DevExpress XAF is a framework for .NET and Visual Studio developers who wants to create Office-like LOB apps for desktop, web and mobile faster and without hiring a large team.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
A new OfficeNavigationBar-based ribbon template for Windows desktop SDI - YOUR FEEDBACK IS NEEDED!
We are considering the addition of the new WinForms SDI ribbon template with the OfficeNavigationBar component on it in v16.1, so I wanted to share our initial thoughts on it and also ask a few questions. First, this is approximately what it would look like in action:
Expectedly, there will also be animated transitions while switching the screens (like in our WinForms Outlook Inspired App demo). Pixel-hunters might also notice there are less borders between the navigation panel and the view site. The latter is possible because the navigation control is no longer hosted inside a dock panel (so no floating is available as well), which confused application end-users in the past and caused other difficulties. As a result, we hope the whole UI is more clean and easy to read than it was before.
At this stage, we planned to add only a single template with OfficeNavigationBar that will be used when FormStyle=Ribbon and UIType=SDI. That is mainly because this modern Office-like navigation feature is more natural for the ribbon menu. Another reason is that we want to avoid creating more templates due to increased maintenance for us + due to the fact that it will likely add more complexity and confusion for the XAF developers thinking which template to customize from the already long list.
Questions:
Q1: Is this new SDI mode (with the OfficeNavigationBar-based ribbon template) something your clients would like to use?Q2: What do you think about the removal of the navigation dock panel that will help have less borders and more clean UI for other WinForms templates?
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My team and I are looking forward to hearing from you in comments to this post. Thanks in advance!
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Hi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteQ1: Yes.
Q2: I agree to the removal of the panel dock, several users do the undocking or accidental closing of panel and have difficulty to restore the previous state.
A question: TreeList navigation is available in new OfficeNavigationBar template?
Thanks,
Paolo Cellarosi
Hi Paolo,
DeleteThanks for your feedback!
>>...several users do the undocking or accidental closing of panel and have difficulty to restore the previous state<<
Yes, this is exactly what I meant when saying "...which confused application end-users in the past and caused other difficulties".
>>
A question: TreeList navigation is available in new OfficeNavigationBar template?
<<
By default the OfficeNavigationBar is "married" to the NavBarControl. There can be a mode when a tree list is shown inside the NavBarGroup, though.
Thanks for your requests!
ReplyDeleteQ1: probably yes
Q2: yes!
Hi Dennis, a1: yes with Hope that this will ne ready for web UI too,
ReplyDeleteA2: pls remove the dockpanel , our user hide and I hide the navigation but not move the position.
Hi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteWe typically use the Tabbed MDI in our applications and, in some cases, override the application menu to be our navigation instead of the typical actions that are in the menu. This allows us to hide the default navigation all together.
Q1: I think we would seriously consider switching some of our clients to this new template as it looks much cleaner.
Q2: I don't see any reason not to make the navigation fixed in other templates. Removing borders also makes sense.
run on Windows XP ?
ReplyDeleteYes, on XP SP3, which is compatible with .NET 4.0
DeleteQ1: depends on the number of groups, the bottom bar takes some screen space, but can give more opportunities
ReplyDeleteQ2: Fixed is better, collapse should still be possible of course
Thanks, Robert!
DeleteWill it be possible to display an icon next to the navigation group name (in the footer)?
ReplyDeleteI know that Outlook doesn't have icons there, but DevExpress usually does better than Microsoft, doesn't it? :)
Thanks for your feedback. I've forwarded it to our WinForms division and they will take it into account regarding future updates (~16.1+) of the OfficeNavigationBar component.
Delete