2014 Evaluation

General
1

I have watched this product from a distance for a long time. Last year, I was disappointed to still not see a DataGrid.

For various reasons, I am going to do a full eval now, giving the lack of a DataGrid a pass.
Can some of you experienced Xojo/Web App developers comment on if these features are in Xojo:

  1. Some concept of Master pages - easy way to include common top, bottom, left on many pages.
  2. Cascading dropdown lists in search
  3. Required fields
  4. Validated fields
  5. Programmatically color row of grid
  6. Programmatically color cell of grid
  7. Buttons inside columnn of ListBox
  8. Page/form transitions - i.e. fade out, scroll to left
  9. Export list contents to Excel, Word, PDF
  10. Scheduling Calendar
  11. Tabs
  12. Basic security framework, or do you have to roll your own
  13. Retrieve querystrings and session vars
  14. Easy set up of master/detail
  15. Ability to embed HTML Editor inside app

Thank you very much.

Frank
NY

2

I’ve done all of the above in web apps. None of them are very hard but you’ll have to roll your own but once you have them you can reuse them.

3

I also had dialog direct with the company offline, and that’s the net.
There are ways to do some of those, but, the amount of energy involved is TBD.

4

If you’re interested, we do little code snippets for some clients that want to do the coding themselves but can’t take the time to learn everything from scratch. If you’re interested you can find us at www.bkeeney.com if you want to get additional information.

Not to mention our training videos at http://xojo.bkeeney.com/XojoTraining/. We do cover some of these topics in our LinkShare web app series.

5

Yes Bob, but a mature software environment should have a native datagrid control. Xojo is also a Rapid Application Design tool, which means that you should not find yourself drowning into setting up common use controls that should have been available from the environment itself. Once you have to design your own complex controls your focus is not at the domain of the problem you want to solve with software.
So, yes I agree with Frank that the lack of a datagrid is going to be a missed opportunity for Xojo.

6

I’m not disagree with you. :wink:

7

While I also do not disagree… Not many “mature software environements” that I am aware of have a “native datagrid control”.
VB6/VB.NET have one, although most users find it to be useless to the point they purchase Infragistics … and 3rd party controls are out there for Xojo too.

VB in my opinion counts as one, not as “most” :slight_smile:

8

Hi Dave, could you give some suggestions for 3rd party controls for Xojo ?

9

Einhugur has a decent data grid control along with several others

Karen’s written a listbox subclass that lets you do some interesting stuff as has Ken with the Data on demand listbox

I’m sure if you have specific needs that people can recommend things

And there’s http://documentation.xojo.com/index.php/Community_Resources

10

http://documentation.xojo.com/index.php/Third_Party_Products

11

Even after the Grid control, there are also things like:
Required and Validated fields
Export of list/grid contents to Excel, Word, PDF
Scheduling Calendar
Tabs
Basic security framework
Databinding
HTML Editor
that are super commonly used in business web apps and should be in a tool like this. Hoping someday they will.

12

[quote=116150:@Frank Russ]Even after the Grid control, there are also things like:
Required and Validated fields
Export of list/grid contents to Excel, Word, PDF
Scheduling Calendar
Tabs
Basic security framework
Databinding
HTML Editor
that are super commonly used in business web apps and should be in a tool like this. Hoping someday they will.[/quote]

Some of these features are typical of HTML but are easily programmed in Xojo, such as Required and Validated fields. Databinding as well. As for the HTML editor, why should it be built into a tool destined to build apps for end users ?

13

He keeps saying HTML editor but I believe he really means a rich text entry field like HTMLArea or TinyMCE.

14

That would make more sense …

15

Yes - I mean a rich text editor - that handles HTML - thus an HTMLEditor control.

16

Sounds like a third party opportunity

17

[quote=116150:@Frank Russ]Even after the Grid control, there are also things like:
Required and Validated fields
Export of list/grid contents to Excel, Word, PDF
Scheduling Calendar
Tabs
Basic security framework
Databinding
HTML Editor
that are super commonly used in business web apps and should be in a tool like this. Hoping someday they will.[/quote]

I have only used xojo. Is there a development environment where these all come built in?

18

Delphi has several data grids built in, with database/table binding, and I used this component form DevExpress. Amazing.

19

The usual meaning of HTML editor is for a program that allows editing HTML source. Hence my remark.

I think Rich Text Editor better describes the functionality, if the user is not supposed to edit tags…

Whatever …

20

I arrived to Xojo (well, RB) from VB6, in 2005 and I am still here and I suppose (due to my age) I will not change again.
Everything in RB was better or at least acceptable, compared with VB6, except a few things.
And one of them was the lack of a good Grid control.
And still today I can’t believe that such a good product as Xojo has such a poor control as ListBox to emulate a Grid.
Yes, I know that there are good external alternatives, or as Norman says:

But I continue not understanding this situation. Probably it is not so important for old users (all of us had to manage according to our needs), but in 2005 I thought that Xojo (RB, RS) were still working to improve ListBox with new features, but the truth is everything is practically the same in this control since then.
A pity!