Office (Edit Rich Text & Spreadsheets)

• Dec 07, 2021
• 4 minutes to read

The Office Module integrates the following DevExpress controls into an XAF application:

• WinForms Rich Text Editor with Mail Merge support
• ASP.NET Web Forms Rich Text Editor with Mail Merge support
• ASP.NET Core Blazor Rich Text Editor
• WinForms Spreadsheet
• ASP.NET Web Forms Spreadsheet

You can see a demonstration of the Office Module in the Property Editors and Reports sections of the Feature Center demo installed in the %PUBLIC%\Documents\DevExpress Demos 21.2\Components\eXpressApp Framework\FeatureCenter folder.

Note

XAF does not support the Spreadsheet editor for ASP.NET Core Blazor applications.

Office Module Capabilities

Rich Text Editor

The Office Module provides three platform-specific Property Editors:

• the DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Win.RichTextPropertyEditor, which uses the RichEditControl in WinForms applications
• the DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Web.ASPxRichTextPropertyEditor, which uses the ASPxRichEdit control in ASP.NET Web Forms applications
• the DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Blazor.Editors.RichTextPropertyEditor, which uses the DxRichEdit component in ASP.NET Core Blazor applications

These editors allow end-users to edit rich text documents stored in different formats.

The RichTextPropertyEditor in a WinForms application

The ASPxRichTextPropertyEditor in an ASP.NET Web Forms application

The RichTextPropertyEditor in an ASP.NET Core Blazor application

You can also create Mail Merge templates to generate documents based on data from your application database.

Note

ASP.NET Core Blazor applications do not support Mail Merge templates.

A Mail Merge template in a WinForms application

A Mail Merge template in an ASP.NET Web Forms application

See Also

• How to: Access the Rich Text Editor Controls
• How to: Customize the Rich Text Editors
• Ways to Improve the Performance of ASP.NET Web Forms Office Module Editors

Spreadsheet Editor

The Office Module provides two platform-specific Property Editors:

• the DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Win.SpreadsheetPropertyEditor, which uses the SpreadsheetControl in WinForms applications
• the DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Web.ASPxSpreadsheetPropertyEditor, which uses the ASPxSpreadsheet control in ASP.NET Web Forms applications

These editors allow end-users to edit spreadsheet documents.

The SpreadsheetPropertyEditor in a WinForms application

The ASPxSpreadsheetPropertyEditor in an ASP.NET Web Forms application

See Also

• How to: Access the Spreadsheet Editor Controls
• How to: Customize the Spreadsheet Editors
• Ways to Improve the Performance of ASP.NET Web Forms Office Module Editors

Office Module Components

Modules

Platform	Module
platform-agnostic	OfficeModule
WinForms	OfficeWindowsFormsModule
ASP.NET Web Forms	OfficeAspNetModule
ASP.NET Core Blazor	OfficeBlazorModule

Application Model Extensions

The Office Module extends the Application Model with the following properties:

Module	Extended node	Extending node	Property
OfficeModule	IModelMember	IModelRichTextFormatSettings	DocumentStorageFormat
	IModelMember	IModelSpreadsheetPropertyEditorSettings	EnableFormulaBar
OfficeWindowsFormsModule	IModelColumn	IModelRichTextColumn	CustomHeight
	IModelPropertyEditor	IModelWinOfficeMenuManagerSettings	MenuManagerType
OfficeAspNetModule	IModelPropertyEditor	IModelWebRichTextPropertyEditorHeightSettings	CustomHeight
	IModelPropertyEditor	IModelWebRichTextPropertyEditorSettings	MenuManagerType
	IModelPropertyEditor	IModelWebSpreadsheetPropertyEditorSettings	CustomHeight
	IModelPropertyEditor	IModelWebSpreadsheetPropertyEditorSettings	MenuManagerType

Add the Office Module to Your Application

Follow the steps below to add the Office Module to your application. If you added this Module when you created an XAF application, the Solution Wizard generates the following code automatically:

1. Add the following NuGet packages:

   Package	Project
   DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office	platform-agnostic module project (MySolution.Module)
   DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Blazor	Blazor-specific module project (MySolution.Blazor.Server)
   DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Win	WinForms-specific module project (MySolution.Win)
   DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Web	ASP.NET Web Forms-specific module project (MySolution.Web)

2. In the application constructor, add the platform agnostic and platform-specific Office Modules to the Modules collection:

   WinForms
   File: MySolution.Win\WinApplication.cs.

   C#

   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office;
   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Win;
   // ...
   public partial class MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication : WinApplication {
       public MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication() {
           // ...
           Modules.Add(new OfficeModule());
           Modules.Add(new OfficeWindowsFormsModule());
       }
       // ...
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office
   Imports DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Win
   ' ...
   Partial Public Class MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication
       Inherits WinApplication
       Public Sub New()
           ' ...
           Modules.Add(New OfficeModule())
           Modules.Add(New OfficeWindowsFormsModule())
       End Sub
       ' ...
   End Class
   

   ASP.NET Web Forms
   File: MySolution.Web\WebApplication.cs.

   C#

   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office;
   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Web;
   // ...
   public partial class MySolutionAspNetApplication : WebApplication {
       public MySolutionAspNetApplication() {
           // ...
           Modules.Add(new OfficeModule());
           Modules.Add(new OfficeAspNetModule());
       }
       // ...
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office
   Imports DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Web
   ' ...
   Partial Public Class MySolutionAspNetApplication
       Inherits WebApplication
       Public Sub New()
           ' ...
           Modules.Add(New OfficeModule())
           Modules.Add(New OfficeAspNetModule())
       End Sub
       ' ...
   End Class
   

   ASP.NET Core Blazor
   File: MySolution.Blazor.Server\BlazorApplication.cs.

   C#

   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office;
   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Blazor;
   // ...
   public partial class MySolutionBlazorApplication : BlazorApplication {
       public MySolutionBlazorApplication() {
           // ...
           Modules.Add(new OfficeModule());
           Modules.Add(new OfficeBlazorModule());
       }
       // ...
   }
   

   Tip

   • Alternatively, you can add these Modules to the ModuleBase.RequiredModuleTypes collection of the platform-specific Module.
   • In .NET Framework applications, you can also use the Module Designer and Application Designer to add a module to your project.

3. In ASP.NET Core Blazor applications, call AddXafOffice in the Startup.ConfigureServices method to register the required Office Module services in IServiceCollection:

   File: MySolution.Blazor.Server\Startup.cs.

   C#

   using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Office.Blazor;
   // ...
   public class Startup {
       // ...
       public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services){
           //...
           services.AddXafOffice();
       }
       // ...
   }