.NET InProcess DLL examples and supported .NET version

[dobromi...@gmail.com]

Hello everyone,

I am researching how to create .NET InProcess DLLs using Softone.Lib.dll.

I found the GitHub examples, but I am looking for more documentation or real-world sample code.

I am especially interested in examples showing how to create custom forms with grids from C#/.NET.

Also, does anyone know what is the latest .NET version that can be used for this type of InProcess DLL integration?

Any examples, documentation, or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[dobromi...@gmail.com]

Hello again,

I have managed to create and load a .NET InProcess DLL using Softone.Lib.dll, and I can successfully show a simple WinForms form from my DLL.

Now I am trying to understand the correct/recommended way to create custom forms that look and behave like the native application forms.

While inspecting the application, I noticed internal form classes such as TExtDialogFrm and TExtEditMasterFrm. Is there any supported way from a .NET DLL to create forms with the same native look and feel, or to use/inherit from these types?

Or is the recommended approach to create normal WinForms forms/UserControls and use APIs such as XModule.InsertControl(...) or DLL Form menu jobs?

I am especially interested in examples of custom forms with grids that visually integrate well with the standard application UI.

Any documentation, examples, or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Νίκος Μάλιακκας]

If you want to "look and feel" like softone internals, then you don't need .net dll inprocess. Just use the S1 Designer and create everything in there.

Use .net if you want to build something that is beyond the classic "look and feel". 

I would always prefer WPF rather than WinForms, that is more visually appealing. 

Some other devs are using DevExpress libraries to handle the controls. Softone devs themselves are using some of them (I think the vcl/delphi viariant) , but they are not free and need some extra work to make them look the same as softone's.

If the reason you are building the s1 custom is for a user to edit stuff like fiscal documents, use S1 Designer objects.

We also tried to make the visuals in our .net dlls look like the new series 6 design, make everything from having rounded corners to just simple one-color boxes, and then windows 11 happened!. And everything "feels/looks" old again!

[dobromi...@gmail.com]

Thanks for your reply.

I already have several custom modules developed with S1 Designed and Advanced Javascript.
But they are totaling over 50,000 lines of JS code, and tons of other customizations. This is already very hard to maintain and I am looking into the option for moving some of this into a .NET DLL, and I was hoping to have the forms inside the DLL also.

[Νίκος Μάλιακκας]

Eventually, this might be harder to maintain. In JS / S1 forms, you control the actual data by accessing the tables/columns directly. Also the grid is a very powerful tool and the editors easily customizable for each client. In a .net solution, there is an extra layer of data transformation from the actual data to your object's data to be presented/ edited/ saved. And if a client asks for a slightly different selector for a column, then you find yourself designing the ui from the scratch.