Hardhat, Inc. Software
About Hardhat, Inc. Software
Hardhat works with Construction Contractors to meet their ever-changing needs, especially in a diverse and challenging environment. Their product: Hardhat Job Cost Accounting Software, is comprehensive, fully integrated, and cost-effective. In 1973, Hardhat started working on-site with a construction company in Memphis, Tennessee, to develop one of the first Job Cost Accounting Software packages available in America.
Hardhat has met many challenges over the years, as technology has changed dramatically since their founding. Their Customer Service department engages in constant dialogue with CPA’s to make sure their reporting needs are met. Hardhat has constant contact with their customers to refine the product and has a wide range of users: All construction-related companies; including specialty contractors such as road builders, bridge builders, traffic control, electrical, plumbing, excavating, general contractors, HVAC/mechanical contractors, painting/drywall contractors, pool companies, fence companies, interior design, roofing, erosion control, and many more.
Describe Enterprise, Hardhat Payroll
Enterprise is a desktop application providing Job Cost Accounting software for all construction-related companies. The software uses DevExpress components on every screen in every module. The Hardhat Employee Payroll website was created as a multi-channel web application project, designed for use with mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. It was built using ASP.NET MVC and DevExtreme. It consists of login/logout views, Employee Check Voucher mobile views, and an Employee Check Voucher DevExpress XtraReport.
Describe the situation that led you to use Developer Express:
HardHat, Inc. Software were previously using another 3rd party software package that made development difficult. They wanted to increase development speeds as well as provide more interactive applications for their customers. After research, they decided that DevExpress was the right choice. HardHat instantly saw an increase in development speeds as well as higher user satisfaction with their new Enterprise Desktop application.
The purpose for creating the Hardhat Payroll website was to eliminate the need for paper check vouchers. The payroll website allows employees to view their paycheck history from any device at any time.
How did you choose Developer Express Components?
The ease of use and the support structure made choosing DevExpress components easy for HardHat. They found the DevExpress components to be well documented and easily extensible. The software package was affordable and offers many different types of feature rich controls that continue to enhance their user experience.
Hardhat, Inc. Software
User Security Maintenance
Jobs In Progress Report
Equipment Maintenance
Service Order Inquiry
What specific project challenges did HardHat overcome by using Developer Express tools?
In the Enterprise desktop application project, the XtraReport Designer enabled developers to quickly create a complex 1095C government report. They downloaded the report from the government website, and used it as the background in the XtraReport. Then they added a layer of DevExpress data-bound controls on top of the background to populate the report.
In the Payroll web application project, there was an issue with the virtual keyboard on an Android device covering the input controls of the logon view. The DevExpress framework Layout Set property of the Html Application solved the problem by enabling an empty layout to be used for the logon view, and the Navbar layout to be used for subsequent views.
HTML Application
Web Site Login
Website Login Captcha
Website Direct Deposit Voucher
Website MVC Date Controls
What benefits has HardHat experienced from using Developer Express tools?
DevExpress tools allowed developers to rapidly replace legacy Crystal Reports with XtraReports, which enabled users to change fonts and styles of pre-defined reports, and create their own templates.
The DevExpress control designer eliminated the need to write custom code for modifying control properties. The Report Manager, Grid, and Ribbon controls provide a cleaner, more professional-looking UI. These controls made it easy for developers to create reports and grids with advanced functionality, such as filtering, sorting, and drilldown. Grids are fully customizable by end users, enabling them to show/hide columns, sort and group data the way they want it to be displayed.
DevExtreme widgets such as dxList, dxTexbox, dxButton, dxValidationSummary, and dxScrollView made it easy for developers to create a clean, responsive design for the Hardhat Payroll mobile views. Built-in themes and layout sets for specific devices, along with data-binding using the Knockout JavaScript framework simplified creating the single page application.
DevExpress MVC extensions such as: NavBar, RoundPanel, CallbackPanel, DateEdit, and WebDocumentViewer, along with Ajax callbacks providing fast data access, enabled rapid development of secure, functional Hardhat Payroll MVC views.
How has Developer Express saved HardHat time?
Hardhat software developers depended on DevExpress and DevExtreme documentation including: code examples, tutorials, guides, reference API, and videos to help them fulfill application requirements efficiently with less errors, and to meet deadlines on time.
How has Developer Express saved HardHat money?
The DevExpress Support Team has always responded quickly and thoroughly to support tickets entered by Hardhat software developers. They could be counted on to provide solutions to problems and answers to questions politely and efficiently, and always follow through, until the issue was resolved. The ease of use means fast development time which means less billable development hours for any project.
How did Developer Express help improve HardHat’s time to market/delivery?
DevExpress components are well documented and are very easy to use. The learning curve for developers to learn vital component functionality is lessened tremendously. Previously, a small application could take weeks to design. With DevExpress, we have been able to develop smaller apps in mere days.
How many project hours have HardHat saved with DXperience?
The amount of project hours saved by DXperience would be in the thousands of project hours.
What features did HardHat get compliments about?
Hardhat Mobile Payroll Users complimented the application’s clean design, autofill and auto-logout features, ease of use, and clear presentation of data. In the Enterprise desktop application, users often comment about the speed of new application developed solely in DevExpress.
What would HardHat say if it were recommending DXperience to a friend?
Hardhat highly recommends DXperience because it is affordable, and gives software developers the tools they need to create professional-looking software, with excellent quality and rich functionality for desktop, mobile, and web applications.
What would HardHat like to communicate to DevExpress?
Hardhat would like to express their gratitude to DevExpress for their feature-rich suite of products, and the professional way their support team responds to support issues. They would also like to thank DevExpress for keeping their documentation up to date, and for the training resources available for the community.
Hardhat, Inc. Software
