Is there a VCL OrgChart component with decent features? Is there a viable alternative?
I'm using the DevExpress OrgChart component , which is still supported but not developed since 2003 (fortunately, bugs are fixed, but no more).
To be honest, this component, even if it starts to look too old, still suits my requirements, except for two things:
1) he does not support the function of the staff at all, understanding what I mean: this image (where the subjects in the state are administration, communications, information technology, special projects).
2) it arranges the elements without optimizing space, for example if there are 3 elements at the top level and only the second element has 2 children, then the elements of the top item are drawn more distantly, due to 2 children, there is no option for "spreading" of the diagram.
Sure, the component misses out on tons of features that one would expect from the OrgChart tool, but in my case those 2 and especially (1) are important, the rest is no eye candy.
I'm looking for VCL components, but if (as I fear, since I never found one) such a component doesn't exist), I see the following alternatives:
i) using Hydra with winforms.net components
ii) using ActiveX components. Between the 2, I would prefer ActiveX because of the hellish .NET deployment (what I love about Delphi is that you send the exe to the client with Win2k and it works). Anyway, I've never used an ActiveX control and I don't know what the deployment issues are, but I'm afraid I will lose the ability to replace the exe and update the software.
iii) hire a delphi component delphi who can customize the DevEx component by adding feature (1) and possibly (2).
I am stuck.
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To answer my question, I must (unfortunately) say that:
there is no good OrgChart VCL component where by OrgChart component I mean one DevExpress OrgChart component: not only a component that allows you to draw an orgchart chart, but also a component that has some logic to automatically reorder nodes (like DevExpress does). Unfortunately DevExpress is no longer developing this component because the idea outside the scope of this component was good, the Steema people had a very light hope (they introduced the new OrgChart series in TeeChart v8 and put the desired "state" feature, this is tracked on their website as enanchement TV52013924, it's unclear anyway if this will ever be released).
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Have you looked at TMS Diagram Studio or dtpDocuments ?
Both are native VCL solutions.
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