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<blockquote data-quote="NetContractor" data-source="post: 93044" data-attributes="member: 20721">Is it just me or is anyone else very much dismayed at the lack of real line of business capabilities of WPF?I am producing a line of business app, which early on was decided to use WPF.&nbsp; Admitedly this was partly my decision, because the client needed a windows solution; my background was ASP.Net development so I thought the nearest thing would be to use WPF.&nbsp; Having been around for a few years I never dreamt that it would be so poor.I have hit so many stumbling blocks along the way.&nbsp; Working for a small client, in the middle of a recesion, they do not have the budget to purchase every third party tool and utility, so I have had to work with what Microsoft makes available in .Net.Firstly, I got hit with the Datagrid.&nbsp; Not being released until late October, i still get an error trying to add a combobox to it.&nbsp; I am waiting for version 2.&nbsp; the (free) Xceed grid is not much better, with its own (different) set of inadequecies.Now, I thought that any line of business application would require some sort of output.&nbsp; I need to produce invloices.&nbsp; The requirement is that one or more invoice is printed at one time; each one consists of a customer, seller brand, page header, items, and sub totals, etc. (typical invoice stuff).&nbsp; There seems to be no reporting mechnism in WPF.&nbsp; I have tried Crystal, but apart from hating their run-time deployment issues, and the fact that it doesnt seem to work with LINQ, I am at a stumbling block there.&nbsp; I have tried RDLC in VS 2008.&nbsp; Fortunatly that works with LINQ, but the designer seems very weak, and the functionality of the whole thing is not a patch on Crystal (I hate to say).&nbsp; I have considered building XAML but I need to export to Excel, and have page headers.&nbsp; I am at a loss and the sh-- it about to hit the fan.Is this just me being stupid?&nbsp; Because WPF seems great at funky, good looking demo applications; but not true line of business apps?Cheers</blockquote>

[QUOTE="NetContractor, post: 93044, member: 20721"] Is it just me or is anyone else very much dismayed at the lack of real line of business capabilities of WPF? I am producing a line of business app, which early on was decided to use WPF. Admitedly this was partly my decision, because the client needed a windows solution; my background was ASP.Net development so I thought the nearest thing would be to use WPF. Having been around for a few years I never dreamt that it would be so poor. I have hit so many stumbling blocks along the way. Working for a small client, in the middle of a recesion, they do not have the budget to purchase every third party tool and utility, so I have had to work with what Microsoft makes available in .Net. Firstly, I got hit with the Datagrid. Not being released until late October, i still get an error trying to add a combobox to it. I am waiting for version 2. the (free) Xceed grid is not much better, with its own (different) set of inadequecies. Now, I thought that any line of business application would require some sort of output. I need to produce invloices. The requirement is that one or more invoice is printed at one time; each one consists of a customer, seller brand, page header, items, and sub totals, etc. (typical invoice stuff). There seems to be no reporting mechnism in WPF. I have tried Crystal, but apart from hating their run-time deployment issues, and the fact that it doesnt seem to work with LINQ, I am at a stumbling block there. I have tried RDLC in VS 2008. Fortunatly that works with LINQ, but the designer seems very weak, and the functionality of the whole thing is not a patch on Crystal (I hate to say). I have considered building XAML but I need to export to Excel, and have page headers. I am at a loss and the sh-- it about to hit the fan. Is this just me being stupid? Because WPF seems great at funky, good looking demo applications; but not true line of business apps? Cheers [/QUOTE]

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