Review: In A Class By Itself

ClassApps' key market differentiation has always been its source code. Originally written in ASP, the source code is now fully rewritten in C#. Version 3 is extremely easy to use and manage.

Administrators are going to find SelectSurvey.Net 3 far more robust than its ASP counterpart. The management interface, however, has not dramatically changed in the past four years, with a few key exceptions—slightly improved template sections, great administration tools, e-mail lists and an embedded reporting engine.

In addition to the well-written code in this survey application server, the administration tools just place the product over the top. Many competitors only provide partial functionality and often embed critical features in runtime code.

SelectSurvey.Net comes with cool administration tools to test SMTP settings, database connections, data validation, kiosk-based administration and a feature that generates XML data for Crystal Xcelsius.

ClassApps added many new respondent options in design mode. The new surveys have a lot of granularity regarding access levels. For instance, you can create surveys that can accept multiple responses but require users to log in to a Web site. You also can create surveys that users can resume if they stop filling them midstream. Kiosk-type surveys will delete cookies when users complete them.

SelectSurvey.Net now integrates with Active Directory and LDAP and provides general end-user management features. Users can be separated into groups, but that's about it. Internal management functionality is still the same.

In addition to its support of Microsoft Access, SelectSurvey.Net also supports Oracle, SQL Server and Postgres.

ClassApps developers abstracted and simplified the data access layer so that even novice users could connect to a supported database in seconds. Once you add a connection string with the proper parameters and security access, SelectSurvey.Net takes over and does the rest. It's that simple.

Survey responses no longer need to be exported to text files so that the data could be analyzed with Excel's graphs and charts. SelectSurvey.Net's report section provides some graphical views of survey data.

Ultimately, what makes SelectSurvey.Net customizable is its source code. The code is well-designed and properly segmented into logical tiers. Developers can literally integrate the application server into a framework or a complete application.

ClassApps is a small company founded by a former Xerox software engineer, based in Overland Park, Kan. It publishes a lengthy client list ranging from AAA, Heathrow, Fla., to WOW Branding, Vancouver, British Columbia, and includes the U.S. House of Representatives, Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. and Wells Fargo, San Francisco, among others. In addition to SelectSurvey.Net, the company has a product line that includes polling applications, e-mail engine software and ActiveLogic, an application that allows for creation of reports and benchmarking information.

SelectSurvey.Net supports 21 different question types and permits data to be exported to Excel and CSV files and question libraries. It provides for customization into multiple languages and survey resume support—a feature that allows for respondents to take a break in the middle of answering a survey, save entered information and then finish the survey at a later time.

ClassApps has priced the SelectSurvey.Net software at $779.99 for a single server license with unlimited users; $2,479.99 for a single server license, unlimited users and the source code; $1,179.99 for an enterprise license with unlimited users and unlimited servers and $3,479.99 for an enterprise license for unlimited servers, users and the source code included. By contrast, the company's legacy product, SelectSurvey.ASP, is priced at $455.99 for unlimited servers, users and VB source code.

ClassApps maintains that one of the key differentiators for its solution is that, while its features and functions remain comparable to other competing software, its pricing is competitive; while the company has an affiliate and reseller program—which provides APIs for VARs, for example—the company also sells its software directly via its Web site.