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Wednesday, June 12, 2024Print Subscribe

Code On Time release 8.9.44.0 includes the embedded Npgsql Data Provider that allows rapid development of the offline-capable apps with the built-in RESTful API enhanced with hypermedia directly from the PostgreSQL database..

Release Installation Instructions

Attention: If you are seeing this post in the Install prompt displayed in your browser after launching Code On Time, then you are running the release 8.9.43.0 or older. The App Studio will not be able to install the release 8.9.44.0 due its larger size. Click the Cancel button in the install prompt, close Code On Time and have it uninstalled using the “add or remove programs” of Windows. Download the release 8.9.44.0 at https://codeontime.com/download and have it installed manually. The new App Studio will handle the installation of the future product updates without issues.

Postgres Data Provider

With the integration of the Npgsql Data Provider 8.0.3.0 into the code generation library, Code On Time users can effortlessly build applications from the Postgres database without the need for additional software. These powerful low-code tools enable developers to rapidly create applications from data models derived from the Postgres database schema. The resulting apps are offline-capable and can be deployed to a cloud or on-premises server. Equipped with a hypermedia-enabled true RESTful API, these apps can seamlessly integrate with existing SSO or use the embedded user and role management system. As you develop your application, the RESTful API evolves alongside, making it the backbone of your custom client app built with your preferred technology. With Code On Time, the creation of administrative screens becomes effortless, guaranteeing a user experience that is seamless and intuitive. The quality of the UI in the produced apps is exceptional, potentially leading to cost and time savings due to the out-of-the-box functionality provided.

This sample app was built from the DVD Rental database hosted in PostgreSQL. In the screenshot, an actor is selected with her particulars and movies presented in the reading pane. The App Studio, the powerful development environment, is embedded in the live applications built using Code On Time.

Npgsql Data Provider is a .NET library that allows developers to interact with PostgreSQL databases. It is an open-source project that is actively maintained and supported by the community. Npgsql Data Provider is a powerful tool that can be used to build a variety of applications, including web applications, desktop applications, and mobile applications.

Here are some of the key features of Npgsql Data Provider:

High performance: Npgsql Data Provider is one of the fastest .NET data providers for PostgreSQL. It uses asynchronous I/O and efficient caching to minimize latency and maximize throughput.
Comprehensive support for PostgreSQL features: Npgsql Data Provider supports all of the major features of PostgreSQL, including stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined types. It also supports the latest versions of PostgreSQL, including PostgreSQL 16.
Easy to use: Npgsql Data Provider is easy to use and integrate into your applications. It provides a simple and intuitive API that is similar to the .NET Framework's built-in data providers.
Open source: Npgsql Data Provider is an open-source project that is available under the MIT license. This means that you can use it for free in both commercial and non-commercial applications.

If you are looking for a reliable and high-performance .NET data provider for PostgreSQL, then Npgsql Data Provider is a great option when coupled with Code On Time app builder.

Miscellaneous

The following features and enhancements are included in this release:

(Touch UI) The column dropdown menu in Grid displays the date values formatted as smart dates (when enabled) or have the values formatted as "d", which eliminates the time component from the date. The column menu displays the distinct dates only, which makes the "time" unnecessary. The "smart dates" make it easier to find dates since the values are represented as "Today", "Yesterday", "Last Monday", etc. The applied filter shows the absolute date.
(Touch UI) Fine-tuned the CSS for the see-all button in the summary views.
(Framework) Filter parameters that do not have the corresponding field in the data controller view are ignored when the SQL filter is constructed for a SELECT statement. This addresses the exception raised in the standard membership manager when selecting a user of a role.
(Framework) The database-specific validation is performed when the command configuration is completed at runtime. The Guid parameter values are converted to a ByteArray if the command is executed by ODP (Oracle Data Provider). The datetime parameters are changed to DbType.DateTime2 to remove the timezone sensitivity when the command is executed by Npgsql (PostgreSQL Data Provider).
(Oracle) The standard membership tables are enhanced with indexes on user_name and email columns.
(App Gen) The generator will create the SiteContent model of the Postgres and Oracle apps in the ~/app/controllers or ~/[Namespace]/controllers folder.
(CMS) The CreatedDate and ModifiedDate columns are updated with the Local time. The ApplicationServices.ReadSiteContent() method uses the Local time when searching for the files with a given criteria that were modified prior to the date specified in the last argument. This ensures the natural timestamps in development and production modes. The RESTful App also works consistently across Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Postgres when performing the garbage collection of the expired OAuth resources in the CMS..
(App Gen) The "Inserting" command is added to the data controller that has a "uuid" primary key field when the model is derived from Npgsql (Postgres). The command is set to "select gen_random_uuid()" expression.
(Postgres) Developers can add the built-in membership and CMS to the Postgres database when configuring a database connection for the project.
(Model Builder) IBM DB2 iSeries columns are derived from the original entity. Previously the properties of another column with the same name may have been used when putting together a model.
(Model Builder) Enhanced model construction for Postgres databases. The tsvector and Array data types are configured to disable filtering and sorting.
(Framework) If the unknown field is specified in the filter then it will be referenced as null without "quotes".

