XAF - Updated Blazor Video, Rich Text Editor & SaaS Examples, Text Notifications, Support & Documentation Tips

A new month brings with it a new edition of eXpressApp Framework (XAF) Tips & Tricks. We certainly hope the information contained within will be of value as you explore and leverage the capabilities of our cross-platform UI application framework for .NET developers. As always, if you’ve come across any helpful XAF-related support tickets we may have inadvertently missed, please do share the links in the comment section below.

XAF's Blazor UI Updates

First, some long-awaited good news: XAF's Blazor UI v21.1 assemblies, demos and project templates will target .NET 5 instead of .NET Standard 2.1. This opens new capabilities, both for us and also for XAF users: CSS Isolation, new Microsoft Identity Web packages for the latest Azure Active Directory SDK, performance and debugging enhancements, and so on. For more information, please review these Microsoft articles: The future of .NET Standard | What's new in ASP.NET Core 5.0 | Migrate from ASP.NET Core 3.1 to 5.0. Also, please await our 2021 roadmap in the next blog post!

Updated Overview Video

New Example: Rich Text Editor

This example shows how to edit rich text documents, stored using the Office module, from within your XAF-powered Blazor apps.

ReportsV2 Module

• Create predefined reports in Visual Studio for use with .NET Core 3+, .NET Standard 2+, and .NET 5+ projects: Create Predefined Static Reports.
• Access Blazor-specific report controls in code by using a ViewController: Preview Control | Designer Control.

New Example: Сhange Database at Runtime from the Logon Form

This example shows how to connect your application to another database after the application has already started. As a case in point, this could be required for a multi-tenant SaaS application where you need to connect a user or company to their own database with the same structure.

Text Notifications

The following help topic describes how to show and customize notifications in Blazor applications: Text Notifications.

Security System Updates

• We have extended and enhanced the descriptions of the modes for our Security System: Client-Side Security (2-Tier Architecture) | Middle Tier Security (XPO Only).
• In v20.2.5, we removed the validation rules that prevented the deletion of the last active administrator or the last administrative role that has active users (see Breaking Change T955006). From customer feedback, we found that this generic solution was unable to cover all possible scenarios, and so we highly recommend that you implement custom rules that would apply to your specific application and cover all necessary scenarios. The following help topic describes how to do this: How to: Prevent Users from Deleting and Updating Administrative User and Role Objects.

Interesting Support Tickets & Resolved Issues

• Blazor - Change the pop-up window size
• Blazor - Display item tooltips
• Core - Access a parent Detail View from a Dashboard View Item
• WinForms - Change the size of Accordion navigation item images
• Blazor - The NavigationItems node is empty in the Model Editor for a configuration with the Security System (the User, Role, and My Details navigation items are missing) (Fixed in v20.2.5)
• ReportsV2.Blazor - Report Designer is not rendered under certain circumstances (Fixed in v20.2.6)

Updated KB Articles

• Blazor - Windows Active Directory and OAuth External Authentication Providers (Google, GitHub, Azure AD)
• Core - How to port an XAF platform-agnostic module from .NET Framework to .NET Standard 2.0+
• Core - FAQ: How to measure and improve application performance
• WinForms - How to enable/disable runtime layout customizations in DetailView and DashboardView

Need Faster Support Replies?

Once you create a new XAF ticket in the DevExpress Support Center and select XAF under the Platform/Product field, please review the following help links displayed above the Submit button. These links describe how you can collect callstacks, logs and other important diagnostic information for any .NET error. Once you collect/compile this information, forward it to us along with your support ticket. This information will ensure faster and more accurate replies from support.