By Theresa Neil

As Bill mentioned in an earlier post, we don’t want to limit this blog to just the principles and patterns found in the book. For that you can check out our Explore the Book section.

This is the second article in a three part series on patterns and principles for RIA design.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples

Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development

Components for Commonly Requested Features: 15 patterns and examples

Every designer has a set of controls they rely on to communicate an effective UI. This is my library of essential controls.

Unfortunately, no single RIA framework offers all 30 of these. So I included a checklist of which frameworks provide each control. If you have an addition or correction, please e-mail me, and I will post an updated framework/control matrix.

The frameworks reviewed include: Flex, Laszlo, Silverlight and 12 Ajax frameworks and toolkits: ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, SproutCore, LivePipeUI,IT Mill, Backbase.

01. Auto Suggest

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight.

02. Carousel (variation as Coverflow)

Supported by: YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, ITMill, Backbase, iCarousel

Supported by: Flex, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, RadControls for Silverlight

03. Charts & Graphs

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Chart), MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, SilverLight, AnyChart, Dundas, JPowered, JFreeChart, OpenFlashCharts, Flot, Plotr, PlotKit, WebFX, AjaxMcGraph, Measure Map.

04. Collapsible Panels (accordion, disclosure triangles, slide drawer)

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (called panels), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit (disclosure panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us (accordion), JQuery, MooTools (accordion), MochaUI (split pane), SproutCore (split pane), IT Mill, Backbase (accordion), RadControls for Silverlight (PanelBar and Sliding Panel).

05. Combobox (select multiple, alternate list box UI, editable)

Supported by: Alternate Listbox UI, LivePipeUI

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (MUI.ComboBox), IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight.

06. Date Picker/Calendar (select range, date/time combination)

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, Scal built on Prototype, MooTools, MochUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, dhtmlxCalendar, keyboard accessible calendar, more examples on Woork

07. Dialogs (modal, light weight, lightbox)

Modal dialog Mint offers a modal for adding an account

Supported by: Flex(modal), Laszlo (modal and modeless), ExtJs (modal), Dojo (modal and lightbox), YUI( listed under Containers: Modal and Overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (modal, modeless, lightbox) , SproutCore (has a really nice example of each under ‘panes’), MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase (modal and modeless window), Silverlight (modal and lightbox).

08. Docking

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

09. Drag & Drop Manager

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

10. Dynamic Filter

11. Feedback/ Status

12. Fisheye/ Spotlight

Dynamic filtering can be implemented at the column level providing advanced filtering capabilities Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, Open RicoSupported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

Apply this concept to a dense chart or map for a truly useful feature.

Supported by: Flex, ExtJs (spotlight), Dojo , Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight

13. Gauges (and other visual progress or status indicators)

Gauges provide a concise visual summary in heads-up-display or other goal directed designs

Supported by: Flex (various plug-ins and Flex Charting), ExtJs (combined with GWT), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Gauge), MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight, AnyChart, Dundas

14. Help Tip/ Quick Tip

More than just a tooltip, these are fully formatted messages typically presented in a modeless dialog.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (use overlay container), Google Web Toolkit (use popup panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI (use window control), IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

15. Hot Keys

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Mochui, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

16. Hover Action

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight, good post by Bill on hover actions and missed moments

17. Hover Detail

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (smart hover box), IT Mill, Silverlight

18. Inline Edit

Supported by: Flex (only in the grid), Laszlo (only in the grid), ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase (only in the grid), Silverlight (only in the grid)

19. Progress Indicator/ Loading

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

20. Rating

Supported by: ExtJs extension, Dojo widget, Starbox for Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools , MochaUI

21. Record Locator/ Paginator

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight

22. Slider

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

23. Scoped Search

Supported by: custom css and js code, example at Janko at warp speed, RadControls for Silverlight

24. Sparklines

Supported by: Nuby on Rails, Any Chart, JQuery plugin, Flex , and two more ones for Flex at Microcharts and Birdeye, Google API, Visifire for Silverlight

25. Table/ Data Grid ( scrolling, editable, grouped)

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Backbase, Silverlight

26. Toolbar

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

27. Vertical Browser

Supported by: custom code of multiple list boxes

28. View Toggle (buttons, button bar)

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight

29. WYSIWYG Editor/ Rich Text Editor

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

30. Zoom

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (spotlight), Prototype/script.aculo.us (zOOm), JQuery, MooTools (Joomla), MochaUI, Silverlight (silverZoom)

Bonus- Desktop Style Container

A desktop style container isn’t actually a control, but frequently required when developing enterprise software and productivity web applications. Many of the frameworks that offer this feature include built in windows management, split panels, and fluid layout.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MochaUI, Backbase, SproutCore, Silverlight

Send me any corrections and/or additions, and I will upload an updated control/framework matrix.

Thanks to Joonas Lehtinen of IT Mill, Ryan Johnson of LivePipe, and Peter Svensson who is a Dojo expert, and Darren James, co-author of Ajax in Action.

Update* Cody Lindley at jQuery provided a comprehensive list with links to code for jQuery support for all 30 controls.