TOPIC:

I'm trying to think of the best way to implement a job schedule and roster display.
Some kind of Gantt chart where I can display the hours in a day, and the multiple jobs that must be done in that time. (with a weekly/monthly overview, of course!)

Does anyone know of a .net library I can incorporate in my X# (VO) application? Or a good way to achieve this within X#/VO?
I've attached a couple of jpg's of the kind of thing I am thinking of.

I want to make an interactive / "2-way" chart - it is created from information in my .dbf's and if any dragging or adjusting of the jobs in the chart can be used to update the original .dbf.

Initially I will experiment with bBrowser and see if I can get close, but not sure about creating an object spanning multiple cells that I can drag around between groups of cells.

Hi John,
in the past I have implemented something like this with the bBrowser.
The bBrowser allows to draw over groups of cells.
Wolfgang

Thank you Wolfgang.
OK, I will try the bBrowser way. I will have a look in the bBrowser X# samples - and see what I can find.
If anyone has any suggestions I'd be interested to see / hear them.
Thanks, Jon

Hi Jonhn!

I have worked a lot on scheduling with CA-VO..
Many years ago I also tried bbrowser for this purpose, but the solutions were only suitable for defining the absence (presence) of workers. I could also show you examples (screenshots) , but I would rather point you to better or at least dedicated products - libraries.
Very professional product; link: www.netronic.com/gantt-controls/.net-control-varchart-xgantt
Usefull: www.dbi-tech.com/NewsBulletin/#SolutionsSchedule
You can also see an example I showed this year in Memmingen :
redradix.azurewebsites.net/schedule
Please use browser translator to translate from slovenian to english.
Hope I help a little, Andrej

Thank you Andrej,
That's very helpful! The live demo looks amazing. Is that using the Netronic library? And in X#?

The DBI-tech solution looks like it should work for my requirements, and be reasonably simple to implement (hoping!). I'm just a server based application, not cloud. Will the .NET version be compatible with the X#/VO dialect?

I checked out the bBrowser samples Wolfgang suggested and there is a simple scheduler there - so it is an option, but getting the specialized Dbi-tech one would provide some ready-made advantages.
Thanks again, Jonathan

Dear Jonathan !
For my web demo scheduler I used Blazor and X# Core dialect and various packages already on the market for Blazor.
I think the Dbi-tech library will be adequate for your current requirements. As far as I know it also has built-in DBF file support. But beware of .NET or COM (COM64) versions.
Regards, Andrej

živjo Andrej,
What did you mean by "beware" of the Dbi-tech .Net/Com? Just to be sure that I order the correct version?
I am using X#/VOGUI, and only the XIDE for now. I thought that the .Net version should be the correct one.

I'm not sure which way to go with it from here -
Idea #1 create a windows form with the control and design it in XIDE, or
Idea #2 maybe create a new library in VS with a windows form with that control, then add this library as a reference in my main app
What do you think? Have you tried something similar using .NET with the X#/VOGUI?

It would be nice if it has .dbf capability, but after reading the help files I thought XML or a text file would also work for my data interchange.
Any suggestions on the way forward, or others' experiences with this or similar control are appreciated!
hvala! Jonathan

Hi Jonathan !
dBi-Tech: I just wanted to remind you to choose the appropriate version, since in your first letter you mentioned developing for X#/VO. Now I see that you only need .NET components.
Your approach is correct, both ways should work. For myself, I found that the 3rd way works best for me, which is to leave the old VO programs as they are, but create new standalone programs in win forms and with X# and call these new programs from the old VO exe. I attach a screenshot.
I have now abandoned the desktop development (X# - win forms) and am continuing with the web and mobile only.

That's great Andrej,
Those images look very encouraging - exactly what I want to do.
Thank you for the information and confirmation of the appropriate path to take. I will have to stick with desktop for now!

