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Improve Your Web Site
by Andy Clark

November 22, 2005

ComponentArt's Web.UI 3.0 for ASP.NET provides a set of GUI components that helps you create interactive Web sites. Web.UI provides Menu, TreeView, NavBar, TabStrip, MultiPage, SiteMap, Rotator, Calendar, Grid, Callback, and Snap components that utilize Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (AJAX)-style callbacks (see Figure 1). Each component is also fully featured and supported with solid documentation and sample code.

AJAX callbacks are designed to give the strength of server-side functionality with great efficiency. They minimize the amount of communication required between the client and the server to give the user a more responsive environment.

The Menu, TreeView, NavBar, TabStrip, Grid, and Calendar tools are ASP.NET implementations of old friends. Web.UI provides full-featured implementations of these tools, complete with custom designers, property pages, and solid runtime controls. Web.UI further supports broad client-side and server-side capabilities. The client-side functions use scripts to give your forms basic operations, such as the ability to change components, color, visibility, and content. Note that the components themselves provide an interactive feel through their properties. On the menu, for example, these properties control whether a menu is expanded when the user's mouse hovers or whether a click is required. Server-side functions support more sophisticated interactions through postbacks and server-side events.

Web.UI's other components are more Web-oriented. MultiPage, for instance, supports loading a series of pages that you can move on the client side without requiring callbacks to the server. SiteMap provides a tool for presenting a Web site map to users in a variety of layouts. In addition to full-page layouts, it also offers a drop-down format that you could easily fit on a page that performs other functions.

Rotator provides functionality similar to a stock ticker or slide show in a variety of formats. Snap allows you to add docking areas, complete with drag and drop, to your pages. Callback acts as a wrapper for other ASP.NET content, allowing other client-side controls to utilize the efficiency of AJAX callbacks.

ComponentArt provides a wide variety of documentation and sample code for Web.UI, as well as a live tutorial that does an excellent job of demonstrating all of Web.UI's capabilities. ComponentArt's support staff is responsive and knowledgeable.

Deployment of Web.UI does require some simple manual steps that are well documented. I would like to see ComponentArt develop a wizard to walk you through deployment, though this is not a major burden.

Note that you can purchase each tool separately, which ranges from $99 to $399. Snap is available for free. Purchase of the package allows you to use the product on your company's Web sites. Resale of the components packaged into products requires a more expensive license.

Web.UI gives you a great deal of control over the look and feel of your product. The client-side features allow you to develop responsive and scalable functionality.

Web.UI 3.0 for ASP.NET
ComponentArt
Web: www.componentart.com
Phone: 416-622-2923
Price: $799
Quick Facts: GUI tools for ASP.NET.
Pros: Eight full-featured navigation and presentation tools that you can use to create highly interactive Web pages.
Cons: An installation wizard would be a good addition to Web.UI.

About the Author
Andy Clark is a lead analyst with the Virginia Community College System. He holds PMP, MCSD, and SJCP certifications. Reach him at .