"Winform control Import wizard" for 3rd party
control in VCL.NET

I am in the process of defining a best possible technical solution to replace
legacy Delphi 3rd party controls in existing product.
 
I am targetting the intermediate stage build in VCL.NET. So if I import .NET 3rd
party control (Say Xtragrid/Essential grid) in VCL.NET for one of the control
replacement, I think I will be able to move it to .NET platform C# easily.

Issue's that I can see with 3rd party .NET controls to be able to work in
VCL.NET platform: 

*All the control specific properties are not shown when you place import control
on VCL.NET Form.
*All the design time features of these 3rd party .NET control to configure
properties placed on VCL.NET form (in-place configuration) are missing. Say
example: 
*3rd party .NET designer, control customization design-time feature
totally not avaialble.                                         
*As soon as I place a 3rd party .NETcontrol on VCL.NET form it is loosing its XP
style appearance. I.e. it's becoming a basic control look(bland).
 
If possible, please try to answer this direct questions that will help me to
come out with a feasible solution.

*Do 3rd party .NET controls that primarily developed or targeted for .NET
plaform(C#) can still work in Delphi VCL.NET?
*Is Xtragrid control doesn't support the VCL.NET Delphi 2006 underlying
architecture that its standard VCL.NET control supports.
 
1. Am I trying something which is not a technically feasible solution?  That is,
trying to import a .NET 3rd party control which is 
targeted for Visual studio .NET development (C#.NET based). 
 
2. Is 3rd party .NET control targeted for Visual Studio .NET development (using
C#) still work in VCL.NET platform?  
 
3. Is the Winform control Import wizard works for 3rd party .NET based control
(I.e Visual Studio) import process? 
 
4. Is this Winform control Import wizard works only for standard Windows form
controls (C#) import process? 
 
5. Is there any utility available from Borland that converts VCL win32
application to VCL.NET?
 
Help in this regards will be highly appreciated. Waiting for early response.

Hi Jitender,


"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote in message 
news:44c9c986$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>
> I am in the process of defining a best possible technical solution to 
> replace legacy Delphi 3rd party controls in existing product.
>
> I am targetting the intermediate stage build in VCL.NET. So if I import 
> .NET 3rd party control (Say Xtragrid/Essential grid) in VCL.NET for one of

> the control replacement, I think I will be able to move it to .NET 
> platform C# easily.
>
> Issue's that I can see with 3rd party .NET controls to be able to work in 
> VCL.NET platform:
>
> *All the control specific properties are not shown when you place import 
> control on VCL.NET Form.
> *All the design time features of these 3rd party .NET control to configure

> properties placed on VCL.NET form (in-place configuration) are missing. 
> Say example:
> *3rd party .NET designer, control customization design-time feature
> totally not avaialble.
> *As soon as I place a 3rd party .NETcontrol on VCL.NET form it is loosing 
> its XP style appearance. I.e. it's becoming a basic control look(bland).
>
> If possible, please try to answer this direct questions that will help me 
> to come out with a feasible solution.
>
> *Do 3rd party .NET controls that primarily developed or targeted for .NET 
> plaform(C#) can still work in Delphi VCL.NET?

Yes, they can. Although sometimes it takes some amount of hair-pulling, but 
it can be made to work.

> *Is Xtragrid control doesn't support the VCL.NET Delphi 2006 underlying 
> architecture that its standard VCL.NET control supports.

It doesn't, that's what the Winform Control Import Wizard is for. Also if 
possible you can consider ExpressQuantumGrid from the same vendor, they have 
a native VCL.NET version and it's very similar to XtraGrid.

>
> 1. Am I trying something which is not a technically feasible solution? 
> That is, trying to import a .NET 3rd party control which is
> targeted for Visual studio .NET development (C#.NET based).
>
> 2. Is 3rd party .NET control targeted for Visual Studio .NET development 
> (using C#) still work in VCL.NET platform?
>
> 3. Is the Winform control Import wizard works for 3rd party .NET based 
> control (I.e Visual Studio) import process?

It's feasible, yes and yes.

>
> 4. Is this Winform control Import wizard works only for standard Windows 
> form controls (C#) import process?

No, it works with any control which inherit System.Windows.Forms.Control.

>
> 5. Is there any utility available from Borland that converts VCL win32 
> application to VCL.NET?

No, you should do it all by yourself.

Regards,
Arie 

Is .NET based 3rd party controls like Xtragrid or Essential Grid tested in
VCL.NET platform?

