This version includes the following improvements:

• Data validation and Conditional formatting share the same formula engine. This engine is dynamic. For example, if a formula contains "=A1" and A1 is move to A2, the formula will be updated to "=A2"
• Some worksheet protections bugs have been fixed
• Workbook protection is now implemented

This August release candidate contains the following improvements:

• The application menu is now 2010 style

• Minor bug fixes for pie and area charts
• Data validation is now checked after entering a cell value

The July 2010 release version is available for download at www.clearoffice.com/download.html.

This version fixes bugs in several areas (printing, multiple selection, etc) and introduces the embedded XAML elements.

Enjoy.

As noted a previous post, Clear Office provides an unparalleled level of integration between spreadsheet documents and .NET/WPF: you can host spreadsheets inside WPF and host WPF elements inside a spreadsheet.
In particular, this means you can use data binding inside a spreadsheet.
For example, say you want to include host a slider and bind its value to the value of a cell. Here is the XAML code:

<Slider xmlns:UI='clr-namespace:Office.Spreadsheet.UI;assembly=Office.Spreadsheet.UI' xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation'
    Minimum='0' Maximum='100'
    Value='{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=(UI:SpreadsheetElement.Worksheet)[A1].Value}'

</Slider>

The main point of interest is the path of the binding of the value: (UI:SpreadsheetElement.Worksheet)[A1].Value. This path contains three parts.

• First: (SpreadsheetElement.Worksheet) is an attached property which gets the ambiant worksheet hosting the WPF element.
• Second: [A1] access the cell named “A1” in this worksheet - class Worksheet exposes an indexer to access cells by name.
• Third: Value accesses the value of the cell.

This binding is a two way binding: if you change the value of the cell, the slider’s value will be updated.

Conversely, if you slide the thumb of the slider, the value of the cell will be updated.

For more info, download the latest release candidate at www.clearoffice.com/rc and open the sample named  “EmbeddedObjectsSample”.

This version fixes some print issues when printing charts.

This version improves the following:

• Cells can hold values of type decimal
• The worksheet grid now supports custom cell editors. See the CustomCellEditorSample for a sample

For quite some time, Clear Office has enabled software developers to host spreadsheets inside their WPF application.

Starting with version 1.0.2010.0710, Clear Office supports hosting WPF elements inside a worksheet. Clear Office supports hosting any descendant of FrameworkElement including any control, shape or panel. Here is a sample screen shot in Clear Office:

In this screen shoot, the button filled with an orange ellipse is a WPF button.

You can save spreadsheet documents with embedded WPF elements to a .xlsx file and open them with Excel. Here is a screen shot of the same file in Microsoft Excel

Rountripping is also supported: you can save files from Excel and reopen them in Clear Office.

How it works

Before this release,, worksheet anchors could contain only the following:

• Shape, Picture, GroupShape and Connector from Office.Drawing
• GraphicFrame from Office.Chart

This release introduces a new option for anchored content: XamlElement. XamlElement in turns contains a Content of type FrameworkElement.

Here is the code to add someElement inside a anchor of a worksheet

OneCellAnchor anchor = new OneCellAnchor(worksheet[3, 5]){Width=100, Height=100};

anchor.Content = new XamlElement{e.Content = someElement};

worksheet.Anchors.Add(anchor);

 XamlElement uses the standard WPF XAML serialization (XamlReader/XamlWriter) to serialize to file. As a result, any property / attached property and behavior will be serialized.

For example, have a look at the "EmbeddedObjectsSample" Sample of the Spreadsheet Framework. This sample demonstrates how to insert the button in the screen shot above and how to assign a click behavior similar to an Excel macro.

(This is a release candidate, details may change before a formal release)

This version improves the following:

- Fixes a formatting bug when switching workbook

- Takes into account categories when creating pie charts

- Properly saves the varyColor property of charts.

This version improves the following:

- A bug in chart display is fixed for the .NET 3.0 version

- Adding data validation from the ribbon is now implemented

This versions improves the following:

- .NET 3.0 version starts properly

- Pie chart legends include categories

This version improves the following:

-          Pie charts legends now reflect the values in the pie series

-          A printing bug is fixed when using multiple pages

-          The UI for renaming worksheets is cleaner

This version improves the following:
- The position and size of comments is stored and retrieved from files.
- The chart titles are now editable.
- Paste is now disabled on a protected worksheet.

This version contains the following improvements:
- The appropriate context menu items and ribbon items are grayed out when a worksheet is protected.
- When you enter a string with a “/” in a cell, the value is a fraction only if the string contains a space (for example "1 1/2").
- Data bars show the cell values by default.

This version contains the following improvements:
- Cell values are hidden when the cell is part of data bar conditional formatting which specifies that values should be hidden.
- Fixes a bug when opening some charts
- Implements rounded corners in chart area
- Allows adding titles to a line chart
- It also implements a first version of sparklines. You can view sparklines but not edit them.

This version fixes a bug in list validation introduced yesterday.

This version also improves the creation of charts. By default the minimum value of a value axis is less tthan the minimum value.

Version 1.0.2010.0613 is now available for download at www.clearoffice.com/rc/default.html.

This version improves data validation by offering a combo box when the active cell is part of a list data validation range.

Version 1.0.2010.0607 is available for download at www.clearoffice.com/rc/default.htm

It fixes a bug in the paste special dialog.

It also fixes a bug in the chart property window.

Enjoy.

Clear Office is constantly improving. Every month or so, a new version is released with new features and bug fixes.
However, you can also get access to intermediate release candidates. These versions contain the latest fixes and improvements. In fact, if you report a bug, you should see the results in these builds first. Even though release candidate builds might introduce new bugs, the philosophy is to keep them as bug free as possible. In other words, they should be as usable as actual releases.
The June 2010 release candidate at www.clearoffice.com/rc/default.htm
This version contains the following improvements:
- Composite range copy and paste has been fixed.
- Bug in undo of full ranges has been fixed.
- You can create charts with categories and legends – the spreadsheet behaves more like Excel.
- Print preview is now top left aligned.