Final 3.2.1.1?

[Philip Bishop]

Any idea when the final PUBLIC build of 3.2.1.1 will be made available?

[Sean Greer]

Disclaimer: I don''t work for Syncfusion.

Given all the grief that people gave them for giving a release date for 3.2 and missing it, do you really think they''ll make that mistake again? How about "when it''s ready?"

>Any idea when the final PUBLIC build of 3.2.1.1 will be made available?

[Administrator]

Oh i wasn''t expecting an exact date. I was just wanting a maybe a couple of weeks or a month or something like that. Thanks a whole bunch for your 2 cents worth though.

[Sean Greer]

:) I''m definitely interested to have a rough idea as well...but not holding my breath.

[Administrator]

Any idea at all??????????????

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Hi everyone,

The next major service pack update will be in the second week of July. This will have full Whidbey compatibility including resolution of design time issues for all products in Studio.

Thanks & best regards,
Daniel
Syncfusion

[Administrator]

That sounds good to me, I am looking forward to the full Whidbey compatibility.

Does the private 3.2.1.1 build resolve any of the Whidbey design issues? Our code is not yet released, so we are able to experiment with beta Syncfusion builds.

[Administrator]

Hi Kevin,

That''s the plan to resolve such issues. Please report any issues you find through direct trac to make sure we are aware of any issue you find.

Thanks,

Stefan

>That sounds good to me, I am looking forward to the full Whidbey compatibility.
>
>Does the private 3.2.1.1 build resolve any of the Whidbey design issues? Our code is not yet released, so we are able to experiment with beta Syncfusion builds.

[Administrator]

Great, I will do so.

>Hi Kevin,
>
>That''s the plan to resolve such issues. Please report any issues you find through direct trac to make sure we are aware of any issue you find.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Stefan
>
>>That sounds good to me, I am looking forward to the full Whidbey compatibility.
>>
>>Does the private 3.2.1.1 build resolve any of the Whidbey design issues? Our code is not yet released, so we are able to experiment with beta Syncfusion builds.

[Philip Bishop]

Hi everyone,

The next major service pack update will be in the second week of July. This will have full Whidbey compatibility including resolution of design time issues for all products in Studio.

Thanks & best regards,
Daniel
Syncfusion

-----------------------

I know i am going to kick myself for asking but is this a for sure date? We want to realease our final version of our app around the first 12 days or so in august and i need a couple of weeks after getting this final 3.2 to change all the null value stuff you changed and retest everything. I just want to know if you see any reason why this date wouldnt be met??????

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Hi Phil,

Everything does appear to be on track for this release. We have a tentative release date of July 11. This can definitely change by a week or so depending on feedback we receive during the beta cycle.

Best regards,
Daniel

>Hi everyone,
>
>The next major service pack update will be in the second week of July. This will have full Whidbey compatibility including resolution of design time issues for all products in Studio.
>
>Thanks & best regards,
>Daniel
>Syncfusion
>
>-----------------------
>
>I know i am going to kick myself for asking but is this a for sure date? We want to realease our final version of our app around the first 12 days or so in august and i need a couple of weeks after getting this final 3.2 to change all the null value stuff you changed and retest everything. I just want to know if you see any reason why this date wouldnt be met??????

[Administrator]

Is everything still on track for the July 11th release date????????

[Administrator]

Is everything still on track for the July 11th release date????????

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Phil,

We have started our internal build cycle to prepare for the release. This can take between a week and 2 weeks. So at this time we expect that the 7/11 date will be pushed back by about a week.

In the meantime if you require access to any of the fixes already made in this cycle please let us know. We can provide a private patch to address those right away.

Thank you for using Syncfusion Essential Studio.

Best regards,
Daniel

>Is everything still on track for the July 11th release date????????

[Administrator]

private build???? is that going to be something i can release to clients?

[mtd_conseil]

I''m too interested to have an answer to that question! ;-)

Best regards,

Mike

[Administrator]

Just out of curiosity Philip, why would you want to release something built with a private patch when the release is right around the corner?

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Phil,

No, we do not recommend that. Private patches are meant to quickly resolve specific issues. They are not as completely tested as a full release.

We do not prevent users from shipping these but do not recommend they do so.

Best regards,
Daniel

>private build???? is that going to be something i can release to clients?