As I don't find any general issues with these controls in VS.NET (C#) for which
this control was targetted(Developed).

regards,
Jitender

"Arie Zilberstein" <azilberstein@mercury.com> wrote:
>Hi Jitender,
>
>
>"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote in message 
>news:44c9c986$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>>
>> I am in the process of defining a best possible technical solution to 
>> replace legacy Delphi 3rd party controls in existing product.
>>
>> I am targetting the intermediate stage build in VCL.NET. So if I import

>> .NET 3rd party control (Say Xtragrid/Essential grid) in VCL.NET for one
of 
>> the control replacement, I think I will be able to move it to .NET 
>> platform C# easily.
>>
>> Issue's that I can see with 3rd party .NET controls to be able to work
in 
>> VCL.NET platform:
>>
>> *All the control specific properties are not shown when you place
import 
>> control on VCL.NET Form.
>> *All the design time features of these 3rd party .NET control to
configure 
>> properties placed on VCL.NET form (in-place configuration) are missing.

>> Say example:
>> *3rd party .NET designer, control customization design-time feature
>> totally not avaialble.
>> *As soon as I place a 3rd party .NETcontrol on VCL.NET form it is
loosing 
>> its XP style appearance. I.e. it's becoming a basic control
look(bland).
>>
>> If possible, please try to answer this direct questions that will help
me 
>> to come out with a feasible solution.
>>
>> *Do 3rd party .NET controls that primarily developed or targeted for
.NET 
>> plaform(C#) can still work in Delphi VCL.NET?
>
>Yes, they can. Although sometimes it takes some amount of hair-pulling, but

>it can be made to work.
>
>> *Is Xtragrid control doesn't support the VCL.NET Delphi 2006 underlying

>> architecture that its standard VCL.NET control supports.
>
>It doesn't, that's what the Winform Control Import Wizard is for. Also if 
>possible you can consider ExpressQuantumGrid from the same vendor, they have

>a native VCL.NET version and it's very similar to XtraGrid.
>
>>
>> 1. Am I trying something which is not a technically feasible solution?

>> That is, trying to import a .NET 3rd party control which is
>> targeted for Visual studio .NET development (C#.NET based).
>>
>> 2. Is 3rd party .NET control targeted for Visual Studio .NET
development 
>> (using C#) still work in VCL.NET platform?
>>
>> 3. Is the Winform control Import wizard works for 3rd party .NET based

>> control (I.e Visual Studio) import process?
>
>It's feasible, yes and yes.
>
>>
>> 4. Is this Winform control Import wizard works only for standard
Windows 
>> form controls (C#) import process?
>
>No, it works with any control which inherit System.Windows.Forms.Control.
>
>>
>> 5. Is there any utility available from Borland that converts VCL win32

>> application to VCL.NET?
>
>No, you should do it all by yourself.
>
>Regards,
>Arie 
>
>

Hi Arie,

Thanks for response. 

I got to know that Xtragrid design-time functionality (Xtragrid designer, Level
Designer and Band and Columns customization design-time feature) is not possible
to code at run-time, also it is not present at design-time in VCL.NET form) as
the control designer are primarily targetted for VS.NET development.

I want to know what workaround you have used so that I can switch to .NET based
Essential grid control to see whether it will in VCL.NET platform.

