.NET DEVELOPER
Another Grid: DBI Technologies Grid Tools 2.0
Ed Tittel, Contributor
10.11.2005
Rating: --- (out of 5)
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In my last tip, I took a quick tour of Component One's database display tools, replete with grids, charts, and various other bells and whistles. This time, instead of looking at ways to show program data to users, we'll take a look at a different tool build around a grid model that's designed to capture input from users (or data entry staff). DBI Technologies' Grid Tools 2.0 is a recent (2005) update to this company's well known set of data entry tools. It's implemented in the form of an OCX control named ctGrid.
This tool offers a flexible grid based metaphor for defining tabular layouts for capturing, editing, and displaying program data. It also permits users to make individual columns (related data fields) visible or invisible through checkboxes that determine what's displayed and what's not. It also lets them drag and drop fields from one place to another, dynamically re-arranging how they show on screen.
Where data values should belong to a scalar set, Grid Tools, makes it easy for developers to define the members of that set. After that, a pull-down list appears when the user highlights the field, and they must choose an element from the set to populate the field (it's also possible to define defaults to be automatically supplied, where that makes sense). Where outright data entry (rather than value selection) is needed, Grid Tools supports the following data types:
Text: standard text
Numeric: integers, reals, percentages, currency
Dates: verbose or numeric formats, including options for date formatting chars
Times: options for military time, am/pm, including options for time formatting chars
Masked Text: Alpha or numeric chars, uppercase, maximum chars
Boolean: 2D/3D checkboxes or character data (True/False, Yes/No)
Combos: Lists or combo style (supports pull-down lists)
Images: Image data may be stored in any grid cell
Grid Tools also has a lot to manage the way the data entry/edit facility appears within a frame inside an application or on a Web page (see the demo for a pretty good example). Built-in facilities include the following:
Cell/grid styling: settable options include border type and color, background and text color, text alignment, font, and read-only/edit status.
Grid print function: developers can set up how the contents of the grid will print, including paper sizes, plus custom properties and events for manual paper feed.
Automatic column sizing: developers can specify a property that causes a column to automatically resize to accommodate the largest text string, or to shrink when a column consumes too much real estate on screen.
Numeric column calculations: support column or range based functions for sum, average, min/max.
Text search: Individual columns can be searched for (unique) text strings (the demo did not return multiple hits when a common string was selected).
Column locking: individual columns can be locked to stay on screen even when scrolling horizontally within the grid.
Conditional data entry: beyond type checking for defined types and various data masks supported, this facility permits developers to define data validation checks, jumps to specific next fields upon field completion, read-only data fields, and key stroke controls (that is, only certain legal keystrokes will work for that field).
There's a lot more going on inside this excellent toolset than I can cover in this brief capsule summary, but suffice it to say that most developers seeking a powerful, capable, good-looking data entry toolset will find Grid Tools to be eminently satisfactory.
This toolset offers a great mix of layout and style management capabilities, along with a comprehensive and powerful set of data entry, validation, and grid navigation aids. It costs $299 for a single developer, $1,195 for a five-developer license, and ten-developer or site licenses may be negotiated upon request. To take Grid Tools 2.0 for a spin yourself, grab an eval version from DBI Technologies' Web site.
Ed Tittel is a full-time writer and trainer whose interests include XML and development topics, along with IT Certification and information security topics. E-mail Ed at etittel@techtarget.com with comments, questions, or suggested topics or tools to review.
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