difference between telerik mvc controls suite paid/opensource - c#

what is the difference between the paid version and open source telerik controls for mvc 2/3?

we have been using telerik controls for asp.net mvc for an year now. they work great and you can post issues on their forums and most of the problems are solved there. they also have a code library where you can find code samples. the only thing is that if you want to create a support ticket and want telerik team to see it on priority then you have to pay the support cost otherwise its just free. but from our experience i can tell you that we weer stuck about dozen times (in the beginning) but never had to create a support ticket problems were solved at forums. i will strongly urge you to use these controls. they are great and can save you lot of coding and time

Another thing...you may want to read the fine print to check me on this, but I believe that the open source version can only be used for an internal application or another open source application that you are developing. If you want to sell or use your product on a commercial basis, then you have to buy the full license.

There is mainly no major difference in terms of functioanlity.
The basic thing is that u can't get support from Telerik company if something stops working.
I am already using Telerik open source MVC toolkit in my project and is working fine.

Related

Generating an Organogram in MVC and Displaying in View

I imagine this question will not bear anything, but this is a last ditch attempt before I have to tell my PM I simply can't do it.
My colleague (usefully before leaving the project) was a yes man to everything our PM asked for, regardless of what it was, and I seem to have been volunteered to create some functionality that will generate an Organogram / Organisational Chart and present it in the view.
I have dug around and asked around, no one really seems to know how I would go about doing this. Can anyone offer any advice on anything that can help? Even if it's the most basic tutorial or obscure API ever, it will be helpful.
To put a point on it, my question is: Is it possible to generate a chart in an ASP.NET MVC C# Application, and display it on a View? (Even a yes or no would help)
Yes, everything is possible. It's just a matter of how much time you can spend on it. Not everything has a good return on investment though, but that's for your PM to decide. As long as your team can make an estimation of the complexity.
But for ASP.NET, Microsoft has a Charting library that allows you to build charts. There are also commercial libraries (the first google hit) out there that are more feature rich.
And if they don't work, you can Always build images manually using the System.Drawing namespace of .NET (that will of course take considerably more time than plotting a chart using one of the available libraries). Generated images can be sent through an ashx handler, or you can embed the image in the same page using base64 encoding.
It's not bad to say yes to your PM, but I rather say: "Yes, we will stick this feature on the feature list / back log, and make a estimate of the complexity. Once we know the complexity you can choose to select it for a future iteration." But perhaps I'm talking too Agile now ;-)
You can hand off the chart drawing to an external library, for example, Google Visualization: Organizational Chart
Have a look at this question for other suggested librairies:
What's the best library to draw organization chart using JavaScript?
This sounds like it's in a commercial scenario, so it's really worth looking at the commercially available solutions. Steven already mentioned one, but as far as I can see that one is for Windows Forms and the other one is for charts as in bar charts and provides no organigram features.
A Javascript diagramming library with the capabilities of displaying organizational charts is yFiles for HTML. It has a nice online example of an organization chart that might be exactly what you are looking for:
There is also a Video that shows the demo in action.
The library is a pure Javascript implementation that does not depend on server libraries or servers at all. Integrating it in an ASP.net environment should be easy though, as long as you know Javascript. Being a library it offers full customization capabilities. You can determine the look and the feel of all aspects of the chart. Under the hood the library is a generic graph drawing and editing tool and the organizational chart is just one possible use-case.
Full disclosure: I work for the company that created the library, but on SO I do not represent my employer. My comments, thoughts, etc. are my own.

