The release of v20.1 of the DevExpress VCL Subscription is just around the corner and is targeted for early June. However, if you own an active subscription to the product, you now can download Beta 1 from the Download Manager and investigate the new features in the context of your applications.
We've completed the development of the new major functionality in this release and look forward to your feedback as you explore the capabilities of Beta 1. Please remember though that we have yet to fully finalize our code and still have a few minor issues to resolve and retest. As such, we don’t recommend that you use this version in production.
The following is a summary of changes/updates we'd love you to try first and perhaps concentrate on. To review the complete list of features included with v20.1 navigate to the What’s New page on our website.
ExpressQuantumGrid Suite
Performance Enhancements
We optimized the text measurement mechanism for single-line cells in Table Views so that drawing and scrolling operations can be up to four times faster when Best Fit mode is enabled.
Entity Mapping Framework-based View
This new view leverages the Entity Mapping Framework's superior performance with data management. Now you are able to handle large datasets as you would do in normal Server Mode, but without the various restrictions associated with it. As an example, the new view supports data modification and Master-Detail layouts.
Modal Edit Forms
Any built-in Edit Form can now be displayed as a separate modal dialog. You and your users can customize its layout as needed.
Search and Group Panel Integration
Our Grid control now allows you to integrate the Find Panel with the Group By box.
Filtering Enhancements
Users can create and set new filter criteria using formulas written as string expressions.
ExpressSkins Library
In this release, we have introduced three new Office 2019 vector skins (White, Dark Gray, and Black) and a new Basic Skin with six color palettes.
ExpressPDFViewer Enhancements
Through optimizations with clip operations and image rendering, pages are now displayed significantly faster and use less memory.
PDF signing
You and your users now have the ability to digitally sign PDF documents when you export them, using new options in the "PDF Export Options" dialog.
Fluent Design support
v20.1 ships with a new Fluent Design Form that is inspired by Microsoft's Fluent Design System. Its features include:
- Hamburger Menu/Accordion View Integration.
- Adaptive Layout.
- Acrylic Material (a semi-transparent texture).
- Reveal Highlight (a lighting effect that brings focus to interactive elements).
Conclusion
Although this is somewhat self-evident, the superior quality of a release is fully dependent on the valuable feedback we receive from you, our beta testers. We would encourage you to download the beta and give it your all, and let us know your opinions and issues via the Support Center -- the team awaits! We thank you in advance for your help. Do please post your comments below should you have any questions on Beta 1 or our upcoming release.
A quick extra note!
Although this blog post is exclusively about our new v20.1 beta for the DevExpress VCL Subscription, we know there will be questions about FireMonkey, and any releases we have planned for it. To pre-empt those questions to a certain degree, we can reveal that we have all but finished developing the initial FMX controls and features, and have created a couple of demos to show them off. Now that we're nearing the end of the development cycle for v20.1 of our VCL Subscription, it only remains to polish the FMX code enough for a beta and release it. Stay tuned!
And to whet your appetite, here's a screenshot of one of our demos:
