DevExpress eXpressAppFramework for .Net v8.3.4

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DevExpress eXpressAppFramework for .Net v8.3.4

The eXpressApp Framework by Developer Express is a powerful instrument for creating business applications quickly and easily. A strong modular architecture allows for platform independent domain specific extensions. Examples of typical applications include business/sales/CRM systems, projects, documentation, HR and training class management, and many others. The currently supported target platforms are Windows Forms and ASP.NET 2, and our open architecture allows extensions of either of these platforms as well as the introduction of completely new targets (WPF support is part of our plans for the future).



XPO

XPO is our Object/Relation Mapping product, which has been available as a separate product for a long time. General information about XPO is available here. Business objects in an eXpressApp Framework application use the proven storage capabilities of XPO.

Base class library / Controller library

The eXpressApp Framework comes with a base class library that contains a number of common business objects and controllers implementing common operations. For the first version we have prepared a number of basic classes and standard interfaces that are also delivered with source code. So the developer of an eXpressApp Framework based application can either use these classes directly, modify our implementation or create his own replacements.

Of course it's possible that others create their own domain specific extension libraries and make them available to developers.

Application specific business objects / Application specific controllers

These are the business objects and controllers that are written specifically for a given application. They can reuse the base library functionality or be implemented stand-alone.

Views / Reports

Views are the user interface representations of (potentially editable) data, while reports are representations for the purpose of reporting to screen, paper, web or export formats. Views can be created automatically by eXpressApp Framework at runtime (there's no code generation in eXpressApp Framework!) while reports are typically created manually, though also at runtime.

Application Model

The application model is a collection of information from various sources, on which the automatic mechanisms in eXpressApp Framework are based. Sources of model data include metadata queried from business objects and controllers, default information from standard or custom modules included in a given application, and configuration files on various levels. An important part of the development work for an eXpressApp Framework application is to modify the application model and thereby to specify options and parameters for the automatic mechanisms.

WinForms / ASP.NET

Windows Forms and ASP.NET are the two user interface platforms that are currently supported.


Modularized Architecture

Every piece of functionality that comes with the eXpressApp Framework is encapsulated in a module. A module in the eXpressApp Framework is a special kind of assembly that contains a class derived from a certain base class. This structure provides a common hook for the eXpressApp Framework to recognize an assembly as a module, to provide management information to that module and in turn to request details about what's contained in the module. It is very easy to create your own modules for the eXpressApp Framework and thereby to create and distribute your own reusable functionality.




Visual Studio IDE integration

A lot of effort has gone into usability in the eXpressApp Framework, and to make things as easy as possible, we have integrated the product with Visual Studio in many places. For example, the Module and Application Designer gives an overview of the configuration of a Module or Application, allows property modification to configure Module parameters and supports drag&drop to activate additional Modules.



The eXpressApp Framework has been designed to leverage the functionality of Visual Studio as much as possible. For example, to edit the templates that are used by the Windows Forms and ASP.NET projects for forms and pages, the built-in standard designers can be used. This is important for developers, because they don't have to get used to a new tool or new designer paradigms to do their work - changing a template is as easy as designing a form or a web page in Visual Studio.

In some areas, we have chosen to extend the standard functionality of Visual Studio. One obvious example of this are the templates we deliver to create new application solutions and a number of different project items quickly and easily. Another example is the integration of our Model Editor, which can be brought up directly from the context menu of the Solution Explorer.

Our integrated XAF Command Center tool window and the Design Actions are another example of integration with Visual Studio. These features bring functionality to the developer where she needs it most!

With the eXpressApp Framework, a developer never needs to leave Visual Studio!






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