Hi Jonathan,
please pay attention to the fact that with X# you have a choice of GUI: VO GUI, Windows Forms, WPF, and you need the right component for it.
Of course, using the VO GUI, you can also add Windows Forms windows into it using some special classes that are available in the X# VOGUI classes.
And there are also samples how to integrate a Windows Forms control into a VOGUI application (I have done it also myself for a sample)
Wolfgang

Thanks Wolfgang,
Chris showed me how to instantiate a windows.form on my app, which is working but I am always keen to see a sample if possible. I have got the Dbi-tech .Net samples opening and running in VS, but now (very slowly and painfully) converting the C# code and looking for how to use the classes in the new form.
Is there some recommended reading or example in the X# documentation I might have missed?
Jonathan

Hi John,

I played a bit with the trial version, but couldn't get it to work properly even in c#, not to mention that it didn't add itself to the VS toolbox, so I can't add it to a X# form. Does the c# sample work fine for you in VS? If yes, then I suggest at least for now, for as long as you are evaluating the control, just keep the control in that VS app and use it from your X# app.

To do that, go to your XIDE app, select Add references, Browse, then navigate to the samples' \Bin folder (should be something like \Solutions Schedule for .NET (SSNETS)\Samples\C#\dbiScheduleTimeTypes\dbiScheduleTimeTypes\bin\Debug) after you have compiled it, chose all files (*.*) in the open file dialog and pick all the 3 dlls in there, together with dbiScheduleTimeTypes.exe. Also from the GAC page, add references to System.Drawing and System.Windows.Forms.

Then, anywhere in your app's code (for example in a button click method), add this code:


Does the control appear correctly in the form now, from inside tour X# app? If yes, for now just experiment with it (in the c# sample) to see if it suits your needs, of course you can also pass objects/parameters to this c# library from your main app. And if you decide that the control is good enough for your needs, then we will further investigate how to add it to a X# library or your main app directly, instead of using the external c# app for it.

Thanks Chris -
It worked and opens the c# .exe - brilliant, thank you.

In the Dbi sample pack there are 20 different examples, each showing off a particular function of the control. I'll try adding some features to the sample that I compiled and see if I can rebuild it all and test it.
It *was* working, but now when I start it I get a dialog box saying "unable to enter demo mode" invalid access Rights, make sure you are in an elevated environment, so will see what that means.
Thanks for your help.

Hi Jonathan,

Yeah, I see that, too, seems the behavior of that library is really erratic. It seems it helps running VS in administrator mode though.

Yes, OK, I ran VS in Admin mode and the Dbi-tech sample compiles and runs properly without the warning.
Then I realised that the .exe also has to be run in Administrator mode.

Andrej suggested having a closer look at Telerik scheduling and it does look pretty good. Also, he has used bBrowser for this, as Wolfgang suggested so this might still be an option. We are going to discuss this further offline.
Thanks again.

Hi John,

For less than the price of the DBI Gantt component, you could buy the full suite of NET components from DevExpress. Their Gantt control is very good, the rest of the components are great, and tech support is absolutely first rate. I've been using them for about 10 years and renew gladly every year.

For a job scheduling type scenario, you probably don't need all the detailed resource scheduling features of something like the DBI component (though I think you can handle resources with the DevExpress one if needed).

Nick

Thanks Nick,
Yes, the DevExpress suite looks great and might be the one! I'll watch some videos and get the demo and see what happens - thank you for the recommendation.
Jon

Hi again -
I've started experimenting with the DevExpress scheduler and it does look good.

I was going to use JSON for the data transfer, but the docs say the schedule can't write back changes to JSON, so I have set up a PostgreSQL database instead which "seems" to connect to the scheduler ok (but none of the appointments show up!)

Before I go further and try to read and write the PostgreS database from my X# app - asking people who are using the DevExpress scheduler - is that the best way? Or is there another way you use, such as in-memory data (a DataSource in the back that I can fill manually from dbf or ini or json etc and then read back from)?
From what I see the scheduler works really well with SQL it is a solid result - (if I can get the data in and out of my X# application that is), but avoiding SQL will make it easier to roll out to customer sites.

Any ideas or suggestions on implementing the DevExpress scheduler with an X#/VO application gladly received!

Thank you.

Hi Jon,
if the scheduler is a single user application, you could use SQLite. That is easy to deploy.
Wolfgang

Thanks Wolfgang! That SQLite is a very nifty database. It says only single user, but it should be ok for 2 or 3 users to refresh the schedule from time to time from it.
Now the question again: Has anyone connected an SQLite database to the Dev express schedule tool? I found the problem of the schedule not displaying appointments with the Postgres database was I had fields mapped that made the result invalid. Just date/time start, date/time end, subject and location field and it is all there.
Thanks.