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Apache Flex vs. SharePoint Designer (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Apache Flex

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AApache Flex (formerly Adobe Flex) is an open source application framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and devices. It provides a modern, standards-based language and programming model that supports common design patterns suitable for developers from many backgrounds.N/A

    SharePoint Designer (discontinued)

    Score3 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft's SharePoint Designer was a tool for developing SharePoint applications that has been discontinued.N/A
    Pricing
    Apache FlexSharePoint Designer (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Apache FlexSharePoint Designer (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    Apache FlexSharePoint Designer (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    .NET
    Score8.7 out of 10
    .NET
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    .NET
    Score8.7 out of 10
    .NET
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ASP.NET
    Score9.5 out of 10
    ASP.NET
    Score9.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Apache FlexSharePoint Designer (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    4.9
    (17 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Apache FlexSharePoint Designer (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apache
    Apache Flex is an open-source SDK used to make rich Internet applications. It's developed with Action Script and MXML and works particularly well with Android and iOS ecosystems. Any flash-based application framework, such as Eclipse or the Flash above Builder, can be used to implement this. Free is best for mobile app developers, but suppose you have concerns, and consider Apache Flex's development team welcomes any questions via email.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    SharePoint does not provide, out of the box, a tool to create / update workflows from web. You have to use SharePoint Designer in order to create them. If you need to implement custom workflows for specific business processes, then SharePoint Designer is well suited. SharePoint Designer allows you to create workflows with task approval, email notifications, assign variables and update SharePoint Lists / Documents properties. In our company, we have created specific workflows for : - Purchase order - RH forms validation like annual employee review - Dematerialized existing forms and validation
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Apache
    • Runs on flash (at the time this was handy, not so much now. hah).
    • Good support from the company.
    • Ability to run offline.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • 2013 Workflows - Loops: You can build loops to work while a value (not) equals something, or N number of times. You can insert Parallel Blocks to do multiple things at once, or to watch for multiple things, and when 1 thing finishes, cancels the others and moves to the next step or stage.
    • 2013 Workflows - Stages: Previously all we had were steps, which worked sequentially. With the Concept of Stages, we can create blocks of steps and based on the data collected during those functions, we can tell the workflow to go to a different Stage in the workflow based on a set of 1, or multiple, Conditionals in a transition area after each Stage. Giving you the power to develop multiple entire processes and skipping to the correct part of the workflow, rather than going through 20 conditionals to find out you needed to do action 31.
    • 2013 Workflows - REST API: the "Call HTTP Web Service" is a very powerful tool, but hard to understand if you have never seen it done, or have a guideline. It works very similar to the requirements in PowerShell to connect and get and post data to SharePoint using the Rest API. You can also use this to manage permissions on List Items, Lists, Sites, and Site Collections. Best part is when developed correctly, it is SUPER FAST!
    • Intentionally Building Infinite Loops: I have built multiple review process from Managing Certifications to Updating Published Documentation, that monitors when an Item, based on provided approved metadata, when the "Author" needs to review the document within the given amount of time. They will get e-mails with links asking if changes are needed. If not, it is routed to the Approving Executive, and the Workflow Automatically updates the Metadata to push out the review dates to the next date, based on metadata provided on how how often the document should be reviews. By using conditionals in the transition of stages, it basically starts over, and goes into a parallel block to allow the monitoring of multiple values of metadata to move to the next stage. Very Powerful when you want to automate these types of process. It truly is a "Set It and Forget It" process.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Apache
    • It's heavy as it needs to load the Flash plugin first before rendering anything to the user.
    • Not future ready as there is no support for mobile and tablet platforms.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • In the newest version of SharePoint Designer, they have gotten rid of the Design view which makes what used to be quick and easy changes much more code-intensive. This makes it harder for non-IT users and is more risker for all SharePoint Designer users.
    • SharePoint Designer workflows have a lot of functionality, but there are also some crucial limitations, such as not being able to put lookup fields in email subjects or using parenthesis to separate/group logical conditions.
    • Although this goes along with the Design view, there really isn't a good user interface anymore for adding conditional formatting and styles in views/pages.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Apache
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    It is a helpful tool that we use every day.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Apache
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Support is good from Microsoft. They are quite responsive when we raise a ticket but SP Designer support will be ended by Microsoft in the near future as they have got new techs like PowerApps and Flow to achieve the same functionality SP Designer does and even more than that.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Apache
    Apache Flex is a modern, standards-based programming language that supports common design patterns. It's an open-source SDK used to make rich Internet applications that work on different browsers and platforms. Any flash-based application framework, such as Eclipse or the Flash above Builder, can be used to implement this. So far, in comparison, it's much more crucial, especially for people working in fields like mobile development.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    I haven't used anything else like this. I use different products for workflows and forms, but they aren't listed in the listings for this page. Instead of using it for workflows or forms (deprecated 2 years ago), I use Nintex. For everything else, I have what I need in the Modern version of SharePoint online
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Apache
    • Positive: Easy to learn if you already knew AS.
    • Negative: Too heavy on flash knowledge (I know it's contradictory, but it was a plus & a minus).
    • ROI was great since it saves time on multiple devices compiling.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • For my needs, I have not found SharePoint Designer useful for my day to day maintenance of SharePoint. It is useful for viewing all the objects that make up the SharePoint site.
    • It is not as intuitive in regard to setting up Workflows. I have yet to use it to set up workflows in SharePoint. Maybe if I needed more complex workflows, it would be beneficial.
    • I like to use SharePoint Designer for moving around files within SharePoint sites.
    Incentivized
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