FarPoint's Spread for Windows Forms Product Tour

Press the arrow above to begin the tour or select the features that interest you the most from the list on the right. You can also view the features that will be covered in the tour map.

Spread for Windows Forms is a comprehensive spreadsheet component for Windows Forms applications that combines grid capabilities, spreadsheet functionality, and includes the ability to bind to data sources. A single control can handle up to 2 billion sheets, each with up to 2 billion rows and 2 billion columns. Cross-sheet referencing allows calculations to make use of data and formulas on a variety of sheets.

You can control the appearance and the user interaction in a variety of ways. With most of the Spread's appearance and functionality based on underlying models, the advanced developer has complete control over the component.

Import and export capabilities provide another source of flexibility when developing and exchanging designs. Spread for Windows Forms can handle data from comma-delimited text files as well as multiple spreadsheets from Microsoft Excel files. The contents of a sheet may be saved as a Microsoft Excel file (BIFF8 format) or stream, text file, or as a Spread XML file.

The Spread for Windows Forms Product Tour addresses the following features.
Click on a topic link to take you directly to that page or section.

NOTE: Topics that have the image next to them include a video clip that you can view. Click on the image to view the short video.

Product Overview
1. Standard Feature Overview
  1. Multiple Sheets
  2. Customized Appearance (Skins and Styles)
  3. Spannable Cells
  4. Headers with Multiple Columns and Rows
  5. Sorting Capabilities
  6. Multiple Cell Types
  7. Hierarchical Display
  8. Data Binding
  9. Built-In Functions
  10. Navigation
  11. Spread Designer
  12. Import and Export Capabilities
  13. Ink Notation Support
2. Namespaces Overview
3. Concepts Overview
  1. Shortcut Objects
  2. Object Parentage
  3. Underlying Models
  4. Formatted versus Unformatted Data
Customizing the Appearance
1. Customizing the Appearance of a Sheet
  1. Working with the Active Sheet
  2. Working with Multiple Sheets
  3. Tab Strip Location
  4. Adding a Sheet
  5. Removing a Sheet
  6. Hiding a Sheet
  7. Setting the Background Color for the Sheet
  8. Displaying Grid Lines on the Sheet
  9. Customizing the Sheet Corner
  10. Applying a Skin to a Sheet
  11. Creating a Custom Skin for a Sheet
2. Customizing the Appearance of Rows or Columns
  1. Customizing the Number of Rows or Columns
  2. Adding a Row or Column
  3. Removing a Row or Column
  4. Setting the Row Height or Column Width
  5. Resizing the Row or Column to Fit the Data
  6. Hiding a Row or Column
  7. Creating Alternating Rows
3. Customizing the Appearance of Headers
  1. Customize the Style of Header Cells
  2. Showing or Hiding Headers
  3. Customizing the Default Header Labels
  4. Customizing Header Label Text
  5. Creating a Header with Multiple Rows or Columns
  6. Creating a Span in a Header
4. Customizing the Appearance of a Cell
  1. Working with the Active Cell
  2. Coloring a Cell
  3. Aligning Cell Contents
  4. Resizing the Cell to Fit the Data
  5. Customizing Cell Borders
  6. Creating a Complex Border with Multiple Lines
  7. Creating a Range of Cells
  8. Spanning Cells
  9. Merging Cells Automatically
  10. Allowing Cell Data to Overflow
  11. Creating and Applying a Style for Cells
Customizing User Interaction
1. Customizing Interaction in the Overall Control
  1. Customizing Clipboard Operation Options
  2. Customizing Undo and Redo Actions
  3. Customizing Interaction Based on Events
  4. Handling Events of Subeditors
  5. Customizing the Scroll Bars
  6. Customizing the Display of the Cursor
  7. Customizing the User Error Messages
  8. Resetting Parts of the Control
  9. Allowing the User to Zoom
  10. Adding a Context Menu to a Control
  11. Hosting the Control on a Web Page
2. Customizing Interaction with a Sheet
  1. Customizing Viewports
  2. Customizing Split Boxes
  3. Customizing the Position in the Display
  4. Placing Child Controls on a Sheet
3. Customizing Interaction with Rows and Columns
  1. Allowing the User to Move Rows or Columns
  2. Freezing Rows or Columns
  3. Trailing Frozen Rows and Columns
  4. Allowing the User to Resize Rows or Columns
4. Customizing User Searching of Data
  1. Allowing the User to Perform a Standard Search
  2. Allowing the User to Perform an Advanced Search
  3. Searching for Data with Code
5. Customizing User Filtering of Data