regards,
Jitender


"Arie Zilberstein" <azilberstein@mercury.com> wrote:
>I'm using XtraTreeList (from the same vendor as XtraGrid) with success in 
>VCL.NET.
>
>However, it does take a lot of workarounds and headaches to get it to work 
>propertly, so be warned.
>
>
>"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote in message 
>news:44cdff12$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>>
>>
>> Is .NET based 3rd party controls like Xtragrid or Essential Grid tested
in 
>> VCL.NET platform?
>>
>> As I don't find any general issues with these controls in VS.NET (C#)
for 
>> which this control was targetted(Developed).
>>
>> regards,
>> Jitender
>>
>> "Arie Zilberstein" <azilberstein@mercury.com> wrote:
>>>Hi Jitender,
>>>
>>>
>>>"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote in
message
>>>news:44c9c986$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>>>>
>>>> I am in the process of defining a best possible technical
solution to
>>>> replace legacy Delphi 3rd party controls in existing product.
>>>>
>>>> I am targetting the intermediate stage build in VCL.NET. So if
I import
>>>> .NET 3rd party control (Say Xtragrid/Essential grid) in VCL.NET
for one 
>>>> of
>>>> the control replacement, I think I will be able to move it to
.NET
>>>> platform C# easily.
>>>>
>>>> Issue's that I can see with 3rd party .NET controls to be able
to work 
>>>> in
>>>> VCL.NET platform:
>>>>
>>>> *All the control specific properties are not shown when you
place import
>>>> control on VCL.NET Form.
>>>> *All the design time features of these 3rd party .NET control
to 
>>>> configure
>>>> properties placed on VCL.NET form (in-place configuration) are
missing.
>>>> Say example:
>>>> *3rd party .NET designer, control customization design-time
feature
>>>> totally not avaialble.
>>>> *As soon as I place a 3rd party .NETcontrol on VCL.NET form it
is 
>>>> loosing
>>>> its XP style appearance. I.e. it's becoming a basic control
look(bland).
>>>>
>>>> If possible, please try to answer this direct questions that
will help 
>>>> me
>>>> to come out with a feasible solution.
>>>>
>>>> *Do 3rd party .NET controls that primarily developed or
targeted for 
>>>> .NET
>>>> plaform(C#) can still work in Delphi VCL.NET?
>>>
>>>Yes, they can. Although sometimes it takes some amount of
hair-pulling, 
>>>but
>>>it can be made to work.
>>>
>>>> *Is Xtragrid control doesn't support the VCL.NET Delphi 2006
underlying
>>>> architecture that its standard VCL.NET control supports.
>>>
>>>It doesn't, that's what the Winform Control Import Wizard is for.
Also if
>>>possible you can consider ExpressQuantumGrid from the same vendor,
they 
>>>have
>>>a native VCL.NET version and it's very similar to XtraGrid.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1. Am I trying something which is not a technically feasible
solution?
>>>> That is, trying to import a .NET 3rd party control which is
>>>> targeted for Visual studio .NET development (C#.NET based).
>>>>
>>>> 2. Is 3rd party .NET control targeted for Visual Studio .NET
development
>>>> (using C#) still work in VCL.NET platform?
>>>>
>>>> 3. Is the Winform control Import wizard works for 3rd party
.NET based
>>>> control (I.e Visual Studio) import process?
>>>
>>>It's feasible, yes and yes.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 4. Is this Winform control Import wizard works only for
standard Windows
>>>> form controls (C#) import process?
>>>
>>>No, it works with any control which inherit
System.Windows.Forms.Control.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> 5. Is there any utility available from Borland that converts
VCL win32
>>>> application to VCL.NET?
>>>
>>>No, you should do it all by yourself.
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>Arie
>>>
>>>
>> 
>
>

Rather than generalities, I will ask very specific's behind the question that I
have raised:

The advantage I thought I will get using Essential Grid/XtraGrid (.NET based
control imported in VCL.NET) is that I will move to .NET (C#) easily at later
stage from the intermediate VCL.NET build.

Question 1:
I don't see any control specific properties of 3rd party .NET controls such as
Xtragrid/EssentialGrid whereas I can able to see only properties that are
usually visible for all the controls in Delphi 2006 say standard/Win32 etc.
delphi controls.

Question 2:
The vendor confirmed that designer (XtraGrid Design-time-Xtragrid designer,
Level Designer and Band and Columns customization design-time) feature are not
implementable in VCL.NET as they have built it specifically for VS.NET platform.
I have asked the vendor to explain why it is not possible in runtime.

EssentialGrid also has design-time feature such as Gridboundcolumn editor to add
columns and configure each column properties individually with StyleInfo. But I
am not able to create the equivalent code of VS.NET (C#) for this functionality
in VCL.NET.

Question 3:
I get an error when I assign Datasource property of Essential grid with a
Datasource (TDatasource- with ADOConnection and ADODataset or ADODB) on Delphi
VCL.NET form(nfm file). The exception message is
"BadDataSourceForComplexBinding". 

Whereas for VCL.NET based DBgrid control/data-aware controls the datasource is
working fine.

Question 4:
The controls that I would like to know whether works in VCL.NET are Xtragrid
control and Essential Grid control.

I am sure there are some light weight Winform .NET controls works in VCL.NET
using this wizard.

Basically, both XtraGrid & Essential Grid is targetted for .NET (C#.NET)
development and it is working fine.
 
