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Ted Patrick has a nice overview of the Elixir data visualzation and charting components that iLog has been working on. They seem to be a good example of a commercial embracing Flex to create RIA components.
"One of the more interesting developments in the world of Flex is the entry of ILOG Elixir. ILOG is one of the top component companies in the world and specialized in visualization components. They have been quietly working on a great component set called Elixir which includes many of the top most requested components. "
Some of the components include 3d Charts, Gauges and Dials, Map Displays, Gantt Charts, Organizational Charts, Tree Maps and Radar Charts.
Overall the functionality and appearance look very good. I'd like to hear feedback from any one using the iLog components or any other Flex components.
Reading through the comments it seems there is an aversion to commercial components. I might be biased but I think $799 USD per developer is pretty reasonable. I think people have a bigger issue with redistribution and OEM licenses which go up to $20,000 per year . I still that's not crazy for the quality and depth of these components, of course the picture looks different if you're licensing this to a large company say SAP (very cheap) than to a start up (very expensive). Do you pay for commercial components?
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The short answer is no. We are new to the flex scene and to pay those type of prices is like buying Flex 1. They should price their product to get a mass market.
I personally think the pricing is reasonable if you're developing for an enterprise customer. My guess is that they're targeting the enterprise and have priced accordingly. It doesn't make much sense to set a low price and have everybody and their brother using it. Support costs and workload go through the roof in that scenario. Then their developers are tied down too much and can no longer spend as much time innovating. Just my 2 cents.
You beat me to it Andre - I've been messing around with these for a few weeks now and was hoping to get the scoop on it. That's what I get for sleeping on the job!
I'd just add that the components are pretty easy to use and extend. I got a test license from iLog and didn't have any trouble making composite charts and new components with them. They're expensive, sure, but so is the Adobe charting framework.
I especially liked their implementation of the tree map. I've been kind fascinated with tree-maps since we used them as the basis of the MatchMine key visualizer last year and iLog's implementation is the best I've seen so far.
They are awesome components. I built an org chart for our sales force of over 300 people with ease and it was really impressive.
Update: iLog has removed the licensing fees for small businesses and startups.
http://www.onflex.org/ted/2008/05/ilog-elixir-oem-licensing-changes.php
If your readers are looking for an open source alternative to some of the components in Elixir, they can check out our recently released JuiceKit Flex library: http://www.juicekit.org/
Flex components are usually built for and used by enterprise customers so i believe such pricing is reasonable and the real competition in the flex component market is still up ahead. You might be interested as well in our flex pivot table component - http://www.felxmonster.com