Many thanks for turning this round for me. I did indeed have an enjoyable weekend cutting code with my new DevExpress toys - indeed I stayed up all night on Sunday and carried on into Monday, frequently laughing in disbelief and saying thing like "what, so if I want to export to Excel I just say "Export to Excel?"
Two days later, and I now have an app that is more versatile than anything I have ever coded before, and I haven't even begun to explore all the features available. Yours must be a company full of certified geniuses!
Seriously good value for money, too - I work in a school, so I'm not getting the big bucks, but I figure the two weeks' pay the software cost me has already been earned back in terms of time I won't be spending coding this summer.
We've done a lot of research comparing the various ASP.NET controls. All the forums and comments we've read said that DevExpress is the way to go. I haven't read one negative thing about them and that says a lot! We're looking forward to refreshing our existing applications and new ones with the jaw dropping features of DevExpress.
I had to comment because I was so impressed with your DevExpress TV channel. Very nicely done. Those video tutorials are just what you need to get started with them.
The ASPxGridView Suite is the easiest grid view component I have found. From installation to production, everything went without a hitch. When I needed utilized some of the more advanced features on the component, the training videos where invaluable. Some of the other components I test drove did not work as I expected out of the box and the support was almost non-existent.
Recently I started work on a database driven website with broad requirements for both data shaping and data presentation. I knew that at the heart of my application I would need a grid control capable of showing complex hierarchical relationships many levels deep. I needed a control where at each level of this hierarchy I could place not just one other grid with children of its own, but multiple grids each with a separate data source and structure. I needed to be able to hide these entire grids on the occasion when there was no data in them, and I needed to be able to summarize the information at each level of the hierarchy. In addition, since my project would consist of hundreds of thousands of records, I needed to find a control which offered easy paging at each level of the hierarchy and it had to be responsive. Just as important as the need to shape my data this way, I needed the user to be able to easily search through the records in the grid and highlight the records of their choice, as well as to sort and filter the records on many different criteria. Because I am more of a "hobbyist" programmer than anything else, it was vital that the API for my chosen grid be both powerful and easy to intuit.
Using these criteria I began my search for the control which would work for me. I looked at everything from freeware versions of the basic Visual Studio GridView with extensions to allow it to be used more easily in a hierarchical fashion, to grids I knew were well outside my budget (if for no other reason than as a basis for comparison to the controls that I could afford). Within a few weeks of starting my search I had downloaded the trial version of the DevExpress ASPxGridView Suite and started working with it. Besides meeting all of my basic requirements, this control appealed to me because I could purchase it outside of a larger suite; there was no requirement to purchase a bunch of additional tools I wouldn't need fort his project and it would therefore be much more affordable for me.
In very short order I found that I could do everything I had imagined with the ASPxGridView control. What's more I received very helpful and timely advice from the tech support people and other members of the DevExpress community whenever I ran into an issue I needed help with (which was rare due to the plethora of code samples, screencasts, and sample applications available online). Every implementation question I had was answered in short order and within a few days I had a working model of my basic layout that I was extremely pleased with (the word "giddy" comes to mind). For instance, I had a search box where the user could insert his search criteria and it would select each record in the grid which met that criteria, and from there the user could move forwards and backwards jumping from each selected record to the next (this may seem trivial and easily accomplished with a filter, but my records were actually ranked by any number of criteria and filtering out the records would destroy the ranking system). Of course, as a hobbyist programmer there were many parts to my application that were more complicated than I had envisioned, not the least of which was the structure of my database and how to query it properly. I was using SQL Server and ended up using LINQ to retrieve the data for the gird, and since the ASPxGridView supports the LinqDataSource control it was as simple as dropping one of these onto my page for each level of the hierarchy and setting a few fields to wire the grid up to my data (I haven't yet experimented with the DevExpress LinqServerModeDataSource control for improved performance but plan to in the near future).
