[2008] Add Ajax controls to Winform

[Xancholy]

There are some superb free ajax controls available for web developer 2008 express.

Is it possible to use these controls on a vb.net express2008 form ?

If not, are there any similar controls for vb.net2008E ?

[jmcilhinney]

Why would you need AJAX controls in WinForms? The whole point of AJAX is so that you don't have to get an entire page from the server if just part of the page has changed. In WinForms the entire UI is local and there is no refreshing of pages.

Apart from that, Web controls and WinForms controls are COMPLETELY different. Web controls generate HTML that is rendered in the browser and some back-end plumbing. WinForms apps aren't displayed in a browser so there's no HTML involved.

If you want custom controls for WinForms there are plenty of examples available, or you can create your own. They aren't actually needed in many cases though. On that page you linked to they mention a ValidatorCallout Extender. At a glance that's nothing you can't do by handling the Validating event of a control and displaying a ToolTip.

[kleinma]

Just to further John's point, most fancy web controls/UIs have to jump through internet hoops (hence the birth of ajax) to mimic the same functionality that was always there at the local application level.