CODEWITHSUNDEEP
winformsribbon
Developer
Developer

Reputation: 18699

Ribbon UI Control for WinForms

Is there a Ribbon UI Control available in VS 2008? Will it be available if i have office 2007 installed on the development and deployment machines?


EDIT: I would imagine that Microsoft would include the Ribbon UI control in VS 2008 as this is the way the UI of office is going to be moving forward also for the sake of consistency in Windows applications

Upvotes: 15

Views: 23516

Answers (9)

Jsvnascar
Jsvnascar

Reputation: 1

I'd say that DevComponent's DotNetBar is the best Office 2007/2010 ribbon around. The only problem is you have to buy it ($264 for single license, $299 for single license plus source code, and $2995 for single site license). Try the demo, it gives you a 28 day test drive (everything from the purchased software will for for only 28 days). Their current version is 8.8.

Reference

Upvotes: 0

PhilPursglove
PhilPursglove

Reputation: 12589

There's a Ribbon control on Codeplex that you could try.

Upvotes: 2

BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft

Reputation: 86146

Another possibility no-one has mentioned: You could use a WPF Ribbon control and host it in a Winforms WPF-container.

Upvotes: 1

BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft

Reputation: 86146

There is this project. Unlike every other answer so far, it is very easy to use, is native Winforms, and supports Windows XP. Unfortunately, it is pretty buggy, and appears to be abandoned.

It was picked up by another developer here (who, for some inane reason, refuses to upload it to an online repository). It's a bit buggy in the designer, but appears to work well at runtime. I think this is your best option if you have to support XP, and don't want to use WPF.

Upvotes: 0

arik
arik

Reputation: 367

If you use Windows 7 / Vista, Microsoft provides Windows Ribbon Framework - a free ribbon control that comes with the operating system (In vista, check the platform update).

The main reason why to use the Windows Ribbon Framework: It's developed by Microsoft.

This means:

  • Since it’s the original one, it contains ALL the features, as opposed to other free/commercial ribbon controls which always have those "not implemented" sections.

  • It has COMPLETE support and integration with windows 7 UI & accessibility features. Just think about touch screen support or high DPI screens compatibility.

Also, there is a managed wrapper library named Windows Ribbon for WinForms which allows you to use the ribbon in .NET WinForms applications.

Upvotes: 6

Rob
Rob

Reputation: 48387

With regards to licencing, you'll want to check out the Microsoft Office UI licencing information, and acquire a royalty-free licence. There are specific stipulations you must adhere to, as well as recommended/best practices portions of the licence.

Jensen Harris notes that if you are writing an application which directly competes with a Microsoft productivity application that uses the ribbon (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, etc.), you will not be able to obtain a royalty-free licence.

Upvotes: 6

Toon Krijthe
Toon Krijthe

Reputation: 53476

Beware, if you want to use ribbon controls, you need to get special permission by microsoft to do so. Most of the times it will be a formality unless your name is open office.

The information is presented at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/aa973809(en-us).aspx.

Upvotes: 4

Stephen Doyle
Stephen Doyle

Reputation: 3744

Yes - it was included as part of the Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 - at least for C++/MFC support anyhow.

See this similar question for more info.

Upvotes: 7

Lucas Jones
Lucas Jones

Reputation: 20203

I find that the Telerik RadRibbon control is quite good, although a bit inflexible. It also is (and this is the main reason I am suggesting it) a VS2008 Express registration benefit (see MS Connect), but otherwise the Telerik website.

Upvotes: 0

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