StrataFrame Forum

Keyboard Control

http://forum.strataframe.net/Topic31677.aspx

By Larry Caylor - 12/21/2012

For 2.0 how about adding a configurable keyboard controlthat recognizes StrataFrame themes for the development of touch screenor kiosk applications. The control should allow custom configuration (e.g.  All numeric, alpha only, or combination ofkeys), different styles (kids keyboard vs standard look), and respond to themes.  I’ve found a couple of controls on the internet but of course they don’tfollow StrataFrame themes.
By Trent L. Taylor - 12/27/2012

Larry:

This is a great idea.  I actually had to come up with one for a kiosk that we wrote.  You are right in that there aren't a ton of options out there.  The best one I found online was from DotNetBar:

http://www.devcomponents.com/dotnetbar/TouchKeyboardControl.aspx

It worked well, but it didn't follow themes (without some work anyway).  You can make this follow themes, but in the end, I agree that this would be a nice addition.  In truth, with more and more apps turning towards kiosk entry and Surface support, these types of controls will become more and more necessary.
By Larry Caylor - 12/31/2012

Hi Trent,

I've been trying out the dotnetbar control and it's probably the best one I've found (until you guys come with one). I'm really surprised there aren't more out there.

How's SF 2.0 coming? Maybe you could give us a New Year's update on where you are with the product.

-Larry
By Trent L. Taylor - 1/2/2013

Hey Larry:

Yeah, I was completely surprised as well when I was looking for one.  Really there is more of a market for this type of control these days with all of the tablets and kiosk type environments.

SF 2.0 is coming along really nicely.  We will be posting more this month some time, but the entity collection model is going to be so much smoother in the end.  The philosophy of StrataFrame hasn't changed, but the object collections with our own entity model is far easier to work with and is far more robust when interfacing with virtually any type of environment.

Since the WPF curve is so steep, and it will be a while before WinForms dies, the  SF 2.0 entity model supports both WPF as well as WinForms.  One reason that developers have had a hard time moving forward with WPF is the learning curve.  It really is a completely different concept, especially for WinForms developers.  So we will be releasing a lot of training videos as well as tutorials that will help a lot, but also, StrataFrame WPF UI is going to help shorten the gap in being productive while taking advantage of WPF.

WPF is extremely robust, but Microsoft didn't do a very good job on creating a transition for GDI WinForm developers.  But StrataFrame 2.0 will really help a lot here.

The first UI that you guys will see will be the DDT.  It will feel like a combination of SQL Server Management Studio and VS2012 with our own flavoring.  The DDT is going to be a much richer set of tools and will also support multiple platforms in the end as well.  The two that we will be focusing on at first will be SQL Server and MySQL.

Exciting times around here.  We are having fun, and once we can start to show more UI and samples, we will be posting things out here to wet your appetite.  It won't be long before you start to see things, and even have some input on controls and priority of the controls, etc.
By Edhy Rijo - 1/2/2013

Hi Trent,

Trent L. Taylor (1/2/2013)
...The DDT is going to be a much richer set of tools and will also support multiple platforms in the end as well.  The two that we will be focusing on at first will be SQL Server and MySQL.

Glad to hear that and just to be sure, at the same time you will be supporting the SQL LocalDB connection, right?  This is very important for many small projects.

Exciting times around here.  We are having fun, and once we can start to show more UI and samples, we will be posting things out here to wet your appetite.  It won't be long before you start to see things, and even have some input on controls and priority of the controls, etc.

Sure we can't wait to get our hands on any SF2.0 sneak preview Smile
By Trent L. Taylor - 1/2/2013

Edhy:

Yes, we are planning on supporting embedded as well.  In fact, the database that houses the SF logic can be exported to an embedded file and then taken offsite instead of requiring a VPN, etc.  So the framework will have some intrinsic logic for local DBs.
By Edhy Rijo - 1/2/2013

Awesome!!! Smile