Our upcoming release (v13.2) will include a number of enhancements to the DevExpress WinForms Map Control including theme/skin support, integrated printing, searching and routing and more.
Before I describe these features, let me try to step in front of a question that is going to be asked. That question is "what about Google Maps?" I'm going to keep my opinion of Google as a company to myself, but I will say that for us, support of Google is not an issue...the issue is a matter of licensing. Whereas Microsoft is easy to work with and has gone out of its way to work with us, Google has not. So, in short this is not a problem with our Map Control....It's a licensing issue.
Ok, with that said, let's get to the new features...
DevExpress Themes
The Map Control now supports all DevExpress Themes shipping with our WinForms Subscription. Here's how darker themes look when applied to a map...
And here's how the map looks when using a light theme...
To select a skin and apply it to the Map Control, you need to specify the control's look and feel via the LookAndFeel property.
Microsoft Bing Services
The WinForms Map Control now supports Bing Services including, Search, Geocode and Route. As you already know, these services allow end-users to visualize any location on a map, see detailed information for a given location or create a route between two or more locations.
Printing and Export
A highly requested feature...Our WinForms Map Control now supports printing and export. As you might expect, you can preview the map prior to printing or export - you can even control map size for optimal printing (options include Normal, Zoom, Stretch)
New Map Elements and Features
This release introduces a new map visual element – map callout (annotation). In contrast to a custom element, the map callout displays as a frame, to which you can add the appropriate text. This map callout supports selection and can be highlighted when being hovered by a mouse pointer or via touch. Its appearance is defined by the current skin.
Another great new feature is the ability of the WinForms Map pushpin to display text - often used to display route information between points.
In addition, you can now control the display of map borders. This feature will come in handy when you print or export maps to different file formats.
And finally, performance has been improved when loading shapes with images.
Zoom and Select Specific Map Region
The Map Control allows end-users to zoom in and select a specific region and see current map information. To zoom in, press Shift+Ctrl keys and select a region on a map using the left mouse button. In addition, you can use the quick item selection function. Just press "Shift" and select a region on the map and all items that belong to this region will be selected.