Blog: Posts from October, 2009

Blog

Posts from October, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009Print Subscribe

The preview #2 of the Web Site Factory premium project is now online.

You can access the sample application without integrated membership at http://dev.codeontime.com/demo/websitefactory1.

You can access the sample application with integrated membership at http://dev.codeontime.com/demo/websitefactory2.

Both version of application were generated by simply pointed the Code OnTime Generator to the Northwind database. The code generation process takes less than a minute. The result is a spectacular ASP.NET/AJAX application with complete source code and no external dependencies.

Features

You will immediately notice a dramatic new styling of generated application. We have modeled the user interface after increasingly popular Microsoft SharePoint. The generated code is not a Microsoft SharePoint application but it sure looks like one!

The user interface is entirely based on CSS and can be changed to whatever you like.

AJAX-enable and highly responsive user interface is consistent across all major browser, which you can see in the screenshots below.

The user interface features new multi-level menus with unlimited number of levels. The menus automatically detect page boundaries and reposition themselves appropriately. Full keyboard support is provided.

All pages are fluid and are automatically taking over the entire available browser window or scroll in the page is too long.

Optional integrated membership manager gives you a robust user and role management tool.

An AJAX-enabled context summary is displayed on the side bar when a record is selected. Automatic “See Also” box is included on the side bar to simplify navigation.

The side bar context senses when any part of it obstructed due to page scrolling and bring itself into view.

On the picture below you can see a supplier record in edit mode.

Now we have scrolled the page to the bottom and the side bar content has reacted appropriately.

Conclusion

The preview #2 is based on a simple page layout. One database table is presented per page.

The next preview will demonstrate standard variations of the user interface with master-detail relationships.

Labels: AJAX, Application Factory, Data Aquarium Framework

Monday, October 19, 2009Print Subscribe

Web Site Factory Preview 1

We are diligently working on delivering the best possible code generation premium projects for ASP.NET/AJAX, namely Web Site Factory and Web Application Factory.

A significant number of new features were introduced and we have decided to spend a little bit more time to polish both projects. The final release has been postponed until November 2nd, 2009.

Meanwhile we would like to share a preview of the Web Site Factory premium project:

http://dev.codeontime.com/demo/WebSiteFactory1

The code has been generated straight from the Northwind database and uses a simple page layout. The simple layout presents one view on a single page per database table.

We will release more previews in the coming days to illustrate all available page layouts.

It will be possible to modify the default page layouts and create new pages in Code OnTime Designer.

The demo features the latest Data Aquarium Framework with a new menu engine and faster rendering.

Please post your comments.

Labels: AJAX, Application Factory, Release Notes

Friday, October 16, 2009Print Subscribe

Conditional Visibility in Forms

Data Aquarium Framework supports declarative conditional visibility of fields and field categories in form views.

Conditional Visibility of Fields

Here is a snippet of the data field controller used in Code OnTime Designer that controls visibility of the Formula field if the field is marked as computed.

<category headerText="General" >
    <description><![CDATA[ Specify field name, type, and data properties of the field.]]></description>
    <dataFields>
        . . . . . 
        <dataField fieldName="Computed">
            <headerText>The value of this field is computed at run-time.</headerText>
        </dataField>
        <dataField fieldName="Formula" columns="50" rows="5">
            <visibility>
                <expression type="ClientScript" test="[Computed]==true"/>
            </visibility>
        </dataField>
        <dataField fieldName="OnDemand"/>
    </dataFields>
</category>

The visibility expression test is written in JavaScript. The expression test can refer to the names of the fields defined in the view. The field referenced must be incased in square brackets.

The expression test is evaluated on the client whenever the field values are changed. Evaluation does not cause the server post-back.

The following screenshots show the form before and after the computed field checked.

Conditional Visibility of Categories

The following snippet from the the same data controller shows visibility expression for a field category.

<category headerText="Lookup">
    <dataFields>
        <dataField fieldName="ItemsStyle"/>
        <dataField fieldName="ItemsDataController"/>
        <dataField fieldName="ItemsDataValueField"/>
        <dataField fieldName="ItemsDataTextField"/>
        <dataField fieldName="ItemsNewDataView"/>
        <dataField fieldName="ContextFields"/>
    </dataFields>
    <visibility>
        <expression type="ClientScript" test="[Type] != 'Byte[]' &amp;&amp; [Type] != 'Object' &amp;&amp; [OnDemand] != true" />
    </visibility>
</category>

The JavaScript expression reads as follows:

[Type] != 'Byte[]' && [Type] != 'Object' && [OnDemand] != true

If the value of field Type is not equal to Byte[] or Object and the field is not OnDemand then the category of fields is visible.

The next screenshot shows the visible Lookup field category.

Conclusion

The visibility expressions can be defined directly in the data controller files. The upcoming update to Code OnTime Designer will allow easy modifications of the visibility expressions.

Labels: AJAX, ASP.NET 3.5, Data Aquarium Framework, User Interface, Web 2.0