.NET Compact Framework controls

.NET Compact Framework controls
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Initial release	2002 (2002)
Stable release	3.5.9198.0 / July 20, 2009 (2009-07-20)
Website	msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa497273

NET compact framework controls is a set of controls for .NET Compact Framework.

Overview

The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework is a sub-library of .NET framework. It simplifies the mobile application development of smart devices. These are to a large extent limited by the screen size, CPU performance or memory capacity. .NET compact framework takes some of the controls and libraries from .NET framework. Moreover it optimizes them to match the limited options of mobile devices in comparison with PCs. There are certain criteria of user interface that mobile users demand. While plenty of functions of standard PC or Mac applications add to the user experience, they might decrease the mobile user experience. Mobile screen is usually small. Therefore, the user may often miss click on mobile screen with many buttons. All of the .NET compact framework controls are hence optimized to overcome the possible limits of mobile devices. Since .NET CF controls only offer basic functions for mobile developers, they are often using also third party controls which help to speed up the development time.

Features

• faster UI development
• widely used controls
• source code availability
• possibility to develop applications in Microsoft Visual Studio

.NET CF controls description

Controls and Components	Windows Mobile	Windows Phone 7	Android	iOS	Libraries	Description
AdvancedCombo	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Drop-down list control.
AdvancedList	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileFormsToolkit	List control with many functions.
AdvancedTree	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Data organized in tree nodes that can be expanded or collapsed.
Audio	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Audio control for managing mp3, wav, ogg, spx and raf files.
Button	Yes				.NET CF	Button that responds to the user's tap.
CallHistory	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Access to phone’s database of call history.
CheckBox	Yes				.NET CF	Checkbox option.
ComboBox	Yes				.NET CF	Drop-down list from which users can select a value.
CompactChart	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Control for Pie, Bar, Line, Doughnut and Area charts.
ContextMenu	Yes				.NET CF	Pop-up menus displayed when touching the object or item
Control	Yes				.NET CF	Base for custom controls creation.
CustomKeyboard	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Custom keyboard layouts.
DateEditor		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Advanced customized styles for selecting dates.
DataGrid	Yes				.NET CF	Display data from DataSet, DataView or DataTable.
DateTimePicker	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Pick date and time.
DetailView	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileFormsToolkit	Grouping of items in compact environment.
DocumentList	Yes				.NET CF	Displays and manages documents.
DomainUpDown	Yes				.NET CF	Definition of the list of controls that the control displays.
GPS	Yes	Yes			MobileFormsToolkit	GPS device functionality.
HardwareButton	Yes				.NET CF	Controls for hardware buttons of pocket device.
Help	Yes				.NET CF	Help function.
HScrollBar	Yes				.NET CF	Horizontal scroll bar.
ImageBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Image control for jpg, tiff, png files.
ImageButton	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Adjustable button controls.
ImageList	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Holds and provides images to the ListView, TreeView and ToolBar controls.
IndeterminateProgressBar		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Replacement of standard Silverlight’s ProgreeBar
InkBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Control for management of written notes or signatures.
InputPanel	Yes				.NET CF	Controls Soft Input Panel.
KeyboardPro	Yes				MobileForms Toolkit	Advanced Keyboard Control
LinkLabel	Yes				.NET CF	Simple hyperlink functionality.
LocationServices	Yes	Yes			MobileFormsToolkit	Implements Google’s and Bing’s positioning services.
Label	Yes				.NET CF	Displays text.
ListBox and ListControl	Yes				.NET CF	Lists of items from which users can select a value.
ListView	Yes				.NET CF	Displays a grid.
LogFont	Yes				.NET CF	Defines a logical font.
MaskedTextBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Limits input characters to match certain criteria.
MainMenu	Yes				.NET CF	Adds menu to a form.
MessageBox	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	One or two buttons message boxes.
MessageDialog		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	User messages control.
MessageWindow	Yes				.NET CF	Generate and receive Windows messages.
Notification	Yes				.NET CF	Displays and responds to user notifications.
MobileDevice	Yes				.NET CF	Releases cached resources.
MonthCalendar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileFormsToolkit	Month/year scheduling control.
NumericUpDown	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Numeric input. Combination of a text box and a vertical scroll bar.
OpenFileDialog	Yes				.NET CF	Provides access to a standard open file dialog box.
PasswordInput		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Password control that can be added to DetailView.
PhoneButton		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Button class with advanced properties.
PhoneCheckBox		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Alternative to the system checkbox.
PhoneComboBox		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Combo box with pop up selector.
PhoneImageButton		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Button control that displays state-dependent image.
PhoneSpinControl		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Numeric input control.
PhoneTextBox		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Textbox class with styling properties.
PhoneTextControl		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	PhoneTextControl with content formatting.
PictureBox	Yes				.NET CF	Displays images.
ProgressBar	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Visual indicator of a progress of a task.
RadioButton	Yes				.NET CF	Graphical button and a text descriptor.
RichTextBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Control allowing the formatted text displaying/editing.
SaveFileDialog	Yes				.NET CF	Opens a save file dialog.
ScreenOrientation	Yes				.NET CF	Allows you to change the screen orientation value to 90, 180, or 270.
ScrollBar	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Allows to scroll the screen easily.
ShortcutBar	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Shortcut control.
SIM	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Provides an access to all information on SIM.
SmartGrid	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Presents the data into cells.
StatusBar	Yes				.NET CF	Adds a status bar to a form.
TabBar			Yes		MobileForms Toolkit	TabBar with advanced graphic capabilities.
TabControl	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Tabbed interface for an application.
Telephony	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Access to phone device/Bluetooth/WiFi.
TextBox	Yes				.NET CF	Basic text input field.
ThemedButton		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Control for theme-independent buttons.
TimeEditor		Yes			MobileForms Toolkit	Time picker control.
Timer	Yes				.NET CF	Simple timer functionality.
ToolBar	Yes				.NET CF & MobileFormsToolkit	Adds toolbar to a form.
Tooltip	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Provides tooltip.
TouchCheckBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	CheckBox with transparent background color.
TouchComboBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Drop-down list combo control.
TouchDateTimePicker	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Allows to pick date and time.
TouchPanel	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Touch panel control.
TouchRadioButton	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Radio button with transparent background color.
TouchTextBox	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Control for simple text input.
TrackBar	Yes				.NET CF	Used to obtain a numeric input.
TransparentLabel	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Label with transparent background color.
TreeView	Yes				.NET CF	Displays tree control.
VScrollBar	Yes				.NET CF	Implementation of a vertical scroll bar.
WebDAV	Yes	Yes			MobileFormsToolkit	basic WebDAV functionality.
WeekCalendar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	MobileFormsToolkit	Day/week view scheduling control.
ZIP	Yes				MobileFormsToolkit	Compressed files management.