The Definitive Guide to C# .NET Spreadsheets

Nearly every business application requires the display and/or editing of tabular data, whether that data comes from a database, external/internal files or parties, or even Microsoft Excel workbooks. The requirement is simple — allow this data to be accessed and/or edited. From here, there are several options to consider regarding your application and the requirements of your users. This blog will provide you with all the information you need, including:

• Do you need a Grid or a Spreadsheet?
• An Overview of .NET and WinForms
• Key Features of WinForms Spreadsheet Components
• Adding a WinForms Spreadsheet and Ribbon to a WinForms Application

Grids vs. Spreadsheets

Grids and spreadsheets are both tools used for organizing and presenting data, but they have distinct characteristics:

Grids:

• A grid is a basic structure that consists of rows and columns.
• Grids make it easy to bind to a singular data source to display tabular data.
• Formatting and other customizations are usually limited to the row and column levels, which is ok for several types of data presentation needs.

Spreadsheets:

• Spreadsheets are designed for data manipulation and analysis.
• They use a grid-like structure where each cell can contain data, formatting, formulas, functions, and more.
• Spreadsheets allow users to perform calculations, create charts, and analyze data.
• They are commonly used for financial modeling, project management, data tracking, and other similar business applications.

In summary, grids are more general-purpose structures, while spreadsheets are specifically designed for data management and analysis.

Now, the most important question when determining the best component for your application is: Do you need a grid or a spreadsheet?

You should use a grid if:

• You want to work with tabular data
• You want to bind to a singular data source
• The fields of a data source are not going to change
• You only want to edit existing data or add new entries (rows) to it

A spreadsheet would be a better fit if:

• You want to provide an Excel-like spreadsheet UI and features for your users
• You need to import and/or export native Excel files
• You want to perform calculations on data and change cell values based on those calculations
• You need to allow your users to be able to better analyze the data
• You need to present many familiar UI features of Excel, such as charts, tables, sparklines, conditional formatting, and other similar features

An Overview of .NET and WinForms

The .NET Framework

.NET is a software development framework that helps users build and run Windows apps and web services by providing a consistent, object-oriented programming environment to code in, minimizing versioning conflicts, promoting safe execution of code, and eliminating performance problems of scripted or interpreted environments.

WinForms Applications

The .NET framework can support many different types of applications. One type that can be used is Windows Forms (also known as WinForms). This is a development platform and UI framework that helps create rich desktop client applications for Windows computers. It also features a visual drag-and-drop designer within Visual Studio that makes designing UI easy.

Key Features of WinForms Spreadsheet Components

Familiar UI

Users of a WinForms spreadsheet are accustomed to a specific user interface when working with spreadsheets, so a WinForms version should provide that same experience, eliminating the need for the customer to learn a new UI. This helps to lessen the user’s learning curve. A WinForms Spreadsheet component should include the standard spreadsheet controls, context menus, and even a ribbon control so the customer can interact with and manipulate a spreadsheet.

Excel Import and Export

WinForms spreadsheets should be able to open and save native Excel .XLSX files, or other popular formats, like CSV. A user should be able to load any existing Excel file they have, make changes, and then save those changes back to an Excel file.

Calculation Engine

A major component of any spreadsheet is a calculation engine, which should provide hundreds of formulas to calculate data in a spreadsheet. These functions should be similar to those present in Excel and support built-in formulas, custom formulas, and array formulas. A user should be able to enter these formulas in a cell and provide feedback on the syntax, and the calculation engine should evaluate arithmetic expressions and return the resulting value(s) in a cell or cell range.

Charts and Shapes

With WinForms spreadsheets, charts and sparklines represent data from a spreadsheet in a graphical format. They’re extensively used in data analytics, particularly for making sense of large amounts of data. These types of charts can include Column, Line, Pie, Area, Bar, Combo, Radar, Sunburst, Treemap, and Funnel.

Shapes, on the other hand, are graphics that can convey different sorts of information, such as pictures or diagrams. In some cases, shapes can be bound to specific data to affect properties like size, shape, color, etc.

Tables

In some cases, the data in a spreadsheet might be a bit overwhelming to understand or analyze, which is where tables come in handy. Tables can be created from ranges of cells in a worksheet, typically containing related data in rows and columns. Tables typically allow you to change themes and styles to make the data more readable.

Cell Types and Data Validation

A WinForms spreadsheet component should also provide functionality to apply cell types and data validation to individual cells. Cell Types define the kind of information that appears in a cell, how that information can be entered and displayed, and how the user can interact with it. Examples include entering or displaying numbers, lists, date/time, checkboxes, pickers, or custom and error alerts.
 
Data Validation gives developers control over what types of data users can add to a spreadsheet.

Conditional Formatting

An important part of WinForms spreadsheet components is the ability to change the style of a cell based on specific data in the cell. This is known as conditional formatting — a way to specify conditions that data in a cell must satisfy, which changes visual properties like the cell text color, background color, or styles. This can help users automatically highlight important information or easily spot trends in the data using the values they specify.