[Administrator]

Well I will tell you why. In the past we''ve been told over and over again dates of when these releases will be. I dont think one has ever been hit on time. When they do go past they go past it by a longgggggggggggg way. The last one was over a month from when it was promised. Now i know being a programmer myself and working on installs things happen. Whats hard for me to get is when they give you a date and then you base things off that date. I have a client seminar like 2 weeks into august. We''ve been holding of from going to 3.2 the version now because they messed things up even worse for us then they had in 3.1. So im stuck with a 3.1 private build after they promised me everything was fixed in the public 3.2 that is out for everyone now. This has happened to me numerous times. So i need this new version at least 2 weeks before our clients get it so i can retest basically the whole application all over again because with each release you never know what else has been changed as we always seem to find something that doesnt work anymore with each new release. So if a private build is going to be the same as the public then i want to know so i can get to testing it now and if i had to be able to release to clients. Its just soooooooo frustrating knowing that its always going to be delayed. Thats why I didnt really want to ask this question in the first place because i knew it would be delayed again. I love the product, i just dont love the amount of new bugs that are worked in to each new release i have to find and the amount of things that stop working how they worked in previous releases. I dont have that kind of time. Hope that answers your question.

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Phil,

I am sorry that you had a bad experience with release dates earlier. We are getting better at this. We have put much more resources on every product, improved internal processes etc., to help us hit dates.

However, we are also moving away from stating precise release dates till we are very late in the release cycle. Even in the past we have always said that initial release dates are given for reference and cannot be extremely accurate. With a class library, even a single customer issue can sometimes delay a release by weeks. We try hard to avoid this but it is definitely extremely hard for us to hit a precise date. A lot depends on the beta cycle.

Thank you for your feedback.

Best regards,
Daniel

[Administrator]

Philip, sorry I asked :)

I''m not speaking for Syncfusion, but...

Any product that is based upon external resources must suffer the lack of flexibility resulting in these external resource dependencies. The design and planning of this product must take into account the uncertainty of these external resources. I''m sure you already know all of that, but for you to be completely dependent on a single date set by Syncfusion or ANY external resource is a mistake. Given your situation, you are in an unfortunate position.

I''m sure Syncfusion is delaying their public release to ensure their customers receive a quality product. I prefer it this way, and I also prefer it when they do give dates as they have been doing. I view the date as a window (not a point) to help me plan accordingly.

You and I and 99.999% of everyone that uses these messageboards love the Syncfusion product and especially the service. There may have been delays in the past but I believe that Syncfusion has stepped up their efforts to release their product as close to their target date as possible. You and I and all other customers must just understand that the date is merely an estimation, a guide, and not a promise.

As Daniel said on June 22nd:

"We have a tentative release date of July 11. This can definitely change by a week or so depending on feedback we receive during the beta cycle."

I read ''tentative'' and ''can definitely change.''

Anyways Philip, I hope your app transition goes smoothly. I am personally hoping the Visual Studio 2005 release date of November 7th is accurate, but I am prepared for a delay.

[Administrator]

Oh I am fine with you asking and understand everything you have said. Here is my issue and the issue syncfusion never seems to get. The number one gripe i have is when they promise me something is fixed in the NEW version and its not. So this ties in to what you just said about making sure everything is done before releasing. If that held true then these little mishaps wouldnt happen. There have been numerous times including this new 3.2 release where i sent them a new bug that has crept up from a new release and they say its fixed in the upcoming release. So i wait patienly until the new release comes and is my problem fixed??? No its worse then the original problem I report. So i get how dates can be pushed back. What i dont get is how someone can say something is fixed and then its when its released its like it was NEVER EVEN TESTED because it still doesnt work right and works worse. I love the support i get in the grid forum and I have stated that from day one. My thing is you cant always get in everyones fix before a final release. Sure in a perfect world you can but the school i come from is eventually you have to release your product and sometimes its like they put this off in order to get in every user problem. The other thing is some of the enhancements we always seem to get when I would really rather just have all of the quirks out first. So again I do love this product and the app we are releasing soon is 95% full of grids. I just have issues with things suppposedly being fixed and then really not be.

[Administrator]

Oh and since you were quoting......... I also saw the following.

"I''''m sure Syncfusion is delaying their public release to ensure their customers receive a quality product."

