Business Apps with DXperience ASP.NET

This class provides an overview of the DevExpress DXperience ASP.NET suite of products. It takes you through the process of creating a business application, utilizing a typical combination of components throughout the product range. A good practical level of knowledge will be achieved that allows you to write similar business applications on your own, and to understand the DevExpress suite of ASP.NET components well enough to flatten any further learning curve.

When and Where?

Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands (not far from Amsterdam), November 29-30 2010 (2 days)

Details about the class

This class provides an overview of the DevExpress DXperience ASP.NET suite of products. It takes you through the process of creating a business application, utilizing a typical combination of components throughout the product range. A good practical level of knowledge will be achieved that allows you to write similar business applications on your own, and to understand the DevExpress suite of ASP.NET components well enough to flatten any further learning curve.

Who Should Attend

.NET developers with basic experience creating ASP.NET (WebForms) applications. The programming language used during the class is C#. I don't anticipate great problems for users of VB, since the class is not "code-heavy", but some experience reading C# code will be useful. I will try to help VB programmers with any language issues and it is possible that I'll be able to provide VB samples at a later point. Please let me know if VB is a priority for you!

Since most of the content is on an introductory level, you should not have too much experience developing applications with the ASP.NET component suite.

Class Language

I expect attendees from a number of countries and the class language will be English. I also speak German.

Requirements

You should use your own computer during the class. Details about the required setup will be sent out to you before the class.

Products Covered

• ASPxDataView
• ASPxGridView and Editors
• ASPxMenu
• ASPxNavBar
• ASPxCallback and ASPxCallbackPanel from the ASPxUtilities
• ASPxPivotGrid
• ASPxGauges
• ASPxScheduler
• XtraCharts
• XtraPrinting
• XtraReports
• ... and many of the individual components from these packages

In many samples and lab code, DevExpress XPO (eXpress Persistent Objects) is going to be used as the data access layer. There will be some interaction with XPO in the various demos, but the details of how XPO works, beyond the requirements of the demo code, are not "officially" part of the class.

Product Versions

Starting with 2010, DevExpress releases new major versions of their entire suite twice a year. It is not always possible to migrate a class to the latest version, update all demos and labs, include all new functionality etc., between the DX release date and a particular class date. I will gladly make updated source code versions available to you at any point after you have taken a class.

The DevExpress major version that is used in this class is currently v2010.1.

Depth of Coverage

This class covers a great number of products in a real-world context. The target is to enable you to create your own applications using the DevExpress ASP.NET products. The class is short, so the depth we can go to for any particular one of these complex products is restricted. A complete feature description for any single product is not a target of this class. Of course you can use the opportunity to ask me any questions you like!

Format

This instructor led training class focuses on a step-by-step walkthrough of the creation of a business application for the purpose of Event Management. A further focus is the application of the DevExpress product suite to this scenario, while the sample application remains feature incomplete from the perspective of a real Event Management business.

Hands-on labs are presented throughout the class, to enable you to practice the topics, and these labs are meant to be taken away and used after the class. Questions are encouraged.

Outline

• Component Functionality
  • Building a "frame" application
    • Navigation with the ASPxMenu and the ASPxNavBar
    • Data browsing with the ASPxDataView
    • Complex setups with the ASPxGridView
  • Editable data
    • ASPxGridView
    • Editors, including
      • ASPxSpinEdit
      • ASPxButton
      • ASPxComboBox
      • ASPxLabel
  • Managing events with the ASPxScheduler
  • Ajax using the ASPxCallback
  • Analyzing data
    • Dashboards with the ASPxGaugeControl and the WebChartControl
    • Advanced analysis with the ASPxPivotGrid
  • Printing and Exporting
    • Automatic printing with XtraPrinting
    • Exporting data
    • Custom reporting with XtraReports
• Data binding options
  • The (ir)relevance of different data layer options: ADO.NET, LINQ to SQL, Entity Framework, XPO
  • A unified data controller
  • Server Mode