DevExpress: How do I develop for it without a license?

Question

I am a freelance dev.. a customer wants me to work with DevExpress. How does that work? I cannot afford a license for it. I could download the trial for 30 days.. but for a more long term and "proper" solution.. how is this usually done? Do I need to acquire the license from my client? He says previous developers have coded for him without a license but he doesn't know how. Please someone provide some clarification for me.

UPDATE

I should have clarified: The client has bought DevExpress but tells me he doesn't have any licenses at current to give to me.. because they are being used by other devs. So I guess after I write the app, he will build it and not have the annoying messages. I just want to be able to develop for it..that's all. Is it possible or do I need to tell him to get another license for me?

Answer 1

You can't. You may be able to do the development, but you won't be able to redistribute the controls. Well - you could but last time I checked they had licencing messages popping up if you hadn't registered the control suite before shipping your product. So it wouldn't be a good look.

You may not be able to afford the whole suite, so maybe just buy a couple of the items from the suite. They are developers too and need to feed their children, so they do need to make some money.

Your alternative is to either write controls from scratch, or use the various free components you can find on the net.

Answer 2

We use DevExpress controls in our shop. We're a a small team of devs, only three people. So the price difference between 1 license vs. 2 or 3 is a big deal for us. Our development structure leads to only one of us doing programming wotj dev express controls, while the other devs only need to have the package and controls installed for compilation, etc. Dev Express gave us permission to operate in this capacity, if you ask them, they might be willing to work with your situation.

All in all, I've found their very nice people.

Answer 3

There is a file in your project called Licenses.licx, if you empty the file, turn all your references to copy local = true, then the splash will permanently disappear until you modify the code with newer controls from DevExpress.