Am I still going in right direction which is technically feasible or do you
think I have to use specific Grid for VCL.NET i.e. ExpressQuantumGrid and target
for C# based Grid (Essential Grid/XtraGrid) control at later stage of
development.

regards,
Jitender



"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote:
>
>Hi Arie,
>
>Thanks for response. 
>
>I got to know that Xtragrid design-time functionality (Xtragrid designer,
Level Designer and Band and Columns customization design-time feature) is not
possible to code at run-time, also it is not present at design-time in VCL.NET
form) as the control designer are primarily targetted for VS.NET development.
>
>I want to know what workaround you have used so that I can switch to .NET
based Essential grid control to see whether it will in VCL.NET platform.
>
>regards,
>Jitender
>
>
>"Arie Zilberstein" <azilberstein@mercury.com> wrote:
>>I'm using XtraTreeList (from the same vendor as XtraGrid) with success
in 
>>VCL.NET.
>>
>>However, it does take a lot of workarounds and headaches to get it to
work 
>>propertly, so be warned.
>>
>>
>>"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote in
message 
>>news:44cdff12$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>>>
>>>
>>> Is .NET based 3rd party controls like Xtragrid or Essential Grid
tested in 
>>> VCL.NET platform?
>>>
>>> As I don't find any general issues with these controls in VS.NET
(C#) for 
>>> which this control was targetted(Developed).
>>>
>>> regards,
>>> Jitender
>>>
>>> "Arie Zilberstein" <azilberstein@mercury.com>
wrote:
>>>>Hi Jitender,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Jitender" <jitender.mahinderkar@ge.com> wrote
in message
>>>>news:44c9c986$1@newsgroups.borland.com...
>>>>>
>>>>> I am in the process of defining a best possible technical
solution to
>>>>> replace legacy Delphi 3rd party controls in existing
product.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am targetting the intermediate stage build in VCL.NET. So
if I import
>>>>> .NET 3rd party control (Say Xtragrid/Essential grid) in
VCL.NET for one 
>>>>> of
>>>>> the control replacement, I think I will be able to move it
to .NET
>>>>> platform C# easily.
>>>>>
>>>>> Issue's that I can see with 3rd party .NET controls to be
able to work 
>>>>> in
>>>>> VCL.NET platform:
>>>>>
>>>>> *All the control specific properties are not shown when you
place import
>>>>> control on VCL.NET Form.
>>>>> *All the design time features of these 3rd party .NET
control to 
>>>>> configure
>>>>> properties placed on VCL.NET form (in-place configuration)
are missing.
>>>>> Say example:
>>>>> *3rd party .NET designer, control customization design-time
feature
>>>>> totally not avaialble.
>>>>> *As soon as I place a 3rd party .NETcontrol on VCL.NET form
it is 
>>>>> loosing
>>>>> its XP style appearance. I.e. it's becoming a basic control
look(bland).
>>>>>
>>>>> If possible, please try to answer this direct questions
that will help 
>>>>> me
>>>>> to come out with a feasible solution.
>>>>>
>>>>> *Do 3rd party .NET controls that primarily developed or
targeted for 
>>>>> .NET
>>>>> plaform(C#) can still work in Delphi VCL.NET?
>>>>
>>>>Yes, they can. Although sometimes it takes some amount of
hair-pulling, 
>>>>but
>>>>it can be made to work.
>>>>
>>>>> *Is Xtragrid control doesn't support the VCL.NET Delphi
2006 underlying
>>>>> architecture that its standard VCL.NET control supports.
>>>>
>>>>It doesn't, that's what the Winform Control Import Wizard is
for. Also if
>>>>possible you can consider ExpressQuantumGrid from the same
vendor, they 
>>>>have
>>>>a native VCL.NET version and it's very similar to XtraGrid.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. Am I trying something which is not a technically
feasible solution?
>>>>> That is, trying to import a .NET 3rd party control which
is
>>>>> targeted for Visual studio .NET development (C#.NET
based).
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. Is 3rd party .NET control targeted for Visual Studio
.NET development
>>>>> (using C#) still work in VCL.NET platform?
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. Is the Winform control Import wizard works for 3rd party
.NET based
>>>>> control (I.e Visual Studio) import process?
>>>>
>>>>It's feasible, yes and yes.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. Is this Winform control Import wizard works only for
standard Windows
>>>>> form controls (C#) import process?
>>>>
>>>>No, it works with any control which inherit
System.Windows.Forms.Control.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 5. Is there any utility available from Borland that
converts VCL win32
>>>>> application to VCL.NET?
>>>>
>>>>No, you should do it all by yourself.
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>Arie
>>>>
>>>>
>>> 
>>
>>
>