I currently have a fully functional web site exactly as I envisioned it and my users are very impressed with. I couldn't have accomplished what I did without the use of this control suite, I'm extremely happy with the ease of use, power, and flexibility of this control. To say it is a great value is an understatement.
I am extremely impressed with the level of support you deliver at DevExpress. From one day to the next you create an example that matches my requirements 100%.
This is the best support I have ever got on any programming tool, and I will recommend DevExpress to anyone anytime. Thanks a million.
I can't say enough about what a joy it has been prototyping our application with the DevExpress control suite. Our messaging application is replacing a defunct system and user experience is a major concern. The DevExpress controls look amazing and we can get the "Outlook look and feel" that we wanted very easily using the XtraGrid - and I absolutely love the fact that I can do just about everything I need to do in the designer - WITHOUT writing gobs of code to change the style of our grid.
I'd recommend DevExpress to anyone who needs a powerful, robust and elegant control suite. If you want to get up and running quickly and awe your clients with function AND fashion, you can't lose with DevExpress - it's made all the difference in taking our application from blah to "wow!" in a very short period of time.
I first heard about DevExpress from a link via the ASP.NET developer web site offering a set of free and trial controls in the DXperience suite. Having wrestled with a competitor's product for a year, I admit I was skeptical. But I was pleasantly surprised.
The amount of research and development that goes into your controls is evident. You understand that your target audience are time poor developers, who look towards third party controls to provide productivity. Building functional and attractive web based software can be an awful and expensive experience, compared to Windows Forms. There are a multitude of client and server side pieces you need to orchestrate but always with aesthetics and cross browser compatibility in mind.
You have to be careful when choosing 3rd party products. I have wasted hundreds of hours on a competitor's product at 3 times the price, that uses web resource files to churn out the JavaScript and tens of kilobytes of page markup with styles and images that aren't even used on the page but sent back anyway, and whose controls (hierarchical data grid) wont render properly in Fire Fox or IE 6.0 and whose documentation was written by the marketing department and not an engineer who knew how the product interacts with the page. I could go on about my experience with this other product but its not good for my health.
With DevExpress it just makes sense to me. I'll often find myself trying out some variation of your examples and saying, wow did I do that?
The DevExpress approach is elegant and shows your engineering, rather than marketing background. Client side JavaScript sits, appropriately, in a Scripts directory where it can be easily modified or enhanced. Themes are neatly grouped into self contained directories with standardized Skin names, images and real CSS. This makes it easy to alter CSS classes to suit your overall site which I did by simply commenting out parts of styles that I wanted over-written by a site-wide style sheet. For example, if I didn't like the 'Glass' theme's table font and line spacing, I simply could comment out the 'td' elements style attributes in the Glass theme's CSS so the style is inherited from my global style sheet not specific to any one DevX theme.
Easy.
I really like the resources available for developers as well, videos, forums and examples that are up to date and practical. A simple version number global replace is all its takes to resolve versioning from the samples if need be. Thank you for the productivity boost I needed to allow me to develop great looking web apps. You've taken the burden of the aesthetics, browser compatibility and plumbing away so I can concentrate on the business problem domain.
I just wanted to give some quick feedback and couldn't see a more obvious place to send it. My company purchased your component suite a few months ago, and couldn't be happier with the quality of your products, or in particular your after-sales support.
In particular, I wanted to praise Plato whose knowledge is fantastic and his responses are always right on the money. I also wanted to say that your "Example Runner" program and integration is fantastic for quickly seeing exactly what is going on.. Also on support, your frequently produced Examples projects have also been incredibly useful, and meant I haven't spent hours blundering around, or contacting your support staff. Well done!
Anyway, cutting my teeth on support previously and knowing how thankless it sometimes seems and I just wanted to say what a great job your team is doing and it has really enhanced my experience in dealing with your company.
Just a little note to say:
YES! BRAVO! THANKS!
