ASPxSiteMapControl

ASP.NET Site Map Control - A part of the ASPxperience Suite An easier way to build your site map by automatically retrieving site content and arranging links according to your requirements.

The ASPxSiteMapControl adds an advanced site map generation engine to your development arsenal. It gives you what you would expect from a site map control and much more. As you would expect, it lets you read an XML site map and visualize it using numerous automatic link arrangement options. It offers you advanced style customization mechamisms and even node templates so you can display anything you like within a site map node - from page descriptions to images.

The ASPxSiteMapControl includes a unique data source component - ASPxSiteMapDataSource. This component extends the standard data source to make it much easier to customize the structure of your site map. With this component you don't even need to have an XML site map file. It enables you to build your site map automatically based on the structure of your current site. Along with automatic site map generation, you can easily customize the site map manually - simply drag pages from the site structure tree view to the site map. You can create your own nodes manually or delete individual nodes directly in the designer - everything's under your total control.

Since we use many of our own web controls within this site, you can see the ASPxSiteMapControl in action. Take a look at the following page to see our implementation site map.

The following is a list of features available to you. To try these features online, please visit our ASPxperience Suite Online Demo Center.

ASPxSiteMapControl - Site Map Component

• You can bind the ASPxSiteMapControl to a data source so that node data is retrieved from an XML file or a database table. Note that there is a SiteMapDataSource standard component that allows you to supply a site's structure to the site map control.
• The ASPxSiteMapControl can automatically break data into the specified number of columns. You can also set the start node and appearance settings for each individual column.
• Categorized view is available. You can split a site map into several horizontal sections - one section per each root-level node. In each section, links can be arranged within multiple columns. To enable this link layout, set the Categorized property to true. (Show Me)
• You can arrange items within groups using a flow layout (links are arranged one after another instead of being arranged one under another). To control this layout use the control's FlowLayout... properties. (Show Me)
• You can control the layout direction of site map groups. The RepeatDirection property allows you to specify whether groups should be arranged across and down, or down and across. (Show Me)
• Templates can be specified for all site map nodes at once or for nodes at each particular level. You can also specify templates for column separators. (Show Me)
• You can change the appearance of each element in each state either directly via properties or by assigning a CSS class.
• Individual appearance settings are available for each column and each hierarchy level.
• Several auto-formats are available so you can quickly apply a design to your site map with just a couple of mouse clicks. (Show Me)

ASPxSiteMapDataSource - Site Structure Data Source

• The ASPxSiteMapControl ships with the ASPxSiteMapDataSource component that provides advanced data binding capabilities. Using this component, you can automatically retrieve the current site structure, customize the node tree manually or use these approaches together.
• The new SiteMapFileName property allows you to bind the ASPxSiteMapDataSource to an external XML file. Previously, to do the same, you would first have to modify your web.config file to create and customize a provider. Then, you would have to bind the ASPxSiteMapDataSource component to this provider. Even after completing these steps you were unable to preview site map data at design-time, which was made possible with the new SiteMapFileName property.
• You can now create a new site map file, bind it to a site map data source and invoke the site map editor using just one click. Use the new Create New SiteMap... link available via the ASPxSiteMapDataSource smart tag.

DevExpress Core Framework for ASP.NET AJAX Controls

The entire DevExpress ASP.NET Product Line was built on top of a shared framework implementing numerous advanced features like callback-enabled processing, Client-side API, SharePoint Integration, Web Accessibility, cross-browser rendering and much more.