Alternative to ComponentOne 3D Surface Map Chart [

Question

We are investigating alterntive control libraries for a new project we are working on. One of the requirements is to display data in the form of a surface map, as per the ComponentOne Chart below.

We've used the C1 control in the past but are not entirely happy with it - so wondered if anyone can recommoned some alternatives.

Having some trouble finding any, so all help appreciated.

NB: This is a .NET 3.5 WinForms application

Answer 1

Here are some commercial providers that have the type of chart you're looking for:

1. ChartFX for .NET - Gallery of available charts including 3D surface
2. Nevron Chart for .NET - Gallery of available surface charts

Answer 2

I would recommend using Scinet Chart from http://www.obacs.com. It has quite many charting options and much cheaper compared to alternatives.

Answer 3

I'd advise some caution with Nevron. I have extensive experience as I've been using them for all of my charting in an Enterprise BI application for the past 5 years.

There is plenty to like about Nevron:

• the charts look great
• the API is pretty good
• there are lots of chart types
• the price is right (they are cheaper than lots of their competitors such as Dundas)
• tech support is pretty good, you can generally mail the developers directly and get a good response from them. They are more than happy to add new chart types for you if you are prepared give some input to the the requirements. They built a great Venn Diagram component for me :)

All good so far? The killer for me has to be pain that is involved when new versions of the suite are release. We use Nevron for our Charts and Infragistics for our UI components. I can generally upgrade our application to a new version of Infragistics in half a day. A new Nevron upgrade can take anything up to 4 weeks.

They have changed their object model many times and have a track record of breaking both interface compatibility and changing the way that you do things. I have a feeling of dread every time I have to preform a Nevron upgrade...

Another word of warning, their handling of axes labelling leaves alot to be desired. I've spent alot of time trying to get axes labels to look good. Support for this has improved over the last few releases but it still isn't there yet.

Answer 4

You may want to consider Super 2d/3d Graph Library from Software Siglo XXI (it's royalty-free and it's very cheap).

Sample code:

Imports Super2d3dGraphLibrary
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
  Dim sf As New SeriesFactory
  Dim x, y, z As Integer
  For x = 0 To 100 Step 5
    For z = 0 To 100 Step 5
      y = 30 - Math.Sqrt((x - 50) * (x - 50) + (z - 50) * (z - 50)) + Rnd() * 5
      If y < 0 Then
        y = 0
      End If
      sf.AddPoint(x, y, z)
    Next
  Next
  sf.GenerateMesh()
  With Super2d3dGraph1
    .LicenseeIdentifier = "PROF"
    .Title = "Surface chart from random X/Y/Z points"
    .Style = Super2d3dGraphLibrary.STYLE2D3D.STYLE3D_XYZ_SURFACE_TRIANGLE
    .BackStyle = STYLEBACKGROUND.STYLEBACKGROUND_GRADIENT
    .ShowXAxis = True
    .XAxisTitle = "X-Axis"
    .XAxisScaleMaximum = 100
    .XAxisScaleMinimum = 0
    .XAxisScaleMode = SCALEMODE.SCALEMODE_FIXED
    .XAxisNumericFormat = "0"
    .ShowDividersX = True
    .ShowYAxis = True
    .YAxisTitle = "Y-Axis"
    .YAxisNumericFormat = "0"
    .ShowZAxis = True
    .ZAxisTitle = "Z-Axis"
    .ZAxisScaleMaximum = 100
    .ZAxisScaleMinimum = 0
    .ZAxisScaleMode = SCALEMODE.SCALEMODE_FIXED
    .ZAxisNumericFormat = "0"
    .ShowDividersZ = True
    .ShowLegend = False
    .ShowValues = False
    .ShowDataTable = False
    .SurfaceBrushStyle = New SolidBrush(Color.LightGreen)
    .SurfaceBrushMinBrightness = 30
    .SeriesLineStyle = New Pen() {New Pen(Color.Black)}
    sf.ApplyTo(Super2d3dGraph1)
  End With
End Sub
End Class

Here's the link: Super 2d/3d Graph Library product page

Answer 5

We've used Nevron before for other WinForms charts and they were great - the product worked and the Tech Support was really helpful.

They seem to do surface charts (at least as I understand them): www.nevron.com/Gallery.ChartFor.NET.ChartTypes.GridSurfaceChartGallery.aspx www.nevron.com/Gallery.ChartFor.NET.ChartTypes.MeshSurfaceChartGallery.aspx www.nevron.com/Gallery.ChartFor.NET.ChartTypes.TriangulatedSurface.aspx

(I tried to make them proper links but because I'm new I wasn't allowed to put in more than one)

Answer 6

You might also want to try:

• Telerik Chart
• DevExpress Chart
• Perpetuum Software Chart ModelKit
• Infragistics NetAdvantage WebChart