Labels: Postgre SQL, Release Notes

Thursday, June 6, 2024Print Subscribe

ODP.NET, DB2 iSeries, Pages in Studio

Code On Time release 8.9.43.0 introduces embedded data providers, the enhanced TreeView, and the initial implementation of the Pages hierarchy in the App Studio.

Embedded Data Providers

The code generation library now includes the redistributable ADO.NET providers for Oracle and IBM DB2 iSeries.

Oracle ODP.NET

Oracle ODP.NET Managed Driver is a high-performance, scalable, and reliable ADO.NET provider for Oracle databases. It offers features like connection pooling, batching, asynchronous I/O, transaction support, connection failover, and data encryption. Designed for ease of use, it provides a consistent programming interface for accessing Oracle databases from .NET applications and supports all Oracle database features, including SQL, PL/SQL, and Oracle objects.

The app builder and its generated applications leverage the built-in Oracle ODP.NET Managed Driver for communicating with Oracle databases. Neither the development environment nor the deployment server needs additional software installations because all necessary managed driver components are included. With the knowledge of the Oracle database server's address and a valid username and password combination, building exceptional offline-capable online applications is made possible. These applications also provide a REST Level 3 API enhanced with hypermedia.

The app builder assists in adding the standard membership system to manage users and roles. Developers may also enhance their Oracle-based applications with the built-in content management system to keep track of the runtime configuration data, such as the user avatars, external identity providers, RESTful authorization data, and more.

IBM .NET DB2 iSeries

IBM DB2 iSeries is a reliable, scalable, and high-performance relational database management system (RDBMS) developed by IBM for use on its iSeries and System i servers. It supports both SQL and non-SQL access. DB2 iSeries is designed to provide high availability, even in the event of a hardware failure, and can scale to meet the needs of large organizations. It is known for its performance, even on large databases, and uses techniques such as in-memory caching and query optimization to achieve this.

The app builder now includes the IBM.Data.DB2.iSeries data provider, which enables database connections to IBM DB2 iSeries systems. However, to utilize the provider, the associated client connectivity software from IBM must be installed on both the workstation used for development and the server designated for production.

There is not built-in support for the membership management or content management system. Developers can put together their own user/role manager when needed.

Pages in App Studio

In the App Studio, developers have direct access to the application pages' hierarchy. To ensure that nothing is missing, check the navigation menu of your applications. Please keep in mind that the properties aren't saved yet. Pages with a single dataview don't show a separate container with a dataview node. Instead, the page's "controller" and "view" attributes can be accessed directly. The studio has categorized pages into "Content," "Data," "Link," and "Menu Item."

The User Controls of the legacy Project Designer are displayed under the Sippets node, which is available as the last node in the Pages hierarchy.

More functionality will be added to the Pages hierarchy in the upcoming releases.

Miscellaneous

The following bug fixes and product enhancements are included in this release:

