Infragistics.NetAdvantage.Ultimate.2011 ASP.NET Product Changes


Hi everyone, I want to bring you up to date on some important changes coming in the ASP.NET toolset for the 2010.1 release and beyond.  But before I do that, I want to thank all of you for making the Aikido conversion a huge
success for our ASP.NET product line. This major undertaking, which started in 2007 with the re-design and re-writing of all of our controls to support the modern capabilities in ASP.NET Ajax framework would not have been such a market leading success without
the continued support from you. Thank you for keeping us on the right track and for continued feedback which is making the new Aikido controls the best performing Ajax controls on the market. Since the Aikido controls have matured, we have reached the threshold
which allows us to take the next step. I am both happy and sad to announce that starting with the next release, 2010.1, we will no longer include any of our ‘classic’ controls in the toolbox.

This is the first step in the process of retiring the classic controls from the product, which allows us to go full swing with exclusive development on the Aikido based ASP.NET product line so we can continue to take the product
innovation to the next level. Starting with the 2011.1 [Update : 2011.2]
release (approximately a year from now) we will remove the classic controls from the product completely. However, you probably have multiple applications that you are still supporting, so the classic controls will still be available to you as a separate
download package. Let’s take a look at what we have moving forward, and what is going to eventually be retired.

The following list of controls that are going to be part of the NetAdvantage ASP.NET toolset moving forward: 

WebDataGrid
WebHierarchicalDataGrid
WebDatePicker
WebMonthCalendar
WebTab
WebExplorerBar
WebEditors
WebTextEditor
WebMaskEditor
WebNumericEditor
WebDateTimeEditor
WebPercentEditor
WebCurrencyEditor

WebDataMenu
WebDataTree
WebProgressBar
WebDropDown
WebDialogWindow
WebSplitter
WebImageViewer
WebSlider
WebHierarchicalDataSource
WebGauge
WebChart
WebSchedule
WebDayView
WebMonthView
WebCalendarView

WebImageButton
WebCalcManager
WebSpellChecker
WebHTMLEditor
WebResizingExtender
(And any new controls we add to the product)
 

What controls are going to retire?

All the controls that we’ve re-written using the Aikido framework and some of which there are alternative for will be retired from the ASP.NET product. These include the following controls:

WebGrid
WebCombo
WebDateChooser
WebListBar
WebCalendar
WebToolbar
UltraWebTab
WebDataInput
WebTextEdit
WebMaskEdit
WebNumericEdit
WebDateTimeEdit
WebPercentEdit
WebCurrencyEdit

WebMenu
WebTree
WARP Panel
WebPanel
WebNavBar
WebWeekView
WebGridExcelExporter
WebGridDocumentExporter
 

What if I want to get to the classic controls?

All the controls will still ship as part of the product, you just won’t see them in the toolbox starting with the 2010.1 release. There will be help documentation that will give complete information on how to find those controls and use them if you need to.
I will update this blog with more information on how to get to that help topic.

What if I find a bug in the classic control set?

We will be maintaining the classic control as part of our product line with regular service releases up to the normal expiration of the 2011.1 maintenance period, which is roughly 1 year after 2011.1 releases.  After this service release, which falls sometime
in early 2012, we will no longer fix bugs or including fixes as part of the normal service release schedule.  To review our complete product lifecycle support policy, check this link:

http://www.infragistics.com/support/product-lifecycle.aspx#ProductLifecycle

In addition to this support lifecycle for the classic controls, we will not be adding support for new browsers or operating systems for the classic ASP.NET controls after the 2010.1 release.  This does not affect the extensive
OS and browser testing and support we have for the Aikido controls, so rest assured you will still see our controls work as expected in modern browsers like Internet Explorer, Fire Fox, Chrome and Safari.   

When will you retire these classic controls?

Starting with the 2011.1 [Update : 2011.2] release, we will not be shipping any of the classic controls as part of the ASP.NET product. Our plan is to provide a stand-alone install for the Classic controls. We will maintain these controls
like the rest of the product and will retire these controls completely when the maintenance period for 2011.1 ends, which as I mentioned earlier, ends up being early 2012. To review our complete product lifecycle support policy, check this link:

http://www.infragistics.com/support/product-lifecycle.aspx#ProductLifecycle

Where is the ASP.NET toolset going?

We are committed to our ASP.NET product, and we are committed to helping you be even more successful using the Infragistics ASP.NET tools.  This change allows us to focus exclusively on the new, modern Aikdio based toolset, where we will continue to innovate
- as well as maintaining our market leading data grid rendering performance. As we build out new controls which target modern, RIA scenarios, we will also continue to build more of the rich, high performing line of business controls which target modern browsers
and enterprise applications.  As usual, If you are looking for a feature that you don’t see in the product, make sure to let me know at
murtazaa@infragistics.com.

Are you going to retire more controls in the future?

No, this is only a one time product change, and we are not planning on retiring any more controls from the product in future.  At Infragistics, we take product changes like this very serious, and we understand the possible disruption it can have.  We are doing
this change with the utmost understanding that it could create some challenges for you. Please do not hesistate to let us know if you need help with anything, our team here will be happy to assist you.

If you have any questions on any of the above, please feel free to reach out to me at
murtazaa@infragistics.com

Regards,

Taz.