The ComponentArt Web.UI Framework

ComponentArt features Web.UI for ASP.NET AJAX—the first suite of controls designed specifically
for ASP.NET AJAX. The library has a variety of advanced user interface controls for use
in sophisticated Web applications—for example, grids, splitters, tree views, and drop-down
lists. The Callback control, on the other hand, provides base AJAX capabilities.

The Web.UI library goes beyond mere compatibility or basic interoperability with ASP.NET
AJAX. Rather, it offers deep integration into the new Microsoft AJAX framework. You find a
bunch of server controls enriched with a client-side object model that fully leverages the
Microsoft AJAX Client Library type system. (We’ll cover the Microsoft AJAX Client Library
in Chapter 2.) In particular, all controls inherit from the Sys.UI.Control client-side base class
and expose extensive client-side methods and attributes to be invoked and set via script.
Controls participate in the client-side life cycle, notify events, and communicate with native
DOM elements.

All Web.UI controls have the ability to command AJAX postbacks on their own or through
the ASP.NET AJAX’s UpdatePanel control. (See Chapter 4.) For example, the TreeView and Grid
controls implement their own built-in lightweight callback mechanisms for things such as
load on demand or paging.

Similar to the ASP.NET AJAX UpdatePanel, the CallBack component can optionally wrap controls to update, and it can either bypass the standard page life cycle and execute server-side
logic more quickly or maintain the latest state of all ASP.NET controls contained in the page
through the view state. The client-side model of the CallBack component can be used from the
client to execute server-side code. The CallBack control, though, is not used by any other
Web.UI control internally.

For more information, visit http://www.componentart.com.