Telerik UI for Windows 8 Q2 2014: Connecting DataGrid With Database

Getting out of the comfort zone is something no one favors. The comfort zone is warm, cozy and manageable. Stepping out of it, at least for me, is the same as leaving a warm bed on a cold morning to go to the dentist. That’s how I feel whenever I have to deal with the data storage side of my Windows/Windows Phone apps as well. What do I use for local storage? How do I make my UI “talk” to the database? How to I sync with the cloud? What if there’s no internet connectivity? The list of questions can get pretty big. Implementing such a solution is definitely not rocket science but it’s tedious and time consuming. 

Today, I’m excited to announce the release of our DataStorage provider for the Windows 8 DataGrid. This provider makes it incredibly easy to connect the DataGrid to the DataStorage and perform data operations from the DataGrid’s UI.

During the past year we've been on a journey to address developers’ pain points that stretched beyond the UI. Sensing the gap of a local database solution in Windows 8/Windows Phone we announced a new Data Storage framework that is available both for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. This framework is built on-top of the SQLite engine with its core engine written in C++ and optimized for the mobile world. Our solution, however, is not a mere SQLite wrapper. It adds simple ORM features, support for LINQ to SQL, Indices, Async and automatic schema inference.
All this is awesome, but as usual, things can always be better.
 
What does this DataStorage provider do?
It simplifies the process of connecting the DataGrid to the DataStorage. The new DataStorage provider enables developers to perform data operations right from the DataGrid’s UI.



What problems does it solve?
The DataStorage provider enables support for scenarios that otherwise would cost valuable development time. Consider a simple scenario where data operations made from DataGrid’s UI need to be reflected in the DataStorage. Before the data provider was available, the developer had to manually connect the DataGrid to the DataStorage, track all data changes (new/updated/deleted items) and submit them to the DataStorage.
The new DataStorage provider takes all this complexity away. Any data operation made from DataGrid’s UI is automatically reflected in the DataStorage. That’s not all. Another advantage of the new provider is that it delegates all sorting and filtering operations to the DataStorage. This approach greatly improves the responsiveness of your app.
 
Anything else?
With the Q2 2014 release we've included support for Inverse Axes in the Chart. With this feature developers can now present data using decreasing numbers. Applications that could benefit from this new feature are apps that visualize race timings, system performance, errors counts, etc.



 

 
If you want to learn more about what’s new, Telerik’s DevCraft Q2 2014 Online Conference is the place for you.