A few sharepoint concepts I can't seem to grasp

Despite my background with asp .net C#, I've really tried to get my head around the different concepts and development techniques surrounding Sharepoint 2010 and I can honestly say I'm really struggling. As a last resort - I'm posting on here at the risk of being marked down on questions that you will say I could have found out through research myself (but I've been on this for days now believe me). So I have a few questions no doubt anybody proficient in Sharepoint will be able to help me find answers to.
Stages of development in Sharepoint:
I understand that in asp .net C# (and any other typical web design platforms) we have the 'design stage' were, as developers, we'll design the website and it's content (putting CMS' to one side for now) and then you have a 'view stage' were end-users view the website - pretty simple. But with Sharepoint I'm completely lost as to how I can view the lifecycle with regards to stages that it may go through. I'm confused because I've configured and set up my Sharepoint web app and a site collection. That's fine, that seems like the admin side of things - but now the development is done how? I've followed a guide to assign master pages and css to the site collection for branding purposes but there's also the option to manage this site through the ribbon!? Do we want end-users to see this ribbon? Basically, if anyone can clarify what responsibilities are left with the end-users after a hand-over from the developers it would help me a lot to grasp the concept of Sharepoint and what it offers. Also, does if Sharepoint is a CMS does this mean there's a 3rd stage to the lifecycle (i.e. Sharepoint developers develop the framework for the site which will manage content, users will manage the content, another type of user will view the content)??
Use of VM's:
My computer's spec is now high enough to host VM's through hyper-v, so it does. I'm currently using a VM for Sharepoint development. Why? If I'd read around and found that the only reason was because Sharepoint cannot (without fiddly hacks) be ran on Windows 7 (and I may need a win 7 vm for day-to-day office use) then I'd understand - but it seems that VM's are also handy because should I mess up a sharepoint installation I can start again - why would I need to? I've never ever came accross any other type of installation (apart from OS installations) that could go wrong enough to require a complete restoration of a hard-drive image. What exactly can go wrong?
Managing Sharepoint content in VS
Again, comparing to standard asp .net C# development - I create my pages (using master pages and/or controls if I see fit) and they appear, simple. With sharepoint - it seems that the content (saved in a database which is automatically created by a Sharepoint installation) is mapped to a page (saved in our directory - an aspx page). If this is right - then how do we manage the aspx pages and develop them further in VS? Or are we not meant to amend the appearance of lists etc.?
Thanks a lot, like I say I expect a bit of negativity here regarding the style of question but it really is necessary to help me move forward. I'm not lazy by any means - if you can refer me to links that will help a complete newcomer to sharepoint grasp any of the concepts I've mentioned above I'll happily do the reading - but I've only managed to come accross material targetted at those who already have a firm grip on Sharepoint.
You really need to read more about SharePoint.
Instead of looking into Web parts and how to customize SharePoint, you should grasp the concepts first.
First of all, StackOverflow is not the place for SharePoint questions because there is a dedicated StackExchange site for SharePoint here.
Then, I think you better get a book about it. Start in the configuration track before moving to the development track, it will help you understand the development specifics.
As a general idea, with SharePoint you create sites. A site (collection) may be composed of other sites, and that gives you a navigation. In the lower level you have pages, in which you can add content managed by SharePoint (Lists) or custom web parts that have to be developed in ASP.NET. You can have sites totally built with out of the box functionality, no custom development involved.
When you build a web part, you upload the assembly to SharePoint and, having a page in edit mode, add the web part to the page.
You also have plenty of web parts out of the box.
There is also a product called SharePoint Designer, that helps you customize SharePoint pages. You can browse the complete structure of sites and pages in your site and edit them.
You don't open a SharePoint site in .NET and start changing pages from there. .NET is only for creating custom web parts or other extensible components.
This is really a high level overview, there is a lot into SharePoint. Don't expect to learn everything about it in some weeks, I don't think there is even someone who knows it all. That's how large the product is...
Good luck!!

Drill down charts for asp.net

My employer has asked me to create some web pages with various charts - one of the requirements is to have a click through ability for further detials. I am looking for sugestions on chart libraries that I could use.
c#, .net 2.0
UPDATE:
I used zedgraph with a imagemap
drilldown Sample
Check out ZedGraph.
Seems to be a bit stale in terms of active development, but it may give you what you want.
You can check out: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/11/24/new-asp-net-charting-control-lt-asp-chart-runat-quot-server-quot-gt.aspx :-)
The free ASP.NET Charting controls support clickable regions. You can set a URL for individual data items.
As long as you don't mind wiring all this up, you'll be fine. If you want the drill-down to happen automatically, you'll want something more powerful.

What is the best 3rd party GUI framework for application development in C#?