...for the continued improvements you've made to the self-help sections of the DevExpress web site's Support section (the knowledge base especially). It has saved me countless hours of waiting frustration, more times than I can count. Used it again tonight to get at least one answer I knew others had asked before me, but couldn't figure out myself, and sure enough there it was. Instant answer, no waiting.
...AND, as an added bonus, you get this e-mail instead of a repeat question. : )
Keep up the great work.
My own C#-secret comes from Devexpress. I am addicted to their CodeRush and Refactor! Pro. With these tools I write the most common structures with just a few keystrokes, and the code comes out elegant and consistent. Don't miss their recorded product demonstrations. But be warned. You risk becoming addicted.
When you've started using Refactor! Pro, you can't stop. It's like having a virtual programmer next to you suggesting improvements of code flow and structure. The tools secure syntax, consistency and readability. CodeRush's features that automatically create identifiers and code blocks increase efficiency dramatically. The visual add-ons increase the readability of the code, and the features that make navigation and readability easer drive improved code structures. The support of implementing custom templates makes it easier, within in a team, to agree on common solutions to common challenges.
You are kinda naked without these tools.
I am an independent C++/C# developer. I first started using DevExpress tools when a potential client required a calendar control for an application they'd like to develop. They were very impressed when my research came up with XtraScheduler. Its flexibility allowed me to customize the application to the exact customer specifications often without any code at all. This allowed me to deliver the application at a much better rate to the client. Because of this. I would like to use the entire eXpressApp Framework to develop all applications that I develop, both for the web and desktop. With my experience with DevExpress I expect that this will allow be to deliver much faster and reliable prototypes.
As a developer I like the stability and flexibility of the controls. Also, the online support area, documentation, and searchable knowledgebase are very good. That has saved me from contacting customer support quite a few times. Which is great for weekend and late night questions. Support staff is knowledgeable and responds in 24 hours typically, so that's very good as well.
I really like the idea behind eXpressApp, and I am excited to use it. I hope the framework is expanded even more in the future. I would love to have a basic authorization/licensing and updating components ( eg. ClickOnce helper/extender ) included. Though I'm not sure if that fits in your feature plans. At any rate it already seems like it is a worthy investment.
I have had an excellent experience using DevExpress products, and I look forward to using even more of the products and services that you provide.
What can I say about CodeRush and Refactor! Pro other than "WOW!"? I started my evaluation with some experience with Refactor! for ASP.NET. My experience was positive but I wanted to see what more I can achieve with the tools.
Refactor! Pro allows me to quickly refactor my code to what I would consider "production ready" with just a click of my mouse. The Pro version offers so many refactorings that I don't think that there is anything that I can't refactor now! As a relatively new developer I appreciate the reminders of when I can refactor my code to a more efficient and standard way. The IDE clearly shows me what options I have and by just selecting the recommendation my code is instantly updated. It can't get much easier than that!
CodeRush has proven to be a great time saver. I can create a full blown class in a matter of 1 minute whereas it would take me much longer if I had to do it the old manual way. If I manually created a class I would inevitably have a typo in one of my variable names and it would only add to my time and frustration. Using CodeRush I can create private variables and their associated properties with just a couple of letters!
Would I recommend CodeRush & Refactor! Pro to others? The short answer is "Yes!". The long answer is "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
When I first started learning C#, CodeRush was a great help for me. Instead of looking up the syntax for everything, I got up to speed a lot faster with the help of CodeRush tips and the templates. These days, I practically live in VS2008, and I use a CodeRush/Refactor! Pro function almost every second of it. I find that CodeRush is just as valuable for a beginner as a seasoned professional. Your excellent product should be obligatory to anyone using Visual Studio.
I just wanted to thank the folks at DevExpress for the great tools you have created. With increasing workloads, I needed to implement third party controls to meet these expectations. I tried several established control suites and while although helpful sometimes they tested my patience and then by chance I came across your control suite. Not only did it deliver but saved me countless hours on projects. The controls worked right out of the box (figuratively speaking). Your demos and code examples were simple and to the point – there was no need to wade through useless information. I cannot say any more.