Filtering and Sorting Data

Another common feature of a WinForms spreadsheet is the ability to filter and sort data, allowing users to analyze information quickly and effectively. Filters can be added to data to separate data based on different conditions, including numbers, text, date, color, and custom conditions. A user should be able to see only rows of data that fit the specified criteria while all other data is hidden.

Sorting data should organize cells by a particular order, either ascending or descending. The criteria for sorting could also be by the cell’s value, background color, or font color. The sorting should also support using multiple sorting keys, sorting by one row or column first, then another, and so on.

Workbooks and Worksheets

WinForms spreadsheet components should have a concept of workbooks and worksheets. Workbooks are essentially a collection of worksheets (also known as spreadsheets) that consist of cells in which you can enter and calculate data to organize it better. You should also be able to reference data on a different worksheet.

Globalization

.NET spreadsheets should support multiple languages, which is where globalization comes in handy. With potential customers in different countries, it may be a requirement to ensure that spreadsheets and formula entry can be interacted with and displayed in multiple languages for those customers.

Spreadsheet Component Use Cases

Similar to Excel, WinForms spreadsheets should support different use cases to be useful in many different types of applications besides solely spreadsheets.

Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet is the primary use case for a WinForms spreadsheet component. This includes workbooks and worksheets with calculations and tables. Users should be able to store, manipulate, and analyze data, as well as organize it for searching, sorting, calculation, and visualization.

Advanced Grid

Another use case for a WinForms spreadsheet component is an advanced data grid. This is more useful for working with tabular data in which new fields will not be added. This is ideal for requirements like analyzing and managing data in a column-oriented setting.

Reports with PDF / Print

Users might also want to use a WinForms spreadsheet component for reporting purposes, allowing users to display and analyze data in a user-friendly way. Users can add the business context needed to their data to display that data effectively. This should also include features like pagination, data filtering, sorting, and conditional formatting. After creating reports, a WinForms spreadsheet component should support printing or exporting to PDF for appropriate sharing with other departments or organizations.

Dashboard

Another common use case for a WinForms spreadsheet component is the ability to easily create dashboards, allowing users to visualize data using data visualizations such as charts and shapes. Examples include showcasing company KPIs, sales, and finance reports.

Data Entry/Input Forms

Users should also be able to create input forms with a WinForms spreadsheet component to lay out different cells for data entry, lock other cells for form information, and then gather and save the user-inputted data. This can be used for many different types of forms, including insurance, business, and tax forms.

Adding a WinForms Spreadsheet and Ribbon to a WinForms Application

Now that we better understand the many features and use cases for the top WinForms spreadsheet components, we can explore adding a WinForms spreadsheet and ribbon into an application.

For this example, we will use the Spread.NET WinForms spreadsheet and its Ribbon Control. This will allow us to quickly support all the features and use cases in this article.

Download the finished project to follow along.

Project Setup

Let’s start by opening Visual Studio and creating a new Windows Forms App (.NET Framework):

Next, we need to add a reference to the Spread WinForms control by right-clicking on References and then selecting “Manage NuGet Packages”:

Search for “GrapeCity.Spread” and install the “GrapeCity.Spread.WinForms” NuGet package:

After installing the required references in the project, we need to add the licenses.licx file into the project by adding a new text file and adding some content to it:

licenses.licx:

FarPoint.Win.Spread.FpSpread, FarPoint.Win.Spread

Adding the Spread and Ribbon Controls

With Spread .NET, integrating a WinForms spreadsheet and a ribbon is very simple. Now that we have the correct reference, all we need to do is click and drag the FpSpread and RibbonBar controls from the toolbox onto the Form design in Visual Studio:

To connect the two, simply click on the small arrow at the top right of the Ribbon control when hovering over it and select the FpSpread instance:

To properly dock things, the Ribbon Bar should have the Top, Left Anchors, and the Top Dock. The FpSpread instance should have the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right Anchors and None for the Dock.

Opening an Excel File

With Spread .NET, no further code is needed to support opening an Excel file. When running the form, simply clicking on File > Open will open an Excel file in Spread .NET and display that file in your WinForms application.

Conclusion

There are several options to choose from when it comes to meeting the spreadsheet needs of customers. Utilizing a leading .NET WinForms spreadsheet component can solve most, if not all, of these requirements. Offer users functionality like data manipulation, calculations, a familiar UI, data visualization, and Excel compatibility. Empower users with fast and intuitive spreadsheet experiences in the comfort of their web browser with fast and intuitive spreadsheet experiences in the comfort of their applications with a WinForms spreadsheet component.

This article only scratches the surface of .NET spreadsheet components and solutions. We covered the background of .NET and WinForms. We also discussed the differences between grids and spreadsheets, as well as the key features and use cases for WinForms spreadsheets. We also presented a short example showing how easy it can be to add these types of features to your own applications using a popular WinForms spreadsheet. Now, it is up to you to try out some .NET spreadsheet tools, experiment with different features, and see how you can improve your application and user experience!