  1. Allowing Row Filtering
  2. Using Row Filtering
  3. Customizing Filter List Behavior
  4. Customizing Styles for Row Filtering
  5. Customizing the List of Filter Items
  6. Creating a Completely Custom Filter
6. Customizing User Selection of Data
  1. Specifying What the User Can Select
  2. Customizing the Selection Indicator
  3. Working with Selections
  4. Hiding the Selection When Focus is Lost
7. Customizing Interaction with Cells
  1. Understanding Edit Mode
  2. Using Drag and Drop
  3. Displaying Drag and Fill
  4. Displaying Text Tips
  5. Adding a Note to a Cell
  6. Adding a Tag to a Cell
  7. Locking a Cell
  8. Setting up Conditional Formatting of Cells
  9. Allowing the Display of Buttons in a Cell
  10. Customizing the Focus Indicator for a Cell
  11. Allowing User Functionality
Managing Cell Types
1. Working with Editable Cell Types
  1. Setting a Currency Cell
  2. Limiting Values for a Currency Cell
  3. Setting a Date-Time Cell
  4. Customizing the Pop-Up Calendar
  5. Setting a General Cell
  6. Setting a Mask Cell
  7. Setting a Number Cell
  8. Setting a Percent Cell
  9. Setting a Regular Expression Cell
  10. Setting a Text Cell
  11. Displaying Spin Buttons
  12. Working with a SubEditor
  13. Displaying a Calculator
2. Working with Graphical Cell Types
  1. Setting a Button Cell
  2. Setting a Check Box Cell
  3. Setting a Combo Box Cell
  4. Setting a Multiple-Column Combo Box Cell
  5. Setting a Hyperlink Cell
  6. Setting an Image Cell
  7. Setting a List Box Cell
  8. Setting a Multiple Option Cell
  9. Setting a Progress Indicator Cell
  10. Setting a Rich Text Cell
  11. Setting a Slider Cell
Managing Formulas
1. Placing a Formula in Cells
2. Specifying a Cell Reference in a Formula
3. Using a Circular Reference in a Formula
4. Nesting Functions in a Formula
5. Recalculating and Updating Formulas Automatically
6. Allowing the User to Enter Formulas
7. Creating and Using a Custom Name
8. Creating and Using a Custom Function
Managing Data on a Sheet
1. Placing and Retrieving Data
  1. Handling Data Using Sheet Methods
  2. Handling Data Using Cell Properties
  3. Understanding Cell Type Effects on Displaying Data
  4. Repeatedly Filling a Range of Cells with Copied Cells
2. Validating User Input
  1. Checking Changed Cell Data
  2. Checking Validity by Cell Type
3. Rearranging Data on a Sheet
  1. Copying Data on a Sheet
  2. Moving Data on a Sheet
  3. Swapping Data on a Sheet
4. Sorting Data on a Sheet
  1. Sorting All Rows or Columns
  2. Sorting Data in a Range
  3. Performing Automatic Sorting
  4. Allowing the User to Perform Automatic Sorting
5. Removing Data from a Sheet
  1. Clearing Data from a Sheet
Managing Data Binding
1. Binding to a Data Set
2. Adding an Unbound Row to the Sheet
3. Customizing Column Headers for Bound Sheets
4. Customizing Cell Types for Bound Sheets
5. Customizing Column and Field Binding
6. Working with Hierarchical Data Display
Managing File Operations
1. Saving Data to a File
  1. Saving to a Spread XML File
  2. Saving to an Excel File
  3. Saving to a Text File
2. Opening Existing Files
  1. Opening a Spread XML File
  2. Opening an Excel File
  3. Opening a Spread File
  4. Opening a Custom Text File
3. Saving and Loading a Skin
  1. Saving a Skin
  2. Loading a Skin
Managing Printing
1. Specifying Which Parts to Print
  1. Printing a Sheet with Default Values
  2. Printing a Range of Cells
  3. Printing Particular Pages
  4. Printing a Hierarchical Spreadsheet
  5. Printing Cell Notes
  6. Printing Shapes
  7. Calculating the Page Count
2. Customizing the Printing
  1. Customizing the Printing
  2. Adding Header and Footer Text to Printed Pages
  3. Optimizing the Printing
  4. Printing a Watermark
  5. Adding Page Breaks
3. Previewing the Printing
  1. Providing a Preview of the Printing
Managing Keyboard Interaction
1. Underlying Keystroke Processing
2. Default End-User Keyboard Navigation
3. Default Maps
4. Factors of Map Usage
5. Global versus Local Application of Maps
6. Input Map Plus Action Map
7. Customizing the Input Maps
Using Shapes
1. Using the Built-in Shapes
2. Working with Shapes
  1. Working with Shapes in Code
  2. Designing a Shape from the Toolbar
  3. Changing the Appearance of a Shape
Using Sheet Models
1. Understanding the Data Model
2. Understanding the Axis Model
3. Understanding the Selection Model
4. Understanding the Span Model
5. Understanding the Style Model
6. Understanding the Optional Interfaces
7. Creating a Custom Sheet Model
Spread Designer

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