List & Label Cross‑Platform – Vision, Architecture & Roadmap – Part 1/3

Summary of “List & Label Cross‑Platform – Vision, Architecture & Roadmap – Part 1/3”

Overview

The video presents an introduction to the new cross-platform version of List & Label, a reporting tool developed by combit. The focus is on the vision, architecture, and roadmap for making List & Label usable on multiple operating systems beyond Windows, including Linux, iOS, macOS, and ARM-based platforms.

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Key Technological Concepts and Product Features

1. Cross-Platform Initiative

• The project aims to enable List & Label to run natively on various operating systems, not just Windows.
• The team rejected simpler solutions like Wine emulation on Linux, opting instead to rewrite core components from scratch for better performance and maintainability.
• This rewrite includes the entire printing engine and related subsystems such as the formula parser, designer functions, export capabilities, object model, and data connections.

2. New Printing Engine

• Rebuilt from the ground up using .NET 9 (and soon .NET 10).
• No native Windows dependencies, enabling true cross-platform compatibility.
• Uses Skia as the new rendering backend instead of the outdated Windows GDI/GDI+.
• Skia is a modern, high-performance rendering engine used by Chrome and Avalonia, offering significant performance improvements.

3. Product Architecture and Compatibility

• The new product will coexist with the classic List & Label version; both will be maintained and developed in parallel.
• The classic version continues to support legacy features and workflows.
• The new version is internally referred to as “List & Label CrossPlatform” (previously “LLG Star Trek” as a codename).
• Project files will transition from the older LST format to a more readable and manageable JSON format.
• The API and infrastructure will remain as consistent as possible between versions to ease migration and integration.

4. Roadmap and Release Strategy

• Targeting a first release (minimum lovable product) in Q4 of the current year with List & Label 31 Enterprise Edition.
• Early releases will have some missing features (e.g., cross tables, table of contents, index), but will already cover many essential use cases like tables and label printing.
• Incremental feature additions planned via service packs.
• Feature completeness expected around Q4 2027.
• Not all legacy features will be ported, especially those dependent on Windows-only components.

5. Designer and Workflow

• Initially, there will be no native designer for the new product.
• Editing of project files will still be done using the classic designer or backend.
• The new cross-platform product will integrate with the web report designer, which was designed with interchangeable backends from the start.
• This approach supports workflows where design happens once, and printing/reporting can be done on any platform, including Linux Docker containers.

6. Benefits to Users

• True platform independence (Linux, macOS, iOS, ARM, Windows).
• Freedom to choose hosting platforms, notably cheaper Linux hosting and Docker container usage.
• Significant performance improvements due to modern architecture, multi-threading, caching, and the Skia rendering engine.
• Future-proofing for changes in server market trends (e.g., shift away from Windows servers).

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Reviews, Guides, or Tutorials Provided

• The video includes a planned demonstration segment showing technical demos of the new product capabilities.
• It offers insight into the architectural decisions and roadmap, serving as a guide for users to understand the product evolution and what to expect.
• Encourages early feedback from users on the minimum lovable product to shape future development.

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Main Speakers / Sources

• Yoken Bartlow: Technical lead for List & Label development at combit for over 25 years.
• Benjamin Waserman: Lead for web components, including the web report designer and viewer, now heading the cross-platform project.
• Sonia Truster: Sales team member managing chat and questions during the presentation.

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This video serves as an introductory session outlining the ambitious cross-platform modernization of List & Label, highlighting the technical challenges, strategic decisions, and future plans to deliver a performant, flexible, and widely compatible reporting tool.