Frequently Asked Questions – Dundas Visualizations Acquired by Microsoft

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Dundas Data Visualization, Inc. has been producing data visualization components for Microsoft technologies for many years. In 2007, Microsoft acquired the codebase for these components to deliver data visualization directly within Microsoft’s products.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft enabled Dundas to continue to sell, enhance, update and support the components for a specified duration as a service to their existing customers. This agreement will expire as of October 31, 2010.

Dundas has communicated this information directly to their customer base. The purpose of this post is to answer any questions related to the components/capabilities that have been released as part of the Microsoft Product Roadmap and how you can get access to them.

Q. When did the acquisition occur?
A. The acquisition of the Dundas components was finalized in 2007. The In 2007 Microsoft acquired the code base for several of the Dundas visualizations.

Q. What technologies were included in the acquisition?
A. Microsoft acquired the codebase for the following Dundas products:

  • Dundas Chart for ASP.NET (Professional and Enterprise)
  • Dundas Chart for Window Forms (Professional and Enterprise)
  • Dundas Chart for SharePoint
  • Dundas Chart for SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Dundas Chart for OLAP Services
  • Dundas Gauge for ASP.NET
  • Dundas Gauge for Windows Forms
  • Dundas Gauge for SharePoint
  • Dundas Gauge for SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Dundas Map for ASP.NET
  • Dundas Map for Windows Forms
  • Dundas Map for SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Dundas Calendar for SQL Server Reporting Services

Q. Are all these capabilities available in Microsoft products now?
A. As per our technology roadmap, many of these capabilities have been released (for no additional charge) in several Microsoft solutions including SQL Server Reporting Services, ASP.NET, and SharePoint technologies.

Q. Can Dundas customers purchase licenses for the Dundas software directly from Microsoft?
A. No. As part of the agreement, Microsoft enabled Dundas to continue to sell licenses of the technology for a specified period of time to support existing customers. Existing Dundas customers wishing to purchase additional licenses of the Dundas components will need to do so by October 31, 2010.

Q. How do I get access to the Chart Controls for Reporting Services?
A. With the release of SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2, Microsoft introduced the charting capabilities directly in Reporting Services including charts, maps, gauges, sparklines and databars. Visit www.sqlserverlaunch.com to learn more about the new capabilities and how to evaluate the latest release of SQL Server.

Q. How do I get access to the ASP.NET Chart Controls from Microsoft?
A. The ASP.NET Chart Control is a free, full featured chart control package which enables developers to easily add rich data visualization to ASP.NET and Windows Forms applications. You can download the ASP.NET Chart Controls here.

Q. Where can I learn more about the capabilities release in the Microsoft solutions resulting from the acquisition?
A. You can learn more about the charting capabilities in Reporting Services, SharePoint, and ASP.NET by visiting TechNet or MSDN. To read about the release of the ASP.NET Chart Controls, check out Scott Gutherie’s blog. To learn more about the Chart Controls released in SQL Server Reporting Services, check out the Reporting Services team blog.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 01, 2010
    Are the Dundas Map and Gauge going to be made available for Winforms?  Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2010
    Hi Allen, there are currently no plans to make stand-alone map and gauge visualization controls available for Windows Forms.

  • Anonymous
    October 04, 2010
    Can the charts connect to an OLAP (cube) data source?  Will you also be releasing the cube browser in it's own control?  Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2010
    Hi John, there are currently no plans to release the cube browser as a stand-alone control.

  • Anonymous
    October 06, 2010
    Thank you for your response, can the chart controls connect to an OLAP (cube) data source?

  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2010
    The Microsoft chart controls delivered in the .NET framework provide a rich API, but don't provide direct OLAP connectivity with generating queries - you would have to implement this yourself.