Blog

All Blog Posts | Next Post | Previous Post

Focus 2025 poll results

Today

The recent TMS Software poll results and accompanying comments provided valuable insights into user priorities and feature requests for 2025. Below is a summary of the results and a discussion of the key themes emerging from the feedback.

Poll Results

The poll asked participants to prioritize areas where TMS Software should focus its efforts. The results were as follows:

FNC: 36%

WEB: 25%

VCL: 20%

BIZ: 10%

TypeScript: 4%

NEW: 3%

.NET: 2%

It is clearly reassuring that users want us to spend, going forward, most efforts into FNC. As FNC components can be used in VCL Windows applications, FMX cross-platform applications for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and also in TMS WEB Core web client applications, it is clear that FNC component development benefits the overwhelming part of types of applications developed with Delphi. So, clearly, there is an interest of users to move forward with Delphi in its key strengths.

Next place is WEB and also this is reassuring that the moves we made to offer a seamless, highly productive RAD component based and Object Pascal framework and tooling to create web client applications with TMS WEB Core remain of further high interest.
And next comes VCL and BIZ. On one side, with several VCL products like TMS VCL UI Pack, being over 20 years in development and highly mature, we consider this still a good & healthy interest to keep pushing this forward and on the other side, of course also our FNC component offerings strengthen the user capabilities for VCL Windows application development. Proof here is certainly the in 2024 introduced TMS FNC DataGrid
Our products in the BIZ category for business logic, server develeopment, multi-tier database handling come fourth. Surely, products like TMS Aurelius, TMS XData in this category are meanwhile highly mature. But still, from the comments it is clear that more onboarding, help and wizards to streamline the use of these tools would be welcome.

Key themes and feedback

1. Expanding Mobile and Cross-Platform Capabilities

Several users highlighted the need for enhanced support for mobile development:

One user suggested adding components like dialog boxes for file handling on mobile devices and tools for mobile app screen management.
Another participant supported efforts to simplify mobile permission handling and file read/write capabilities.
There were also calls for improving Miletus to better support iOS and Android development.

2. Enhancing Web Core and Related Components

With 25% of votes, WEB Core was a significant focus:

A user requested packaging TMS WEB Core Miletus apps for the Apple App Store.
Others expressed interest in practical demonstrations for creating PWA notifications.
There was emphasis on the importance of TypeScript and RTL support for Web Core and FNC.
Suggestions included adding master-detail dataset functionality to WEB Core.
There were proposals for a Node.js/Deno/Bun project template with simplified route management for Pascal developers.

3. FNC Component Development

The FNC product line received the highest votes (36%), reflecting its critical importance:

Participants requested horizontal bar charts for FNC Charts and support for CardDAV and CalDAV in FNC Cloud.
Suggestions included integrating reporting tools into FNC, particularly for dashboards and charts.
Calls were made for better FNC support for Apple platforms, reflecting cross-platform priorities.

4. Enhancing Productivity Tools and Training

Several users suggested ways to improve user productivity and onboarding:

There were requests for simple, step-by-step guides for using X-Data services with databases.
A need for more training videos was emphasized.
Suggestions included extending TMS Smart Setup for batch installation and reinstallation across setups.

5. Expanding .NET and TypeScript Capabilities

Though .NET received only 2% of votes, there were calls for its expansion:

Some participants advocated for greater focus on TypeScript/JavaScript for web development and .NET support.
Others requested broader support for C++Builder in TMS WEB Core and XData.

6. Cryptography and Security Enhancements

Security was another area of interest:

Suggestions included adding passkey support for TMS WEB Core and advanced cryptography (ML-KEM and ML-DSA).
Biometric fingerprint handling in TMS WEB Core was also proposed.

7. Miscellaneous Suggestions

Suggestions included a product like FlexCel for but for DOCX document handling.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The poll and feedback reveal strong user interest in the following areas:

FNC Development: Expand charting options, planner functionalities, and integration with tools like dashboards and reporting.
WEB Core Enhancements: Improve mobile app packaging, notifications, and dataset functionalities.
Mobile and Cross-Platform: Focus on improving Miletus and mobile handling components.
Training and Documentation: Provide more user-friendly guides and video tutorials.
TypeScript and .NET: Broaden support to attract a wider developer base.

Thank you!

We were overwhelmed by the feedback, not only by number of votes, number of comments on the blog but also direct email! We are hard at work to transfer this into development planning for 2025. Surely, we feel your passion & care for our developments and it highly motivates us to continue on this path in the new year.

TMS Software’s continued commitment to addressing these areas will ensure its position as a leading development tool provider in 2025 and beyond. And of course, it doesn't end here, the poll remains open, you can still enter blog comments and you can still write direct email to raise attention to your wishes, comments & feedback to further steer our developments and together, keep making Delphi the most productive development environment.

Bruno Fierens

This blog post has not received any comments yet.