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Looking for a general purpose WPF toolset. Currently looking at Telerik and Infragistics. Are there better options out there? Of those two, which is better?

Jeff
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    As on April 2020 you can use UWP controls in WPF checkout https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/design/controls-and-patterns/ and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/desktop/modernize/host-custom-control-with-xaml-islands for more info – Arjun Vachhani Apr 14 '20 at 08:13

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I'm still of the opinion that you don't need to get a third-party control library early in a new WPF project in the same way we all feel when doing WinForms project. I'm not too sure of your background with WPF, you might have hit an impasse and need a specific control, but generally the things you can do with XAML, styles and control templates are amazing.

For those out there that typically buy a third-party library just because the out-of-the-box controls look too bland then persevere with XAML as you will get all the customisation you'll ever need and you will eventually learn how to create amazing UI's that you would never get if you just drag and drop readymade controls to the UI surface.

For the controls that have very specific behaviour, DataGrid, Calendar Controls and charting, I've found all I've needed on CodePlex.

As mentioned in earlier posts I also recommend the following for those who don't want to splash-out on third party control libraries.

Diodeus - James MacFarlane
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Rhys
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Also have a look at DevExpress. Their components are pretty good

Rad
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Actipro has a WPF ribbon and a set of components (no DataGrid though or Charting).

There are a couple of vendors that offer their WPF Grid for free (a limited version of their enterprise edition, see Xceed).

For charting purposes there is Visifire.

liggett78
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DevComponents has a nice set.

Kieron
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I have no experience with Telerik, but if there's anything worse than Infragistics I'd be surprised. Not sure exactly what components you're after - have you seen WPF Toolkit?

Kent Boogaart
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  • I've not used Infragistics, but we are supposed to start using it at work. Why do you think Infagistics is the worse? – Metro Smurf Jan 06 '09 at 14:37
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    Many reasons. Firstly, it does not really do things the WPF way. eg. properties that aren't bindable, Winforms naming conventions (eg. DataSource instead of DataContext). Secondly, god-awful styling and templating woes. Thirdly, bugs abound. And there's always the poor performance... – Kent Boogaart Jan 15 '09 at 17:38
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    Also, I find Infragistics' online documentation a nightmare to use. – Matthew Ruston Jul 14 '09 at 13:21
  • If Infragistics winforms is a guide, their WPF components must also suck, big way. Really bad API, lots of bugs. Both because of code bloat resulting from bad design and also pure incompetence. You should see their source code of how they serialize control state to disk – Kemal Erdogan Apr 24 '13 at 12:42
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We are using the Telerik controls for WPF. Initially we started out by rolling our own grids, combos, trees, etc, with custom styles and templates, but when it came time to polish everything up, we needed all the added functionality that Telerik provides. We are disapointed in some of their controls, like the carousel, but we are working with them to improve the control. We often find that the support they give (usually with complete coding samples) offsets the cost of the package. They follow Microsoft's naming conventions pretty well, so the learning curve is not too steep.

We have tried ComponentOne, but don't like those.

ScottG
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  • Agree, I began XAML alone but doing almost everything from scratch is very time consuming. Their support helped even with WPF basic knowledge I was lacking. And they have an acceptable answer for everything I asked for. – Sebastien GISSINGER Jul 22 '15 at 19:28
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Component One is pretty decent - a bit pricey, but decent. We are using it for our current project developing an application for a state health department, and are happy with it so far.

piratepops
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My company has licenses to the Infragistics control suite, and currently I'm staying away from all the controls exception for the docking manager, which is quite nice.

We're trying to get away from dependence on a Grid control and are using other UI implementations (like list boxes with custom data templates) to avoid being straight-jacketed into vendor specific implementation.

In our WinForms days, we were burnt quite a bit by relying on the Infragistics Grid control for everything.

Steve Mitcham
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  • Just curious, but how did you get burned? We too have the Infragistics Grid everywhere. – Jeff Jan 06 '09 at 17:53
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If you are looking for a Ribbon or DataGrid control then Microsoft is releasing some controls outside the normal .NET Framework releases. These are available at http://www.codeplex.com/wpf

I prefer to stay away from third party controls where the source code is not available.

Luke
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have time to check fpscomponents.com , have some unique WPF components, especially for Touch screen applications, as well as most of standard component pack for WPF