Dundas Gauge 1.6 for ASP.NET 2.0

asp:review

Dundas Gauge1.6 for ASP.NET 2.0

Display Real-time Data Feeds

By Steve C. Orr

Bar charts and graphs are a great way to catch the eye andconvey useful information quickly to managers and other business people. However,if the competition has access to real-time data feeds, charts and graphs oftendepict data that is too stale to be useful. While it can be helpful to see agraph of a Web site s traffic for yesterday or last week, seeing a live gaugeof page requests as they happen brings a whole new level of control and insightto managers and technicians alike.

While getting access to feeds of real-time data cansometimes be tricky, displaying that data in attractive and useful ways isdownright simple if you have Dundas Gauge (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: With Dundas Gauge you cancreate an attractive real-time display of server performance.

Getting Started

The Dundas Gauge installation is quick and painless. Bydefault, the installation program will install a variety of detailed sampleapplications. However, the integrated help didn t work as advertised. I had tolaunch the help documentation from the Start menu and find the desired topicmanually.

To use Dundas Gauge, open Visual Studio and create a new Webapplication. You ll find the Dundas Gauge container control already placed inthe toolbox. Simply drag it onto a new Web form and the powerful Gauge Wizardwill appear to step you through the process of creating a customized gauge (seeFigure 2). With this wizard you can pick the kind of gauge you d like to use. Thereare more than 20 distinct gauge types, and they can be configured and combinedin a seemingly infinite number of ways. Colors, fonts, and labels can becustomized in addition to behaviors, such as dampening and snapping, that canhelp smooth out any potentially jerky gauge movements that erratic incomingdata could cause.

Figure 2: The powerful Gauge Wizardcan step you through the process of creating a gauge control that s customizedfor your needs.

The Visual Studio 2005 version of Dundas Gauge providessmart tags that enable easy configuration of most major gauge properties,including functionality for establishing a data source (see Figure 3). The datasource can be bound to a data control, database, or custom object.

Figure 3: The Visual Studio 2005version of Dundas Gauge provides smart tags for easy configuration of mostmajor gauge elements.

Once you ve got a control configured exactly as you wantit, you can save the template to allow quick and easy reuse of the settings forother instances of the gauge control.

So How Does It Work?

Dundas Gauge was developed in pure C# code. It can be usedfor data output as well as data input. That is, users can optionally tweak theknobs, slide the levers, etc. The gauge control has intelligent analysisabilities built in. For example, the gauge control can react to alarming data,raising events and visually displaying alerts if configurable ranges arebreached by incoming data. Other examples are the control s abilities to calculateand display rolling averages, integrals, and rate-of-change algorithms andthat s just for starters.

The gauge control calls back to the server frequently toget the latest data and update its display. This refresh rate is configurable. Thegauge can be configured to work in a variety of different ways. For instance, aJavaScript function that s output by the server control periodically requestsan update of the gauge image from the server. The server generates a new imageupon each request that represents the current state of the data. This simpletechnique is compatible with all browsers that have JavaScript support enabled.

Alternatively, the control can be output as a Windows Formscontrol (smart client) providing a richer interface. Of course, this requiresall users to run Internet Explorer and have the .NET Framework installed.

Another way the control can render is as a Flash streamedmovie. Although this might sound like it has high bandwidth requirements, it sactually the most efficient option that relies on a small trickle of data fromthe server. This technique is, of course, compatible with any browser that hasthe Macromedia Flash plug-in installed.

This impressive array of rendering options is more than Iwould expect from any single control, and is quite a pleasant surprise. Withthese options, virtually every conceivable kind of user should be able to besupported in the richest way possible.

Thumbs Up

Dundas Gauge 1.6 isn t perfect the performance withinVisual Studio can be a tad sluggish at times, especially upon initialization. However,run-time performance is snappy and that s much more important. Overall, I can timagine an easier or more intuitive way to display real-time data feeds tousers. The configurability of Dundas Gauge is top notch, and the output isattractive and intuitive.

US$699 will get you started with a developer license, atest server license, and one production server license. This package includesboth ASP.NET 1.x and 2.x versions of the controls, so you can upgrade toASP.NET 2.0 at your leisure. Also included are 60 days of free live support. Maintenanceand subscription packages are available, as well. The companion product, DundasGauge for Windows Forms, is available as well (starting at the same price point).Download a free evaluation copy and give it a whirl.

Steve C. Orr is anMCSD and a Microsoft MVP in ASP.NET. He s been developing software solutionsfor leading companies in the Seattlearea for more than a decade. When he s not busy designing software systems orwriting about it, he can often be found loitering at local user groups andhabitually lurking in the ASP.NET newsgroup. Find out more about him at http://SteveOrr.netor e-mail him at mailto:[email protected].

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.dundas.com/products/gauge/

Price: Startsat US$699