Spread COM (COM)
The Original COM Spreadsheet Control

Deliver a fully functional spreadsheet application in Visual Studio 6

  • Run-time visual template designer
  • Easy-to-use API
  • Source code available
Key Features
Calculation Engine with Built-in Formulas

Spread includes a very comprehensive calculation engine to provide formula support, including providing over 100 of the most commonly used functions. In addition, you can easily add your own custom formulas to Spread. You can also use named expressions or relative cell addressing to reference the formulas.

Print Support

Spread gives you control over printing with options such as page ranges, data ranges, headers and footers, margins, orientation, grid lines, and colors.

Print Preview control

The included print preview control makes it easy to preview the printed spreadsheet. There are several options for controlling how your customer will preview the data, including the number of pages that will be previewed on the screen and zooming options.

Visual Template Designer

Design spreadsheets with our run-time design tool. It lets you set properties, formatting, data sources, calculations, and more without writing code.

Data Binding and Automatic Display

Spread can automatically retrieve and display information from ActiveX objects (ADO), Data Access Objects (DBO), and Remote Data Objects (RDO). Once the connection has been made, Spread will create the appropriate columns, configure headers, and create the proper cell types. Spread also allows the user to update the database. All this can be done without code, but you are free to customize behavior using the API.

Unbound Mode

While Spread's bound mode is powerful, it is equally effective when loading data from many other sources such as Microsoft Excel, CSV, tab-delimited files, and custom-delimited files.

File Export

Spread will export your data to multiple file formats including Excel, XML, HTML, .SS (Spread proprietary format), tab-delimited, and comma-delimited.

Cell Types and Data Validation

One of the most powerful features of Spread is the ability to validate data automatically while the user is entering the information or the data is being programmatically assigned. Spread provides twelve cell types that are configured to accept only a certain type of data input, thus eliminating the need for you to manually validate data.

Multiple Operation Modes

Operation modes control how your customers can interact with Spread. For example, you can make Spread read-only or have it act as a list box.

Cell Borders

All border design properties including thickness, color, and style are supported.

Cell Notes and Text Tips

Add cell notes and text tips to give users additional information. Cell Notes are indicated by a red dot in the corner of the cell and when clicked, information appears. Text tips are similar except they appear on hover.

Sheet and Cell Protection

Lock specific cells or entire sheets from editing.