C1 is great for creating custom reports. We have client apps where we've created some fairly complicated reports such as invoices and real estate inspections. We also use the True DBGrid in many of our apps since it is so customizable. Its grouping and filtering features are very nice and can provide summary counts and totals at the bottom or right side of the grid that are very handy.
It's great to develop business applications. Previously, we tried different technologies but we find it the most suitable for us. We also deploy a generic backend so we don't need to install anything new to implement new applications. This helps us to develop very fast and with very low effort.
The True DBGrid control is nice for showing parent/child relationships and being able to drill down and show the child data. It also is nice for showing summary totals.
The report engine is great for building custom reports for Win Forms or web apps. It can do everything that Crystal Reports can do.
They have a good selection of controls that can do just about anything you can imagine.
We have been in business since 1992, so we have used many different products over the years. The two other products we've primary used that are similar to ComponentOne, are Infragistics and Crystal Reports. Infragistics has a vast array of controls similar to ComponentOne. We use both to be honest and I'm not sure which one I would pick over the other. I guess that would depend on what you're trying to accomplish and if one had some control or capability that the other didn't. ComponentOne does have the reporting capabilities, where Infragistics does not.
Each of the above platforms offer a specific solution. Sencha provides a complete solution that is a library of components as well as a framework to modularize your application so that it's better manageable. Once you get over the learning curve of the whole technology it's a breeze to implement new functionality within the application. We have an aggressive client who comes to us every other day with some new requirement, and sencha has been able to answer all of those without issues.
ComponentOne allows us to add additional features to our apps that wouldn't be found in apps written with just Visual Studio itself. That allows our clients to get more creative in their requirements, which in turn, means more work and billable hours for us!
Our apps appear more professional when using ComponentOne which helps us get projects for new clients.
ComponentOne also helps us to save clients some money since we are not having to develop things that it can do from scratch.