If that was the case, then my previous gripe of them saying my issue was resolved and then it looking as if it was never tested when the public release went final would of never happened. Oh and this has happened before.

[Administrator]

Philip,

That is too bad you have experienced those things. I guess our experiences just differ.

I have been using the Diagram component extensively. I found a few rare corner case bugs a few times, and when I report them they are immediately fixed and it always makes it into the next release.

I also use the Grid, Charts, and Tools, and for me they get better with each release. Clearly all I do is support Syncfusion, but their product/support has been such a help to me its hard for me to not show my appreciation. Anyways, I''ll leave it for others to do now :)

Again, I wish you luck.

[Administrator]

Read the forums. I am not the only one. I support them also or I wouldnt of put their grid on 95% of my forms. Lets compare direct trac logs or forum posts some day and see what each other has for problems. You might not use any features I do or vice versa. I might have the most complicated or simple app in the world or vice versa. It doesnt matter. I am not the only one.

[Administrator]

Hi Philip

I totaly agree with you!

We are using some of the controls very extensive, because we integrate the product to an application framework. Every update takes a long time to check what is running or not. In some points we gave up to open Direct Trac incidents, the efficency is to less in compairsion to the effort. The thing we do is to freeze the 1.1 development and we are looking forward to the 2.0 framework. The new controls will give us more functionallity we need and we remove 3rd party compoments as much as we can, also Syncfusion. We''ll spend more time in open source implementations and use our time to develop our own extensions to the controls. We made a real good experience this way.
I''m working since the 1.X versions with this product, there are great features implemented. The support we got in the grid forum is excellent. On the other hand there are some major points because we decide to go away from this product:
1) too many bugs, the versions between 2.1.0.9 and 3.2.1.0 were a waste of time for us. A new version, old bugs are not fixed, too many new bugs. The kind of bugs shows that the test are made by the customer.
2) trustless release dates, sometimes I felt me like a fool. An engineer can write into a public forum that ONLY the documentation will be completed and the release date is weeks later?
3) promises made in the forums: they are in the same fasion as the release dates. "We''ll implement the feature within 4 weeks" or so. One year later, nothing is made.
4) unclear state of Direct Trac incident. There is no notification or state changing when a bug is fixed. In my point of view it''s not a problem of the tool.
5) release notes that does not show the the exaclty changes between two releases.

A real positive fact is that we have more than 200 client installations and we don''t have problems that are because of the Syncfusion products.

[Administrator]

So is this anywhere near release?

[Administrator]

Odd how this question sort of slipped through the cracks without anyone answering it????

[Sue Harris]

It does seem to be somewhat ignored.

I also am very interested in what stage the next release is in (please don''t give a date - they''re almost always wrong anyway). Is new work/bugfixes still being done, or is it in a code freeze/testing stage?

Thanks,
Sue

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Hi everyone,

We have a release candidate available. This can currently be obtained only through sales or support but will be released for public download soon.

Thank you for using Syncfusion Essential Studio.

Best regards,
Daniel

[Administrator]

Is the Realease that I can call and get the same I will be able to get when its available to the public or will this change?

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Phil,

Some products will have minor changes but not major changes.

Thanks,
Daniel

>Is the Realease that I can call and get the same I will be able to get when its available to the public or will this change?

[Administrator]

Do you have a list of changes (fixes/enhancements) in release 3.3?

[Administrator]

Its in the release notes.

[Geir Aamodt]

>Its in the release notes.

I reckoned that and where, except from within the installer program, can I find them?

[Administrator]

Phil, we have all had bad experiences with your release schedules.

regards

>Phil,
>
>I am sorry that you had a bad experience with release dates earlier. We are getting better at this. We have put much more resources on every product, improved internal processes etc., to help us hit dates.
>
>However, we are also moving away from stating precise release dates till we are very late in the release cycle. Even in the past we have always said that initial release dates are given for reference and cannot be extremely accurate. With a class library, even a single customer issue can sometimes delay a release by weeks. We try hard to avoid this but it is definitely extremely hard for us to hit a precise date. A lot depends on the beta cycle.
>
>Thank you for your feedback.
>
>Best regards,
>Daniel

[Daniel Jebaraj]

Everyone, The final release notes for 3.3.0.0 are available here. The release has also been made available. Thank you for using Syncfusion products. Best regards, Daniel