>To me as a customer, I will place very much interest on who has the largest following of user base because that would make me think the support help from other users will be better, and I wish I had a crystal ball to see who will be there 10-15 years from now, so I do not have to start over one day if my framework company has crapped out. It would be kind of like what happened with VFP. Do you have any idea about market share comparison?
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>Also, I must say that I am an in-house, one-main-app-on-a-LAN developer, so the web stuff is of zero interest to me for now, and I do not see it changing (now that could be a big laugh comment in the future, but for now I can say it with confidence). I do not write apps that are sold, and I do not have a customer base. Just me and 8 other users in our machine shop. We track all customer jobs and shop labor with one VFP app.
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>StrataFrame on has a 20 day trial. I am not a full-time programmer, it’s just something I love doing, but only get to do 10-15 hours per week, and then some at night and weekends. It’s like a hobby, but it is real, and every single aspect of our company’s daily activity centers around my app. It's just that I also have other responsibilities that are not compputer related.
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>Even with a good framework, would I need to consider a controls package like DevExpress? I can’t really see where the line gets drawn between the framework side of a package (to control data connections, binding, saving, and the common user toolbar strip to control it all) and any custom, enhanced, or framework integrated controls. Does MM or Strate use the .NET grid object , dropdowns, edit boxes, etc, or do they have their own that I would be sub-classing?
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>Also, how did MM get their own group on UT, and is that the only user discussion area for you package? Strataframe has a bulletin board style discussion forum format that I really like. I’ve used is on lots of other sites and it is a great user forum format that is open to everyone. Otherwise, people would have to find UT first, and then find MM .NET.
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Matt,
Devforce express has no limitation and for free. It has tons of tutorials both in written and video form to get you started. You do not need another 3rd party library like Devexpress and could simply use what is offered by .Net framework itself.
OTOH if you're like a hobbysist then you might not need .Net at all if you're confortable with VFP (but as a hobby download and play with express versions - they are all for free).
Cetin