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I would like to know if there are any ASP.NET MVC control suites from the big-name control vendors (Telerik, DevExpress, etc) which have an extensive client (JavaScript) API, which can do the following:

  • the generation of the HTML and rendering of the control isn't limited to the server - it is also possible on the client. I've already worked with controls that claim to have a "client API", but they can't actually be rendered using JavaScript. The HTML must be generated on the server.
  • it is possible with the API to make your own jQuery.ajax() calls and render the control with updated data in JavaScript. i.e. the control doesn't force you to make ajax requests through the control or using some "AJAX panel". i.e. you can download JSON instead of the control's HTML.
  • controls not just created using jQuery, but created to be easily configurable and manipulated with jQuery.
  • includes basic controls such as grids, charts, menus, etc.

I guess I'm looking for controls that have an API that comes close to that of a jQuery plugin/widget, but offered from one of the popular ASP.NET MVC control vendors.

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  • Is a client-only suite of controls OK? Meaning, no server-side component? Commented Sep 5, 2011 at 1:13
  • @David yes, that would be ideal. Commented Sep 5, 2011 at 1:44
  • Good - my answer is for a client-side only control suite (Wijmo). I've used a number of the controls on a couple of projects and they're pretty good. Good luck! Commented Sep 5, 2011 at 1:53

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Take a look at ComponentOne's Wijmo control suite.

There's a good webcast of how to integrate the controls with ASP.NET MVC. It's from March, so I'm not sure if it's MVC2 or MVC3.

The Wijmo control suite is purely client-side. There's no server-side component involved. It's built on jQuery and is jQuery UI friendly (meaning it uses the jQuery UI theming names and guidelines).

Hope this helps!

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Your best bet is going to be http://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-mvc.aspx

Also on NuGet : http://nuget.org/List/Packages/TelerikMvcExtensions

PM> Install-Package TelerikMvcExtensions

Link to the demos: http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-mvc/razor

Just remember, no out of the box solution will be perfect ;)

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would you happen to know if it's possible to render the Telerik grid completely on the client side or must this be done on the server?
Yes you can render the telerik grid client side and bind data via ajax
Yup, just as stephen said you can use the grid client side. almost All the controls have client side API's. It is a very robust suite of controls and best of all they are all free!!!
@Paul or stephen776, so does this mean that the Telerik grid has a method on it which builds the grid's HTML in JavaScript, so that the control doesn't limit you to downloading its HTML from the server? And you can download JSON from the server and "bind" the grid to JSON data on the client? It's important that it's not only possible to use the grid, but to be able use it without a dependency on server-side logic.
If you're interested in a solution that has no server-side dependency, then check-out Telerik's new JavaScript/HTML5 KendoUI: kendoui.com (It's more purpose built for the kind of solution you're after than the MVC Extensions.)
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[Full Disclosure]

Telerik recently introduced a new front-end framework for JavaScript/HTML5-style app and site development called Kendo UI.

Kendo UI is a jQuery-based framework for professinal HTML5 and JavaScript development, providing everything you need for building sites and apps in a single, compact package.

The goal is to reduce the amount of time JavaScript developers spend "mashing" libraries together so they can spend more time developing their sites and apps. Additionally, Kendo UI aims to remove some of the risk from JavaScript development introduced by depending on unsupported libraries and projects.

Unlike jQuery UI (or jQuery UI clones), Kendo UI is focusing on more than just UI widgets and interactions. It also provides:

  • Templating (tuned for performance)
  • Data source
  • Primitive-based themes (with theme building tool coming soon)
  • Drag-and-Drop API
  • And, of course, UI Widgets (including Grid, Chart, Combobox, etc.)

The only external dependency for Kendo UI is jQuery. You can use it with any server-side framework, including ASP.NET MVC. Telerik will eventually provide server-side wrappers for Kendo UI, too, to help save server-side developers (ASP.NET MVC, PHP, Ruby, etc.) more time.

It's currently (Sept '11) in beta, but it'll be RTW by November. Hope that helps.

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@Todd: when the server-side wrappers arrive, will it be possible to bind the Kendo grid at runtime to a DataTable.DefaultView? Is it expected that the Kendo wrappers will adhere to the existing Telerik event-architecture, e.g. the NeedDataSource event? BTW, the range of Kendo UI offerings seems a little skimpy versus C1's Wijmo. Disclosure: I've used Telerik AjAx and other Telerik controls for several years and they're high quality and I like them; the last time I used controls from C1 was back in the VB6/ActiveX days.
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you could look at some templating libraries that can generate the markup for you on the client side as well as on the server. Mustache is the one that naturally comes to my mind with an extensive rendering engine in a lot of scripting languages.

Also I would read up this blogpost.

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How does the performance of template rendering compare to existing jQuery plugins or 3rd party controls? I've seen the performance of the jQuery UI grid (beta) which uses templates, and it appears to be slower than jqGrid for example.

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