Examples could be Infragistics or DevExpress.
But I'm also looking for your opinions on other frameworks. It could even be WPF if that is your favorite.
Infragistics is very good. I think they have a better product for windows than the web. However, I get very upset using their products sometimes. I just want to find some hidden property, and it is impossible to find. They have way to many properties. Sure, you can do anything with their grid, but it should be easier. All of these vendors are leap frogging each other. You really have to compare all of them every year or two. I am currently using Infragistics on most web and windows project. If I could switch today, I would go to DevExpress for Web and Windows. Everything that Mark Miller and the guys at DevExpress produce is beautiful, and thoughtful. On a side point, you should check out CodeRush and Refacter. I may sound like a salesman, but I am not. I just could no longer code without CodeRush. It would feel like coding with one hand. If you are going to spend $1000 or more on a framework, you should also get CodeRush.
I've used Telerik RAD Controls for Asp.Net and it is a very comprehensive suite of controls that are easily converted to AJAX. The support is top notch, with the forum as a first place to go to for research before contacting the staff.
The client side API is fairly easy to understand, and they have good examples of mixed implementations with client and server side code.
I would say Infragistics
Haven't used it before, but I've heard good things about Telerik. My experience with the Infragistics Web components has been less than stellar. I found there were a lot of hidden features that I required, which were undocumented and had to go hunt around in the sample code for examples.
These toolkits can make sense for intranet applications but when you start providing it out on the web, the functionality can come at the cost of a bigger download for users. Just something to keep in mind.
What frameworks are you looking for? I currently use Janus Grids for grids on the winform side, but DevExpress has an awesome web grid that is amazing.
For current Winforms development my favorite is Infragistics. DevExpress seems to have more Silverlight controls in the works, but Infragistics may deliver.
I don't do much non-web development, but if I do I like to use gtk# for Mono (screenshots). It's much more fun and very easy to program then winforms. WPF looks good to, but I only tried an Hello World.
Infragistics has got good controls for Applications. WinGrid is one of the most important ones which would help you displaying information professionally and is quick.
the only drawback is the time consuming process of contacting their helpdesk or searching for the hidden properties. But they do work after you get to know them !
I would say go for DevExpress seems to be the most elegant, intuitive and well document suite out there.
To see their product offering in action demos.devexpress.com
Do the same for any component suite check out their demos and see which best suit you needs.

Obout controls in C# .Net

Is anyone using the Obout controls in C# .Net? How would you rate these controls, especially the Grid Control?
I was thoroughly impressed with them. Of all the other control sets out there (infragistics, telerik) this is the only (more than) respectable one I've worked with that was 1) free! and 2) lightweight!. The only caveat to Obout is I had trouble with merging some of these controls and some of the stock AJAX components.
Infragistics is by far my favorite (my comment about Obout being "lightweight" is in comparison with the heavy use of viewstate in some of the Infragistics controls) but it's around 1000-1500 a seat, so it can get expensive if you have a larger team.
I like obout for their lightweight'ness. Their licensing policy is very fair (pay once free updates for life) and they also give (free) educational licenses.
However, I had to use Developer Express on one of my projects and never looked back since. Very powerful and not as bloated as Infragistics.
Basically, if you decide to go obout way, you probably will not regret it.
I like obout for their simplicity and functionality. They have pretty good documentation and samples of almost everything. And they cost a fraction of price than others (Componentart/Telerik). I am currently testing their Grid control ( after I gave up on Componentart grid for client side functionality) and find it pretty straightforward.
I purchased the license a few years ago and have been using it ever since. The support is pretty good and the controls are great. I have looked at some of the other vendors (telerik, etc) but haven't moved any where because of cost transition. The nice thing with obout is that I bought it a few years ago and they still give me free updates. That may change inthe future, but for now, its great. The products work as expected and they are always making updates to the software.
This is the first time I was working with obout controls.Previously,I was working with telerik controls and so,I had a good chance of comparing these two set of controls.I would prefer Obout for its light weight and functionality.
I used their tree for a project. Not bad for free controls.
I have been using their Calendar control for nearly 2 years. All of a sudden it stops working on Google Chrome (Vr: 17.0.963.56 m). Even their live demos don't work, try scrolling through the months a few times and it will just hang with the error 'Uncaught TypeError: this is not a Date object.'.
I've emailed the company on two occasions regarding this issue as it has brought my site down and I'm getting customers contacting me incessantly. I'm afraid as of yet no reply!! Very frustrating!!
It's really a shame because the tool is otherwise excellent...If they could at least acknowledge the fault and assure me they are working on a solution that would be something, but to be left in the dark shows a complete lack of basic customer service etiquette.

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