As poor as I am from buying expensive tools and being disappointed time and time again this was definitely the best $800 I have personally spent (this year).
Thanks again!
Let me take this opportunity to say that I am very pleased with your support. I've extensively used mail, knowledge base, source code, and answers your staff provide to others questions in the Support Center. XtraGrid is a very feature-rich product and these resources are invaluable for using it.
Your product line is outstanding and has taken our product lines to a new level. It is very rare to get exactly what you think you're buying, never mind your tradition of delivering more and better than expected.
The DevExpress product line is top-notch and second-to-none. I say this because I have used other company's products, but I must say I have not run across any set of components that are as mature, customizable, cross-platform compatible, fully thought out, and simply amazing as the DevExpress product line. Their suite allows a single developer to create much more in far less time, and with much less effort. The support for customization is incredible via the design time editors, client-side scripting support and even HttpHandler modules to help with callback processing for full error handling.
Not only are the components a major time-saver, but due to the extensive skinning capabilities, and the sheer quantity of built-in skins, I am able to get a more "finished" looking site without the need of a graphic designer. This alone saves time and money for any company, making the cost of ownership of the DevExpress components well worth the price.
DevExpress also offers incredible support and are very response to any question you may have. With excellent products and excellent support, you will be glad to have DevExpress on your team! What are you waiting for?
The first time I arrived at your site, you guys thanked me for the visit with the XtraEditors suite. I can remember making a note of that, because it seemed like a really good marketing angle – "Here you go, Thank You for coming". I was quite surprised when it turned out that the XtraEditors suite was actually really substantial, and then I was just blown away when you failed to even mention that the XtraNavBar, ASPxMenu and ASPxSiteControl were also included in the welcome package.
I downloaded the DXperience Evaluation, that initial download was the beginning of a love affair.
I first evaluated the XtraReports, I had four other similar products to look at. It wasn't long before crispness of the Xtra logic shone through, I would be able to do what I needed to, without the back flip and double twirl needed by the closest competitor.
You guys just seemed to get it.
It was only then that I started to appreciate what a well thought out suite of products you had put together. I thought, "Well, if I'm going to buy the reports what would be my best value buy?" and started to evaluate each of the components individually.
Choosing development tools is like entering a marriage, the investment in time and energy that goes into understanding and working with 'your partner', makes it a decision that can't be taken lightly.
I have spent some serious time evaluating your products, all the way to building full apps with the evals. In my opinion you have the most substantial and complete suite available. You get what we're doing out here. You understand what RAD actually means. You get how fickle and demanding our end users can be.
YOU GET IT!
I thought maybe I could just stop at a professional subscription but as I looked at what was available that one step up, it was just too much value for the little additional cost. (I mean have you actually seen CodeRush and the ASPx Components).
It's rare that you find an offering that has so much value that you feel fulfilled, and your Enterprise Subscription is definitely that.
And with that I say "I do". Well done guys.
If you have ever tried to use Crystal Reports that is bundled with Visual Studio then you are really going to like XtraReports from DevExpress. While Crystal Reports is a great tool for creating reports for your application, it can be a bit overwhelming. This is where XtraReports shines. To put it simply XtraReports is simple. The great part is that while it is easy to learn and use, it has all of the power you need to provide your enduser with professional looking reports. The online documentation will have you up and running in no time. I was able to use this in a project immediately without a long learning curve.
In today's development arena, you need to provide flexible working applications. XtraReports will take the hassle out of the reporting duties of your program, and allow you to focus more time on other critical parts. Deployment of XtraReports is as simple as using it, and installation was flawless with all the XtraReport tools showing up in my Visual Studio toolbox for immediate use.
Thanks DevExpress