With Designer, .Net developers can cut writing code by as much as 85 percent on many ASP.Net applications that require extensive data access. The tool surpasses Visual Studio's code generators.
Designer's application stack is five layers deep, neatly dividing the business layer with the presentation and data access layers. This is a key division that .Net developers often bypass because of the all-in-one, encompassing view and features of the .Net framework -- unlike what's readily available to developers using J2EE containers. Just look at EJBs.
Generated code is extremely customizable in Designer and is generated by tier. A clear division of code enables developers to write reusable components and work better in teams. The code generator can also be extended by using templates for panels and code.
However, Designer lacksdocumentation on the code templates, so developers must stick to the original generator or figure out how it works. In the future, Test Center engineers would like to see this area more developed.
Developers can add or remove code as they see fit by simply following a hierarchical component model. To get the most out of Designer, developers should design the data layer before generating code. This is a smarter approach to code generation.
The setup process is simple but requires some configuration for ASP.Net to work correctly, especially when running ASP.Net clients and multiple versions of .Net. That aside, compiling and debugging isn't too difficult. There are some errors that are unique to Designer code, but those are mainly due to sloppy configurations. After generating a couple of skeleton applications, the Test Center didn't find any errors in the code produced by Designer.
Designer take can advantage of a database by generating Table and Record classes, essentially constructing the business layer out of those classes. Designer can produce even more detailed code by generating validation and field-types code. What's more, Designer can generate SQL code and package it into stored procedures. The SQL code generator can create code for just about any data editing scenario, including complex queries that include multi-table joins with multiple relationships.
Designer boasts some simple integration features to link external applications into Web applications. Most of the integration paths, however, are already built into the .Net framework, so the code required is small. Designer's help menu provides some simple code snippets to integrate e-mail, external Win32 and .Net DLLs, and Crystal Reports DLLs.
Out of the box, Designer comes with several Infragistics charting controls, Telerik grid controls and several panel designs, including most of the controls used in Web forms. To add controls, the IDE provides developers with a simple Application Explorer that neatly divides its application layers. Designer also has a Code Telescope view to help developers quickly navigate through each layer.
In addition, Designer can be used to create the skeleton for commercial-quality Web applications. But the front-end Web components are simple. Designer also doesn't integrate with any RIA or Web framework to enhance Web page look and feel. Much of the presentation tier that Designer generates is useful when building intranets but not full-scale content management and e-commerce applications.
Designer Enterprise is priced at $1,995, which includes 90 days of software updates and 30 days of phone and e-mail technical support. Mountain View, Calif.-based Iron Speed also sells a highly limited Professional edition. The Professional tool is mainly used for prototyping applications.
