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Wednesday, February 27, 2013Print Subscribe

Enabling Second Generation Data Sheet Preview

Starting with release 7.0.7.0, web applications created with Premium or Unlimited edition include a preview of the second generation data sheet view. The new implementation supports horizontal and vertical scrolling, column resizing, and freezing. In addition, applications based on Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle also support hierarchical presentation of data.

The preview does not yet support all capabilities available in the original data sheet. The missing features will be released as soon as they become production-ready. Therefore, the second generation data sheet is disabled by default. If you would like to take it for a spin, make sure to regenerate your web app and follow the instructions below.

Start the web application generator. Create a sample Northwind web app. When generation is complete, click on the project name in the start page of the generator. Then, click Develop to open the project in Visual Studio.

In the Solution Explorer, right-click on ~\App_Code folder, and press Add | Add New Item…

Select Class from the list, and assign a name. Press Add to create the file.

Replace the existing code base with the following:

C#:

namespace MyCompany.Data
{
    public partial class ControllerUtilities
    {
        public override bool SupportsScrollingInDataSheet
        {
            get { return true; }
        }
    }
}

Visual Basic:

Namespace MyCompany.Data
    Partial Public Class ControllerUtilities
        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property SupportsScrollingInDataSheet As Boolean
            Get
                Return True
            End Get
        End Property
    End Class
End Namespace

Save the file and run the web app. Navigate to the Customers page. On the action bar, press Action | Show in Data Sheet.

The grid view will render the second generation data sheet.

The second generation data sheet will be enabled by default when the feature set of the previous implementation is replicated.

To use the original data sheet view implementation, make sure that the SupportsScrollingInDataSheet property of class ControllerUtilities returns false.

Labels: Application Builder, Data Sheet, Features, Web Application Generator

Wednesday, February 27, 2013Print Subscribe

EASE Geo Tagging

Some projects require that a location must be recorded when a new order is made or whenever a record is modified. Code On Time client library will automatically request the latitude and longitude from the browset with the use of tags on the data field level.

For example, let’s consider the Northwind sample database. When a new order is created, we would like to save the location. Let’s add two pairs columns to the Orders database table, refresh the Orders controller, and tag these fields as coordinates.

Adding Latitude and Longitude to Orders Table

Start SQL Server Management Studio. In the Object Explorer, right-click on Databases / Northwind / Tables / dbo.Orders node, and press Design.

Add four more columns with the following values:

Column Name	Data Type	Allow Nulls
CreatedLatitude	nvarchar(50)	yes
CreatedLongitude	nvarchar(50)	yes
ModifiedLatitude	nvarchar(50)	yes
ModifiedLongitude	nvarchar(50)	yes

Save the design to add the columns to the table.

Refreshing Orders Controller

Start the web app generator. Click on the project name, and press Refresh. Check the box next to Orders controller, and click Refresh.

Tagging the Data Fields

Press Design to activate the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Double-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1- Orders / CreatedLatitude (String(50)) data field node.

Add a tag to the data field:

Property	New Value
Tags	created-latitude

Press OK to save. Double-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1- Orders / CreatedLongitude (String(50)) data field node.

Add the following tag:

Property	New Value
Tags	created-longitude

Save the data field. Double-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1- Orders / CreatedLongitude (String(50)) data field node.

Use this tag:

Property	New Value
Tags	modified-latitude

Save the item. Double-click on Orders / Views / editForm1 / c1- Orders / ModifiedLongitude (String(50)) data field node.

Use this tag:

Property	New Value
Tags	modified-longitude

Save the data field.

Now, repeat the steps above to assign the correct tags to the relevant data fields in createForm1 view.

It is also possible to store latitude and longitude in the same field in the form “[latitude],[longitude]” by using the tags “created-coords” and “modified-coords.”

Viewing the Results

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Orders page. Create a new record. A request for permission will be triggered – every browser will display it differently.

Allow the website location request for the session or site. Press Cancel and open the create form again. Both sets of coordinates will be updated. Note that the data fields are read-only.

Save the record and edit the record again. Note that only Modified Latitude and Longitude values are changed.

Labels: Application Builder, EASE, Features, Web Application Generator

Thursday, February 21, 2013Print Subscribe

Action “When View” Property

The “When View” property allows controlling the visibility of an action based on the current view.

For example, let’s create a custom action that will display the extended price of an order detail. This action will be available on editForm1 and grid1 by default. Let’s prevent the action from being displayed on grid1 by using When View property.

Creating the Action and Business Rule

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on OrderDetails / Actions / ag3 (ActionBar) – New node, and press New Action.

Assign the following values.

Property	Value
Command Name	Custom
Command Argument	ShowExtendedPrice
Header Text	Extended Price

Press OK to save. Right-click on OrderDetails / Business Rules node, and press New Business Rule.

Use the following configuration:

Property	Value
Type	JavaScript
Command Name	Custom
Command Argument	ShowExtendedPrice
Phase	Execute
Script	var extendedPrice = [UnitPrice] * (1 - [Discount]) * [Quantity]; alert(String.localeFormat('{0:c}', extendedPrice));

Press OK to save.

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Order Details page. The Extended Price button will be present on the action bar. When you select a row and activate the button, the extended price will be displayed in an alert.

Select a record – the action will also be available on editForm1.

Note that the action is not available on createForm1. This is because the When Last Command Name property of the action is blank (which is equivalent to “Select”). View createForm1 is activated by triggering the “New” action, resulting in the Extended Price action being hidden.

Specifying “When View”

Let’s restrict display of the Extended Price action to editForm1 using the When View property.

In the Project Explorer, double-click on OrderDetails / Actions / ag3 (ActionBar) – New / a100 – Custom, ShowExtendedPrice | Extended Price action node.

Change the When View property:

Property	New Value
When View	editForm1

Press OK to save.

Viewing the Results

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Order Details page. Note that the action is no longer displayed in grid1.

Select a record. The action will be available in editForm1.

Labels: Application Builder, User Interface, Web Application Generator