generic enumerable or from its first generic argument
- New property EmptyDataText for GridBoundColumn
- toString() and toDynamicLinq() methods are extended to accept a parameter (instance name)
- toDataService() method added for filter expressions and OQL
- Added SelectedValues property similar to SelectedValue
- Added GetNumericPager method for the GridPagerItem; Returns NumericPager control
- Added ability to specify the position of Grid drag and drop (GridItemDropPosition)
- Added GridFilterExpression server-side class
- Added toList() method for Telerik.Web.UI.Collection (client-side)
- Added support for declarative client-side data binding
- Added client-side caching
What’s Fixed:
- Fixed column with display set to 'false' is shown when new rows are added using client-side databinding
- Columns and rows client visibility changes are now properly persisted after postback
- Fixed null reference exception with aggregates and self referencing hierarchy
- Fixed case sensitive filtering problem when RadGrid (.NET 3.5) EnableLinqExpressions is set to true and the grid is not bound to filterable DataSourceControl.
- In an hierarchical RadGrid when a handler is attached to onCommand client-side event, no items except the first one can be expanded. This is now fixed.
- GridButtonColumn buttons are no longer shown in group footers.
RadInput
What’s New:
- Added new control: RadInputManager, which offers an easy and intuitive way to extend a standard ASP.NET TextBox, and without any extra custom code, introduce much functionality, normally related to a Telerik RadInput control
- Within the RadInputManager, there are four types of settings which could be added:
- telerik:TextBoxSetting - the targeted textbox will exhibit behavior like a normal RadTextBox
- * telerik:NumericTextBoxSetting - the targeted textbox will be accepting numeric input
- * telerik:DateInputSetting - the targeted textbox will be accepting input in a date format
- * telerik:RegExpTextBoxSetting - the targeted textbox will be accepting characters corresponding to a specified regular expression
- Added new property for RadNumericTextBox: KeepNotRoundedValue
RadMenu
What’s New:
- New property – EnableRootItemScroll; Setting this property to “true” in combination with Width/Height will allow the root items to be scrolled.
- Added new server side methods FindItemByText and FindItemByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindItem server side method. It has a parameter as a predicate which is used to find the item.
- Added protected virtual methods for server-side events – OnItemDataBound, OnItemClick
- Support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the ItemTemplate
What’s Fixed:
- Setting the width on an item while it is open now properly updates its width.
- All properties are correctly serialized by GetXml when used in medium trust
RadPanelBar
What’s New:
- Added new server side methods FindItemByText and FindItemByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindItem server side method. It takes one parameter - predicate which is used to find the item.
- Added protected virtual methods for server-side events – OnItemDataBound, OnItemClick
- Support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the ItemTemplate
What’s Fixed:
- All properties are correctly serialized by GetXml when used in medium trust
RadRotator
What’s New:
- New RadTicker control.
- Added start() and stop() functions to the rotator client API.
What’s Fixed:
- Fixed a problem in the FromCode rotator mode - items should not scroll automatically.
- Fixed a problem when the WrapFrames property is set to false.
RadScheduler
What’s New:
- Horizontal scroll in all views. Use the new ColumnWidth property to enable it.
- Design improvements to all skins (only Default, Hay and Office2007 are available for the Q3 2008 Beta, all the others will be updated in the coming week).
- Improved inline form. It is now resizable and will maintain the minimum size specified by the MinimumInlineFormHeight and MinimumInlineFormWidth properties. Opening it no longer requires postback, instead it is rendered on the client (disabled when using templates).
- Improved advanced form. Changes include validated inputs, animations, design improvements and smaller script size. Both the integrated and the sample forms are updated.
- The templates used in the advanced form example are now available in Visual Basic.
- New property: ValidationGroup used by the integrated validators.
- New ISchedulerTimeSlot property – Control. This is a reference to the rendered control (typically a TableCell) that represents this time slot.
- New ISchedulerTimeSlot property - Resource (available in the grouped views).
- New event: ResourceHeaderCreated now complements the Resource Header templates.
- New localization string: “Save”; Replaces “Insert” and “Update”.
- New property: VisualTimeZoneOffset. Used by RadScheduler for determining today’s date, in cases when the server and the clients are in different time zones. The property does not affect the stored data in any way. This property is ignored when TimeZoneOffset is set.
