Development / Project Explorer
Commands

Commands provide a dictionary of SQL expressions matched to the field names of the parent data controller. The application framework uses the “from” section of the command to figure the name of the base table and joined tables, if applicable.

Commands that belong to Employees controller.

Here is an example of command1 from Employees data controller:

select
    "Employees"."EmployeeID" "EmployeeID"
    ,"Employees"."LastName" "LastName"
    ,"Employees"."FirstName" "FirstName"
    ,"Employees"."Title" "Title"
    ,"Employees"."TitleOfCourtesy" "TitleOfCourtesy"
    ,"Employees"."BirthDate" "BirthDate"
    ,"Employees"."HireDate" "HireDate"
    ,"Employees"."Address" "Address"
    ,"Employees"."City" "City"
    ,"Employees"."Region" "Region"
    ,"Employees"."PostalCode" "PostalCode"
    ,"Employees"."Country" "Country"
    ,"Employees"."HomePhone" "HomePhone"
    ,"Employees"."Extension" "Extension"
    ,"Employees"."Photo" "Photo"
    ,"Employees"."Notes" "Notes"
    ,"Employees"."ReportsTo" "ReportsTo"
    ,"ReportsTo"."LastName" "ReportsToLastName"
    ,"Employees"."PhotoPath" "PhotoPath"
from "dbo"."Employees" "Employees"
    left join "dbo"."Employees" "ReportsTo" on 
        "Employees"."ReportsTo" = "ReportsTo"."EmployeeID"
Creating a Command

New commands can be created by using the context menu option “New Command” on the Commands node. The New Command icon on the toolbar can also be used.

New Command for Categories controller.

Moving Commands

Commands can be moved by dragging and dropping onto a controller, Commands node, or on another command. The context menu options Cut/Copy and Paste will also work.

Drop command2 on commands of Alphabeticallistofproducts.     Command2 will be placed last under AlphabeticalListofproducts controller.

When a command is removed from a controller, any references to the command will be cleared. The views will need to be reconfigured with a replacement command.

Deleting a Command

Commands can be deleted using the context menu “Delete” action. The Delete keyboard shortcut will serve the same purpose. Any views that refer to the command will have their CommandId property cleared.

Delete context menu option for command1.

Renaming a Command

Use the context menu “Rename” option to rename the command. Pressing F2 will also rename the command. Any views of the data controller will reference the new name.

Command context menu option Rename.

Resetting a Command

Commands are recreated by the web application generator every time the baseline is refreshed. If the developer modifies the command, automatic recreation will no longer occur, and the developer must update the command by hand.

The “Reset to Baseline” context menu option will restore the command to baseline state.

Context menu option Reset to Baseline in the Project Explorer.