Ext.NET 2 Now Available

After over more than year and a half of development, the official Ext.NET 2 release is now available for download.

Ext.NET 2 integrates the Sencha ExtJS 4 library making it even easier for ASP.NET developers, both Web Forms and MVC (more on that below), to build the next generation of HTML5 enabled web applications.

With access to 100+ Controls, Ext.NET developers now have the largest integrated suite of ASP.NET Controls and HTML5 based Charts available today.

Thousands of new features and improvements have been added to Ext.NET 2, and it’s going to take more than a few blog posts to work through the details. To help you get the most out of Ext.NET, we’re starting a regular blog series to communicate new features, functionality, and developer tips.

Quick Installation

The quickest and easiest way to install Ext.NET 2 is using the Visual Studio Package Manager and NuGet. One simple call to Install-Package Ext.NET using NuGet and everything you need will be automatically installed and configured within seconds.

PM> Install-Package Ext.NET

All download options are available on the new Ext.NET download page.

Public release versions of Ext.NET Pro, including the Examples Explorer, and the new MVC Examples Explorer are available with full source code from GitHub. Be sure to keep up to date by following the Ext.NET Pro project.

ASP.NET MVC Support

With Ext.NET 2 we are thrilled to announce full support for ASP.NET MVC, including full support for the Razor View Engine.

Everything in Ext.NET now “just works” in both Web Forms and MVC projects. All Ext.NET Components, all properties, all methods and all client/server-side events are fully supported.

Please note, this is not some subset of additional widgets, or an under-developed side library. With Ext.NET you choose your platform and know you need not make sacrifices for missing functionality. The versatility of language options allow Ext.NET developers to choose an architecture best suited for their project and team.

The following sample demonstrates creating the same basic Window Component using three different language options: ASP.NET MVC Razor, ASP.NET Web Forms markup, and C# code-behind.

Example (ASP.NET MVC Razor)

@(Html.X().Window()
    .Title("Hello World")
    .Icon(Icon.Application)
    .Height(215)
    .Width(350)
    .BodyPadding(5)
    .Html("An Ext.NET Window")
) 

Example (ASP.NET Web Forms)

<ext:Window
    runat="server"
    Title="Hello World"
    Icon="Application"
    Height="215"
    Width="350"
    BodyPadding="5"
    Html="An Ext.NET Window"
    /> 

Example (C#)

var win = new Window {
    Title = "Hello World",
    Icon = Icon.Application,
    Height = 215,
    Width = 350,
    BodyPadding = 5,
    Html = "An Ext.NET Window"
}; 

Charting

New in Ext.NET 2 (ExtJS 4) is a plugin free (no Flash!) Charting package. Charting is included in the main Ext.NET library and not a separate package. Install Ext.NET and you also instantly have a fully integrated powerful Charting package right within the library.

And… just like all other Components in Ext.NET, the Charting library is fully supported in ASP.NET MVC Razor View Engine.

@(Html.X().Chart()
    .Height(350)
    .Width(350)
    .Shadow(true)
    .Series(Html.X().PieSeries()
        .Highlight(true)
        .HighlightSegmentMargin(20)
        .Label(new SeriesLabel
        {
            Field = new string[] { "Name" },
            Display = SeriesLabelDisplay.Rotate
        })
    )) 

New Ext.NET Book

It’s 400+ pages, and it’s awesome!

In case you missed the recent blog post announcing the new Ext.NET book, there’s a new Ext.NET book available from Packt.

Authored by long time Ext.NET community member and friend of Ext.NET Anup Shah (onenaught.com), the book provides a comprehensive look into all the major components, features and functionality of Ext.NET 2.

If you’re an active Ext.NET developer, Chapter 9 on “Extending Ext.NET Controls – Custom Controls and Plugins” is worth the price of the book alone.

Get the book for FREE!

As a special reward for all new Ext.NET Pro bundle purchasers, Ext.NET is including a FREE copy of the eBook, or “Print Book + eBook”, depending on the quantity of licenses purchased. More information and pricing available in the Store.

Community Forums

We’re seeing activity within the Community Forums increase daily and regularly hitting 125+ new posts per day. The post count is closing in quickly on 100,000 and recently passed 22,000 discussions.

Special Thanks

We want to thank all community members for their feedback during our earlier releases. Thanks! Your contributions, feedback and bug reporting were fantastic and really helped to refine the Ext.NET 2 release.

We’re super excited about this release. It’s been a lot of work, and we’re interested in your feedback. Please feel free to post questions or comments in the Ext.NET Community Forums and let us know what you think.

Follow Ext.NET on Twitter using @extnet or tag us using #extnet.