What’s Fixed:
- Dynamically added controls to appointments or time slots can now fire events. Note that AppointmentCreated and TimeSlotCreated will be fired one more time after a postback (before Page_Load). This is necessary, so you can recreate any dynamically added controls.
- Localization string ShowAdvancedForm is now changed from “more” to “options”.
- The Visible property of master appointments can now be set reliably in the AppointmentDataBound event.
- Single click on appointments is no longer interpreted as double-click on already clicked appointments.
What’s Chaged:
- The buttons in the integrated advanced form are now named “InsertButton”, “UpdateButton” and “CancelButton”. Update the IDs if you are using FindControl to access them.
- The resource controls (CheckBoxLists and DropDowns) in the integrated advanced form now have a “Res” prefix. Update the IDs if you are using FindControl to access them.
Know Issues with the Beta (will be fixed in the coming weeks):
- Only the Default, Hay and Office2007 skins are available. The Default skin
will be used if any other skin is set.
- Inline insert/update operations do not work in grouped views
- FormCreated (client-side) is not fired when the insert/edit form is rendered on the client
- ResourceHeaderCreated event is not fired
RadScriptManager
What’s Fixed:
- RadScriptManager always added the MicrosoftAjax.js script, preventing the addition of a customized version of the script. This is now fixed.
RadSlider
What’s New:
- Added ticks and items functionality
RadSpell
What’s Fixed:
- Properly propagate all skin/scripts related properties to the dialog handler/window controls
RadSplitter
What’s Fixed:
- Moved the slidingPane to the main DIV of the splitter, so that when the splitter is ajaxified, the controls in the slidingPane perform callbacks instead of postback.
- When BorderSize=0, the size of the splitbars is now correctly calculated.
RadTabStrip
What’s New:
- Added new server side methods FindTabByText and FindTabByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindTab server side method. It takes one parameter - predicate which is used to find the item.
- Added protected virtual methods for server-side events – OnTabDataBound, OnTabClick
- Support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the TabTemplate.
What’s Fixed:
- All properties are correctly serialized by GetXml when used in medium trust.
- RadTabStrip no longer consumes the click events of any controls located in the TabTemplate.
RadToolBar
What’s New:
- Added new server side methods FindItemByText and FindItemByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindItem server side method. It takes one parameter - predicate which is used to find the item.
- Added protected virtual methods for server-side events – OnItemDataBound, OnItemClick
- Support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the ItemTemplate
What’s Fixed:
- All properties are correctly serialized by GetXml when used in medium trust.
RadToolTip
What’s New:
- Right-to-Left Support
RadTreeView
What’s New:
- Added new server side methods FindNodeByText and FindNodeByValue –they have second boolean parameter ignoreCase.
- Added FindNode server side method. It takes one parameter - predicate which is used to find the node.
- Added support to validate RadTreeView selection
- Improved client-side initialization time
- Improved WebService load on demand performance
- Added ContentCssClass property which is applied at the DIV tag of a RadTreeNode
- Enabled support for server-side expressions (<%= %>) in the NodeTemplate
- Added protected virtual methods for every server-side event – OnNodeDataBound, OnNodeCreated etc.
What’s Fixed:
- RadTreeView no longer consumes the click events of any controls located in the NodeTemplate
- RadTreeView looks as expected in Visual Studio 2008 design time
- The ToolTip, AllowEdit, AllowDrag, AllowDrop properties are now serialized to the server-side during load on demand scenarios
- All properties are serialized when calling GetXml in medium trust
RadUpload
What’s New:
- RadProgressManager and RadProgressArea now support partial updates – custom progress of partially updated controls can be monitored;
- RadProgressArea now works in Opera;
What’s Fixed:
- RadProgressArea width is no longer incorrectly large in Safari.
- RadProgressManager threw an exception in Safari when no files were uploaded. This is now fixed.
- Clicking the Select button now works properly in Firefox when RadUpload is placed in a scrolled element, or in a relatively positioned table.
- RadProgressArea no longer throws a JavaScript error when trying to upload a file with Apostrophe in the name.
- RadProgressArea no longer ignores its Width and Height properties.
RadWindow
What’s New:
- Right-to-Left Support
What’s New:
- Layout fixes when the window is minimized
- Fixed a problem when restoring a maximized window.