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Mendix as a front-end to document-centric processes
December 06, 2016

Mendix as a front-end to document-centric processes

Stuart Beattie | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Mendix

We use Mendix as a front-end development environment for accessing the functionality of the Exari DocGen product. We completely replace the Exari UI with Mendix pages.
  • Firstly it's good for rapidly developing and extending a prototype than can progress into an operational system; aka non-disposable prototyping.
  • Secondly it's good for developing, communicating and adapting business logic.
  • Thirdly it's good for being a front-end to legacy systems, databases and remote web services.
  • Fourthly its good for supporting team-working, agile projects, sharing and the modularisation/re-use of core functionality.
  • I'd like to see binary data stored in non-persistable entities.
  • I'd like full WYSIWYG UI development environment (and I know it's on the way).
  • I'd like to see Mendix integrate machine-learning into the development process and so be able to make recommendations to (particularly new) developers when it detects the development of "anti-patterns" and dead-ends: real-time QA and best practice feedback.
1. A third-party supra-regional organisation had a critical problem with generating formal, legally-specifiied and legally-binding case-related documents relating to vulnerable children. Each sub-region had specific localised data capture and document formatting requirements. We used our front-end to Exari's DocGen application completely to eliminate this problem.

2. An international publishing concern had a compliance issue concerning valid contracts for editors across a range of publications. A new Mendix application integrated with Exari DocGen was the preferred solution.
For us, team collaboration, being able to invite specific staff from the client organisation into our development project, was key to achieving rapid feedback and cross-fertilisation of ideas.
The two were neck-and-neck on most measures. OutSystems, at the time, had more of a WYSIWYG UI development environment. We chose to work first with Mendix because we could implement the WebService interface to Exari DocGen with less Java/C++ code than was required for OutSystems. We fully intend to develop an interface for OutSystems in due course.
It's at its best for very rapid application prototyping, development, and roll-out. Use it when you need a plethora of tactical solutions, any one of which could be required to metamorphose over time into a strategic solution. It is less good, natively, for document-centric processes which is why we use it as a front-end to Exari's DocGen.