Thursday, March 13, 2025
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM MST
https://www.meetup.com/arizona-xafers-user-group/events/306264400
Tentative Agenda:
- Introductions
- Announcements
- Presentation
- Questions
Recording:
Summary
- 🚀 Introduction to XAF 25.1 Roadmap
The session opens with an introduction to the roadmap for XAF 25.1, featuring Dennis from DevExpress. Key updates include enhancements in Entity Framework Core and UI design improvements. - 🏗️ Major Focus on Blazor and UI Customization
The Blazor framework is the focal point of this release. There are significant advancements in UI customization, particularly a new Fluent theme. Developers can expect better iconography and refined layout structures that mirror modern Microsoft applications. - 🔄 Early Access and Preview Features
An Early Access Preview is planned, giving users hands-on experience with new features, including UI elements and core security enhancements. - ♿ Accessibility and Keyboard Shortcuts
Enhanced accessibility standards are being prioritized, including comprehensive keyboard shortcut support, better documentation, and full compliance with modern accessibility standards. - 📄 Grid List Editors and Layout Enhancements
Improvements in grid list editors now allow for banded layouts, infinite scrolling, and better sorting functionalities. These changes aim to replicate and enhance the experience in WinForms and other platforms. - 🔐 Entity Framework Core Data Integrity & Concurrency
New concurrency management features in Entity Framework Core ensure data integrity during simultaneous editing across multiple applications. Automatic migration and conflict resolution are highlighted as key upgrades. - ⚙️ Tooltips and Customization Enhancements
Developers can now add tooltips easily using attributes or the model editor. There are improvements to navigation and layout customization, reducing the need for code-heavy solutions. - 🔄 Support for EF Core and XPO in Parallel
DevExpress maintains support for both Entity Framework Core and XPO, with efforts to equalize their capabilities. Developers are free to choose the ORM that best suits their projects. - 🌐 Middle-Tier Application Server for Blazor
For high-security environments, Blazor apps can now connect through a middle-tier application server, improving security by avoiding direct database connections. - 🖥️ Cross-Platform Desktop Applications
DevExpress is working on solutions to run Blazor-based desktop applications using WebView wrappers, (Electron) similar to Microsoft Teams and VS Code. - 🗂️ Multi-Model and Multi-Tenant Improvements
Enhancements include easier handling of multi-tenant applications, shared data access, and simplified object space creation for specific tenants. - 🔧 Backend Web Service and Dependency Injection
Backend services are simplified with improved dependency injection, batch operations, and concurrency management, ensuring better performance and scalability. - 📊 AI Integration and Future Enhancements
Sneak peeks into AI features for XAF apps include AI-assisted grid interaction, data filtering, and appearance rule management. Future updates promise AI-powered reporting and dashboard enhancements.
Exciting Numbers
- 🔢 Hundreds of New Icons
The Fluent UI introduces the recreation of hundreds of icons for consistency with modern UI standards. - 📅 Planned Releases and Previews
The 25.1 release is scheduled for early June, with early previews available at the end of March, giving users months to test and provide feedback. - 🧑💻 Over 60 Feature Requests Addressed
More than 60 user-requested features have been incorporated, including advanced data source filtering and property editor customization.