Recommendations on visual design

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

I'm designing new feature that will have a lot of data on the screen. So, I'm looking at design like Visual Studio Code IDE or similar and here I have example of Jetbrains Rider IDE,  or similar for Chrome/Firefox developer tools.

And it has a lot of toolbars, side bars, navigations, page controls, tabs... and everything looks good, is smooth, docking just works, no flickers even when a lot of information is on the screen.

 

I highlighted some of the controls they have and they just work together, each can open a new set of information, new page control... and this is simple example.

 

 

If anybody had done anything similar with so many controls on the same screen, that they fit together well, is smooth, any recommendations on such controls would be much appreciated. I have TMS and DevExpress controls, and access to others, if needed.

 

Thank you!

[timfrost 73]

My advice would be to avoid the smart panel controls that were added to the VCL a few versions ago.  They claim to make it so easy but they rob you of control.  I think TMS may also have some like that but I don't use them.   I prefer to design what the application needs, and to work with plain panels and tabbed controls, grids, etc., with careful use of the align property.  I normally use TMS.  I don't know of any shortcuts to make all happen automagically, but I am ready to be told of one by someone else here!

[Guest]

If you have the full DevExpress stack, then you know about the shortcomings already ("proprietary" skinning, lock-ins, et. al). If DevExpress is fine for your needs anyway, i would put a couple of weeks (yes) into a MVP. During this time i would most definitely post a lot of tickets on DX's support forum. Everything from questions about strategy to "low-level" details. If, and only if, DX controls can provide you with what you need then move on. Regarding very advanced UI's, in my humble experience, VCL is mostly forced to mimic stuff from other environs like M$'s own. This almost always result in identifiable lags and stutters. On the other hand, the cost that sucessful devs using other frameworks have to handle, i suspect will increase much more. There will always be trade-offs. Also; if you have really specific needs that you have 100% pinned down, then you will be able to find alternatives to both TMS and DevExpress. And some of what i have had a "look" at lately are component/skinning suits that look very impressive. But these are demos. Will it hold all the way to the goal? Very very difficult to know.

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

When it comes to unique design requests, inquiries, I never had much luck with the official support - sometimes I wish I wouldn't care about the UI at all, and just have all default Delphi controls + VirtualTreeview.

 

So, maybe someone has gone through the steps of discovering hidden gems in source code of those controls, to create similar look. Any pointers would be welcome!

[Alexander Elagin 143]

I'd use the DevExpress controls anyway, nothing can beat them in the VCL design. Just a single dxLayoutControl with manually added custom groups and maybe a few cxPageControls placed into it if necessary (and ActionList+dxBarManager+cxStatusBar etc for the toolbars) can easily handle this layout, and the latest versions are significally faster than the initial releases of the said control. The design phase may look tedious but once everything is ready and locked where necessary there will be no problems in maintaining/extending/modifying the UI.

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

Thanks, will look into it!