Summarize and Translate Reports in the WinForms Document Viewer

• Jun 06, 2025
• 4 minutes to read

Follow instructions in this article to integrate AI-powered Summarize and Translate commands into the WinForms Document Viewer.

Summarize

Uses generative AI to summarize report content and displays core insights associated with this report.

Translate

Uses AI services to translate report content to another language.

Tip

You can also integrate the Translate Inline command that allows you to translate reports when previewing a report. Refer to the following help topic for details: Inline Report Translation in the WinForms Document Viewer.

Activate AI Assistant

Install NuGet Packages

Install the following NuGet packages:

• Microsoft.Extensions.AI.OpenAI (Version=”9.5.0-preview.1.25265.7”)
• Azure.AI.OpenAI (Version=”2.2.0-beta.4”),
• DevExpress.AIIntegration.WinForms
• DevExpress.Win.Design (activates design-time features for DevExpress UI controls)

The following tutorial uses Azure OpenAI. Refer to the requirements section for information about NuGet packages required for other supported AI services.

Register AI Client

The following code snippet registers an Azure OpenAI client at application startup:

C#

using Azure.AI.OpenAI;
using DevExpress.AIIntegration;
using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using System.ClientModel;

internal static class Program {
    static string AzureOpenAIEndpoint { get { return "AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"; } }
    static string AzureOpenAIKey { get { return "AZURE_OPENAI_APIKEY"; } }
    static string DeploymentName { get { return "MODEL_NAME"; } } // For example, gpt-4.1.
    [STAThread]
    static void Main(){
        IChatClient client = new AzureOpenAIClient(
            new Uri(AzureOpenAIEndpoint),
            new ApiKeyCredential(AzureOpenAIKey))
                .GetChatClient(DeploymentName).AsIChatClient(); 
        AIExtensionsContainerDesktop.Default.RegisterChatClient(client);
        ApplicationConfiguration.Initialize();
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports Azure.AI.OpenAI
Imports DevExpress.AIIntegration
Imports Microsoft.Extensions.AI
Imports System.ClientModel

Friend Module Program
    Private ReadOnly Property AzureOpenAIEndpoint() As String
        Get
            Return "AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"
        End Get
    End Property
    Private ReadOnly Property AzureOpenAIKey() As String
        Get
            Return "AZURE_OPENAI_APIKEY"
        End Get
    End Property
    Private ReadOnly Property DeploymentName() As String
        Get
            Return "MODEL_NAME"
        End Get
    End Property
        <STAThread>
        Sub Main()
        Dim client As IChatClient = (New AzureOpenAIClient(New Uri(AzureOpenAIEndpoint), New ApiKeyCredential(AzureOpenAIKey))).GetChatClient(DeploymentName).AsIChatClient()
        AIExtensionsContainerDesktop.Default.RegisterChatClient(client)
        ApplicationConfiguration.Initialize()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
        End Sub
End Module

Note

Review the following help topic for information on how to register other supported AI services: How to Register an AI Client.

Add Document Viewer

1. Drop the DocumentViewer component from the Toolbox onto a Form.

2. Create a Ribbon or Standard Toolbar to allow users to invoke the context menu with behavior commands in the Document Viewer.

   

3. Specify the Document Source option. Use an object that supplies a document to the Document Viewer.

Create and Configure AI Assistant Behaviors

Follow the steps below to attach a behavior to the Document Viewer control at design time:

1. Drop the BehaviorManager component from the Toolbox onto a Form.

2. (For .NET Framework Projects) Use the Register AI-Powered Behaviors option in the BehaviorManager’s smart tag menu to add the “AI-Powered Behaviors” submenu with report behaviors to BehaviorManager.

   

3. Use the Edit Behaviors option in the BehaviorManager’s smart tag menu to access the behavior collection.

4. Add Translate and Summarize behaviors and configure their settings:

   

   The following settings are available:

   • Summarization Mode (for Summarize behavior)

     • Abstractive mode understands the text and rephrases it in a concise form.
     • Extractive mode extracts key sentences or phrases from the original text.

   • Language (for Translate behavior)

     Specifies target languages/cultures for text translation.

   • Temperature

     Controls the randomness of the output. Lower temperatures (value: 0-1) yield more predictable and focused outputs, while higher temperatures (value: 1-2) produce more diverse and creative responses.

   • Target

     Attaches behaviors to DevExpress controls.

Create and Configure AI Assistant Behaviors at Runtime

The following code activates Summarize and Translate commands in two steps:

• Registers behaviors: DocumentSummarizeBehavior and DocumentTranslateBehavior
• Attaches behaviors to the Document Viewer control

C#

using DevExpress.AIIntegration;
using DevExpress.AIIntegration.WinForms;
// ...
public partial class Form1 : Form {
    public Form1() {
        InitializeComponent();
            behaviorManager1.Attach<DocumentSummarizeBehavior>(documentViewer1, behavior => {
                behavior.Properties.SummarizationMode = SummarizationMode.Extractive;
            });
            behaviorManager1.Attach<DocumentTranslateBehavior>(documentViewer1, behavior => {
                behavior.Properties.Languages = new LanguageInfo[] {
                    new LanguageInfo("de-DE"),
                    new LanguageInfo("es-ES")
                };
            });
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.AIIntegration
Imports DevExpress.AIIntegration.WinForms
' ...
Partial Public Class Form1
    Inherits Form

    Public Sub New()
        InitializeComponent()
            behaviorManager1.Attach(Of DocumentSummarizeBehavior)(documentViewer1, Sub(behavior)
                behavior.Properties.SummarizationMode = SummarizationMode.Extractive
            End Sub)
            behaviorManager1.Attach(Of DocumentTranslateBehavior)(documentViewer1, Sub(behavior)
                behavior.Properties.Languages = New LanguageInfo() {
                    New LanguageInfo("de-DE"),
                    New LanguageInfo("es-ES")
                }
            End Sub)
    End Sub
End Class

Use Translate Command

You can access the Translate command in the AI context menu of WinForms Document Viewer.

Right-click an opened report or selected report content. Select Translate from the AI Assistant submenu.

A dialog appears. Specify the input text range (selected content, document page, or entire document) and target language. Click “Translate” to generate and display a translation.

Click the copy icon to copy operation output.

Use Summarize Command

You can access the Summarize command in the AI context menu of WinForms Document Viewer.

Right-click an open report or selected report content. Select Summarize from the AI Assistant submenu.

A dialog appears. Specify the input text range for summarization (selected content, document page, or entire document). Click “Summarize” to display the summary.

Click the copy icon to copy operation output.