does anyone know of good delphi docking components

Question

we'd like to add movable panels to an application. presently we've used DevExpress docking library but have found them to be disappointingly quirky & difficult to work with. it also has some limitations that aren't so great.

auto-hide, pinning, and moving of pages by drag-and-drop are all features we'd like to use.

the built-in delphi docking doesn't seem to be full-featured enough to do the things we need (also see sample below). perhaps i should dig deeper into delphi's docking abilities...my initial impression is that they seem very toolbar-oriented rather than something i can drop a frame into.

i'm not experienced at docking topics. my only experience has been with the DevExpress docking library where i needed to programmatically create & dock panels.

is it my imagination or are DevExpress's products unduly difficult to use/learn? the DevExpress Ribbon Bar component compared to the d2009 Ribbon Bar was certainly a useful experience. i will migrate to the d2009 Ribbon Bar as soon as convenient to do so. it was refreshingly straight-forward to learn and use. a sharp contrast compared to the DevExpress equivalent. if it takes 4x as longer to make it using the DevExpress equivalent, it's time to change direction.

what would you suggest in regard to the docking library?

thank you for your suggestions/comments!

Answer 1

LMD Innovative has a docking pack (http://www.lmdinnovative.com/products/vcl/lmddockpack/). Didn't use/need the code so far but the compiled examples worked well.

Answer 2

I'm glad to read your post, I'm using Automated QA' docking components, and I'm fed up with them. I was considering switching to DevExpress, but I think I willl give it a second thought now. The most problematic with AutomatedQA's component is bugs, sometimes floating windows disappears, when pinned panels are unpinned and stuff like this.

AutomatedQA does not offer a decent support and new releases should not be expected on a yearly basis, even if you have pointed out a bug that can be easily reproduced. I have a suspicion that the docking framework doesn't get much focus within AutomatedQA.

I gues one have to turn to the built in VCL or perhaps JEDI, but I can't find any valuable samples (the mediocre docking sample included with Delphi does not provide much help), but I guess it must be possible, after all they built Delphi using this...

Does anyone know a good JEDI docking sample application?

Answer 3

AutomatedDocking http://www.automatedqa.com/products/aqdocking/index.asp

and for free one JVCL Docking http://jvcl.delphi-jedi.org/

Answer 4

Disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of docking...but...
Have you played a lot with the docking as it is in Delphi?
If it does all that you want, then give a new try to the VCL...

Answer 5

AutomatedQA's docking components are great. Easy to work with, good help, Visual Studio 2005 style docking hints, etc. I started with DevExpress docking components (I still love DevExpress and use lots of their components), but I think the AutomatedQA docking components are easier to use and more reliable.