Use DevExpress Templates to Create a WinForms Viewer Application

• Mar 25, 2026
• 4 minutes to read

DevExpress Templates help you create a ready-to-use WinForms application with a Dashboard control.

Project Template Kit (Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains Rider)

Use the Cross-IDE Project Template Kit to create a WinForms application with a Dashboard Viewer.

Note

The DevExpress Template Kit includes project templates only for .NET 8+ and C#.

To create a WinForms application with a Dashboard Viewer, follow the steps below:

1. Install the DevExpress Project Template Kit extension. Refer to the following sections in the Project Template Kit help topic for instructions depending on the IDE of your choice:

   • Install and Run the Project Wizard for Visual Studio
   • Install and Run the Project Wizard for Visual Studio Code
   • Install and Run the Project Wizard for JetBrains Rider

2. Select WinForms or BI Dashboards in the Platforms list. Select the WinForms BI Dashboard Viewer Application template:

   

3. Specify additional template options. Click Create Project to generate the project.

.NET CLI Templates

Use CLI Project Templates to create a WinForms application with the BI Dashboard component.

Note

.NET CLI DevExpress Templates include project templates only for .NET 8+ and C#.

DevExpress WinForms project templates are included in our Unified Component Installer.

You can also install the templates from nuget.org or the DevExpress NuGet Gallery (nuget.devexpress.com). If you are new to NuGet, visit the following page for additional information about package management prerequisites: An Introduction to NuGet.

Ensure that the nuget.org source is enabled. If it is disabled, you may encounter error NU1101: Unable to find package DevExpress.Win.ProjectTemplates. To list sources with their status, run dotnet nuget list source. To enable a source, run dotnet nuget enable source <source name>.

To create a WinForms application with a Dashboard Viewer, follow the steps below:

1. Run the following command to install DevExpress WinForms project templates from nuget.org:

   .NET CLI

   dotnet new install DevExpress.Win.ProjectTemplates
   

2. Create a project with the Dashboard Viewer:

   .NET CLI

   dotnet new dx.win.dashboard -n WinDashboardViewer
   

   You can use the following parameters to see available command options: -? | -h | --help. For example, execute the following command:

   .NET CLI

   dotnet new dx.win.dashboard --help
   

   Template Options

   The following list contains options you can specify when creating DevExpress WinForms BI Dashboard project templates:

   -prerelease, --use-prerelease-dx-version

   A flag that indicates whether to use a pre-release DevExpress package version in the project.

   --framework <TFM>

   Specifies the target framework. It expects a target framework moniker (TFM). Example: net8.0.

   --dx-version <version>

   Specifies DevExpress package version to be used in the project. Examples: 25.2.3, 25.2.*, 25.2.*-*

   --dx-nuget-feed <feed>

   Specifies the NuGet Feed URL. Refer to nuget.devexpress.com to obtain your personal feed URL (available for registered users).

   -mcp, --use-devexpress-mcp

   Installs the DevExpress Documentation MCP Server for the generated solution. GitHub Copilot queries DevExpress documentation through this server to improve response accuracy and reduce model hallucinations. Refer to DevExpress Documentation MCP Server for setup details.

Template Gallery (Visual Studio)

The DevExpress BI Dashboard App Template Gallery contains predefined templates for building the Dashboard Designer and Viewer applications for all supported platforms. All available Dashboard templates are listed in the following topic: Template Gallery.

The steps below show how to use the DevExpress Templates to quickly create a ready-to-use WinForms Dashboard Viewer application.

Create a New Project

1. In Visual Studio, create a new project. Select DevExpress v25.2 BI Dashboard App Template Gallery as the project template.

   

   Click Next.

2. Configure your new project and click Create. The Template Gallery opens.

Configure the Template

1. In the invoked Template Gallery, select the target framework (.NET Framework or .NET).

2. Select Dashboard Viewer Application in the WinForms section. Specify the framework version and click Create Project.

   

3. Run the application to see the result.

   

   The WinForms Viewer application displays a sample dashboard. You can change the current dashboard using the built-in Visual Studio Designer.

   To create and edit dashboards at runtime, use the WinForms Designer control.

Next Steps

WinForms Viewer

Describes how to prepare the DashboardViewer control to display a dashboard in the WinForms application.