FarPoint Spread is a suite of Microsoft Excel-compatible spreadsheet components available for .NET, COM, and Microsoft BizTalk Server. Software developers use the components to embed Microsoft Excel-compatible spreadsheet features into their applications, such as importing and exporting Microsoft Excel files, displaying, modifying, analyzing, and visualizing data. Spread components handle spreadsheet data at the cell, row, column, or worksheet level.
This article is about the last FarPoint edition of the Spread product line. Spread is now developed by GrapeCity, Inc. Since the acquisition, Spread for Biztalk Server has been removed from the product line and SpreadJS, a JavaScript version, has been added.
History
1991 Spread released as a DLL control as the initial product offering from FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
2009 FarPoint Technologies acquired by GrapeCity.[3][4]
Versions
Spread for Windows Forms: 5.0
Spread for Web Forms: 5.0
Spread COM: 8.0
Spread for BizTalk: 3.0
Screenshot of FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms version 5 in Visual Studio 2010.
Screenshot of FarPoint Spread for Web Forms (ASP.NET).
Screenshot of FarPoint Spread COM.
Spread for Windows Forms
FarPoint Spread for Windows Forms is a Microsoft Excel-compatible spreadsheet component for Windows Forms applications developed using Microsoft Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. Developers use it to add grids and spreadsheets to their applications, and to bind them to data sources.[5] In version 4.0, new cell types were added to display barcodes and fractions, and exports for XML and PDF were added.[6][7]
Spread for ASP.NET
FarPoint Spread for ASP.NET is a Microsoft Excel-compatible spreadsheet component for ASP.NET applications. Developers use it to add grids and spreadsheets to their applications,
Spread for COM
FarPoint Spread 8 COM allows COM and ActiveX applications to incorporate spreadsheet features. In the 1997 book Visual Basic 5 for Windows for Dummies, Wally Wang lists an early version of Spread COM in Chapter 35: The Ten Most Useful Visual Basic Add-On Programs.[8]
Spread for BizTalk
FarPoint Spread for BizTalk Server allows developers to integrate Microsoft Excel documents into Microsoft BizTalk applications. Spread for BizTalk Server includes two components:
Spreadsheet Pipeline Disassembler - Parses data from Microsoft Excel (XLS and Excel 2007 XML, CSV, TXT) documents into XML data for processing through Microsoft BizTalk Server receive pipelines.
Spreadsheet Pipeline Assembler - Assembles data from Microsoft BizTalk applications into Microsoft Excel (XLS or Excel 2007 XML) or PDF documents for transport through Microsoft BizTalk Server send pipelines.
Developers find it a useful tool for organizations with Microsoft BizTalk Server Enterprise Application Integration.[9] Prior to this release, BizTalk users wanting to use Excel data had to manually open the files and copy and paste data between the two applications.[10]
Features
These features are common to all versions.
Predefined cell types, including:
currency
date time
number
percent
regular expression
button
check box
combo box
hyperlink
image
Formula support, including:
cross-sheet referencing
over 300 built-in functions
Import and export:
import to Microsoft Excel-compatible files
export to Microsoft Excel-compatible files
export to HTML files
export to XML files
Design-time spreadsheet designer
Data-binding with customizable options
Hierarchical data views, with parent rows and child views
