Solving problems with Off-the-shelf components and tools

The Dev Direct Solution Center contains shows you how to solve common problems using off-the-shelf code libraries and tools. Each problem has solutions from different publishers illustrating how their products can be used to solve the problem in question. All solutions come with ready to run downloadable projects with source code in common languages like C#.Net, VB.Net and Java.

Can't find the solution you need? Submit a solution request.

Grid Controls

 • I need to display tabular data and allow the user to sort it by multiple columns (1)
 • How to display a grid with heirarchical grouping (1)

FTP & SFTP

 • How can I implement the SFTP protocol to securely transfer files over the Internet? (1)

Email

 • How do I access an SSL Enabled SMTP Server from code using SMTP, IMAP and POP3 protocols? (1)
 • I need to access my POP3 mailbox from inside my program to list and download messages (2)

Image Processing

 • How to generate graphics on-the-fly from code, combining user data with a standard template (1)

Search Engines

 • How to add a site search capability to a web site. (2)

Data Compression

 • I need to create a ZIP archive from within my program (1)

Scheduling & Diary

 • Displaying a schedule of appointments for a team  (1)

Document Conversion

 • How can the application I am developing convert the data in my XLS spreadsheet into HTML format? (1)
 • .html file to .doc and .doc to .pdf converion example code (2)

Graphs & Charting

 • Need to produce a chart with trendlines (2)

Spelling, Spell checking

 • How to add as-you-type spell checking to .NET Windows Forms applications (1)

Reporting, Report Writers

 • Display dynamic report using user requests for rows & columns on one page & on next page (2)

Diagramming

 • Building and Displaying an organization chart (3)

Barcode

 • How can I extract a barcode value from a scanned document? (3)

Mapping & GIS

 • I want to add a GIS capability to my app but I want more control than online GIS services provide (1)
 • How can I take point-based data and display it on my map in an attractive fashion? (1)

Spreadsheet

 • How to read data from XLS, XLSX or CSV files without the need for MS Excel? (1)
 • How to programatically manipulate the contents of an MS Excel spreadsheet (1)
 • Can I use a spreadsheet to perform calculations and get the results back in my application? (1)
 • How can I create an MS Excel compatible spreadsheet file from my app without running Excel? (2)

PDF Creation

 • How can I generate a PDF document file from within my program? (2)
 • How to Generate a PDF document from an editable template (1)

PDF Manipulation

 • I need to fill in a PDF form using data captured in my application (1)

PDF Printing

 • Printing PDF documents (4)