(MetaBuilder) The following Oracle-specific system schemas are excluded from the app metadata: XDB, SYSTEM, MDSYS, APEX_, CTXSYS, GSMADMIN_INTERNAL, WMSYS, ORDSYS, ORDDATA, OLAPSYS, LBACSYS.
(OAuth2) The OAuth 2.0 handler will handle the situations when there is no response from the authorization server while trying to exchange the authorization code for an access token. Previously a cryptic error message was displayed in the browser. If the app is running on the "localhost" address, then the stack trace is also rendered.
(ODP) Users will not be able to enter the associated detail records when creating a new master on the "offline" page, if the primary key of the master does not have a value. Offline Sync assigns automatic primary key values to the new record if the primary is an auto-incremental or Guid column. Users will be able to enter details in this case.
(Model Builder) Capitalized table and column names are transformed to Camel notation when the models are created automatically.
(OAuth) The read-only fields Auth Uri and Access Token Uri are displayed in the OAuth Identity Consumer form with the Protocol set to 'OAuth 2.0'..
Integrated the Oracle ODP.NET in the code generation library. Now apps can be built for Oracle databases without installing any client software.
(App Builder) IBD.Data.DB2.iSeries data provider is integrated in the app generator library. The DB2 driver v. 7.1.0 requires additional client components to allow connection to IBM DB2 iSeries databases. The ODP.NET allows connecting to any Oracle database including Oracle i23.
(App Studio) The studio runtime recognizes project data requests with hypermedia parameters.
(RESTful) The implementation of $app.restful will use the "query" parameters of the hypermedia segment when specified. Previously, only the non-hypermedia requests allowed specifying the query parameters.
(TreeView) Adding of the template-based nodes inserts new nodes before the "placeholder" node to ensure correct sequence when multiple "iterate" responses are being added to the parent.
(TreeView) Enhanced the node cloning with the option to define the property overrides. For example, the page hierarchy in the App Studio is using the cloned root page with an overridden "iterate" hypermedia path.
(TreeView) Expansion of a node that has the pending dynamically loaded children will not remove the "collapse/expand" toggle from the node unless all nodes are resolved and there are no children.
(Framework) The empty ResultSet returned by the data controller will not cause an exception when a filter is applied and the field names are not known.
(TreeView) The node without 'iterate' definition will have its data inherited from the parent node if its 'inherited' key is set to true.
(TreeView) Only a valid icon is assigned to the TreeView nodes. This included material-icon material-symbol or alta-numeric class names are supported.
(TreeView) The node definition marked with the dynamic "terminal" expression will prevent the node from being displayed as expandable or replicate the node if the expression evaluates to "true". This allows creating hierarchies that do not require users to expand a node to find out if there are children.
(RESTful) The engine adds the ?count=true parameter to the "children-" hypermedia controls.
(RESTful) The engine uses the customizable "root" key instead of the hard-coded "root" in the path of the corresponding hypermedia control.
(Framework) Filtering expressions are quoted if the expressions consist of the alpha-numeric characters only to avoid conflict of field names with the reserved words of the data engine.
(RESTful) The "root-SELF_REFERRING_LOOKUP_FIELD hypermedia is added on any depth of the API. Previously only the root entry had this hypermedia control. Now the "root-" control is added on the first level of the hierarchy in the path.
(Framework) Data controllers based on complex custom SELECT statements with the WHERE clause will not cause the app to produce an invalid SQL when the dynamic access control rules are specified or when the user is filtering a many-to-many field.

Labels: Oracle, Release Notes

Wednesday, June 5, 2024Print Subscribe

Offline-Capable Apps for an Oracle Database

This comprehensive tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on building a responsive web app from an existing Oracle database using Code On Time, a low-code platform. It begins by explaining the basics of Code On Time and its model-driven approach. The tutorial then guides you through the process of creating a data model based on the HR.REGIONS and HR.COUNTRIES tables in Oracle. It highlights the use of the DataView field to display related data, such as countries belonging to a selected region.

The tutorial proceeds to cover the generation of the app, which includes setting up data controllers and building the user interface. It emphasizes the user-friendly features of the app, including responsive design, search, sort, and filter capabilities, type-ahead lookup, and the ability to create new lookup items on the fly. The tutorial also discusses the built-in reading pane mode, which allows users to view records side-by-side.

Additionally, the tutorial explores taking the app and data offline, a valuable feature for users who need to work in environments with limited or unreliable internet connectivity. It explains how to designate specific pages to work offline and how users can access the app and data locally.

This tutorial is a valuable resource for developers who want to quickly build and deploy responsive web apps from existing Oracle databases using Code On Time. It provides a comprehensive overview of the process and highlights the powerful features and capabilities of Code On Time.

Within minutes, convert your Oracle database into a versatile online application that can function seamlessly even in offline mode.

The reading-pane mode allows users to open a form with the selected record side-by-side with the full list.

Blog

Build offline-capable apps from Postgres database in minutes.

Release Installation Instructions

Postgres Data Provider

Miscellaneous

Embedded Data Providers

Oracle ODP.NET

IBM .NET DB2 iSeries

Pages in App Studio

Miscellaneous