What is the best GRID and TREE control?

Question

What is the best GRID and TREE control for DELPHI win32. It should also be DB-Aware. I have use the DBGrid but it is very limited and lakes a lot of new features DevExpress as an impressive collection of tools and features, but a very high price. What is your GRID/TREE of choice its pros and cons, and of course its price tag.

Answer 1

Your are asking for the best and rulling out the #1 ;).

For the tree the "best" is http://www.soft-gems.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=33, because is virtual, is very flexible and very fast. But is harder to use (ie. in comparation with a regular tree control).

With that is possible emulate a grid. Also is free & have source. As far I know, is the best tree control across any language & plataform in this universe.

Answer 2

I have used in my application ElTree by LMD Innovative for almost 10 years. It is part of their excellent ElPack suite of tools. They recently included a version called ElXTree which has some extras. They are both DB-aware.

I was considering switching to Virtual Treeview a while back. I compared the two, and could not find anything I needed that Virtual Treeview did that ElTree didn't. ElTree has a Virtual mode as well if you want it.

ElTree does things a bit differently and than Virtual Treeview. Compare the two before you decide, or even try them both first. You may find you like the way one works better than the other.

Advantages of ElTree over Virtual Treeview:

• It is still being actively maintained and they have good support on their Newsgroups. Whereas Virtual Treeview is now Open Source and the original author Mike Lischke is no longer actively working on it.
  

• ElPack already has their Delphi 2009 compatible version out. In fact, they've had it out for several months already. Virtual Treeview does not have a version out for Delphi 2009 yet.

Disadvantage of ElTree:

• It is not free, but it is less expensive than DBGrid. And you may find the other ElPack VCL Components (all Unicode enabled) to be useful for your product as well.

Version 7.0 (for Delphi 2009) of LMD ElPack is 159 Euros. If you decide to buy it, pay in Euros because ShareIt charges exorbitant exchange rates.

Also see my answer to: Delphi Active Commercial Components.

Answer 3

TMS Component Pack have a good Grid Components and a lot of other, it's the main competitor to DevExpress components

also if you want a nice,light and fast grid have a look at NextGrid

Answer 4

VirtualTreeView has been mentioned here already. While it is quite flexible and I am currently using it, there are a few things I don't like about it:

• It is no longer actively maintained by its original author Mike Lischke and it is not clear whether there is somebody else in charge now.
• It has quite a steep learning curve. Be prepared to study the provided example applications closely, otherwise you will not be able to use it. It comes with online help but that help is even worse than that of Delphi 2005. Yes, it does cover most of the properties, methods and classes, but mostly the help is not very "helpful". (I am aware that I have no right to demand good online help for a free tool, but it is a factor nonetheless.)
• I don't like the way the virtualization is actually done. I would have done it differently. (I don't know whether my way would have been better, though. Your mileage may vary.)
• It feels stuffed with too many features. I would have liked something more lightweight.

Answer 5

Well, I have the DevExpress VCL subscription, and although the initial price seems high it is good value and the renewal is sensible. The grid will do all you ever want (and more) though you do have to spend some time learning it so you can understand where the features are controlled. The advantage of the subscription is that you get pre-release betas, and you get everything which means that I've been able to use controls I'd never justify individually but they are in my toolkit so I can use them.