Code On Time: Application Factory

Sunday, April 28, 2013Print Subscribe

Code On Time application generator includes a Project Designer that allows drag & drop modification of project configuration elements. Project configuration is composed of pages, containers, data views, user controls, controls, controllers, commands, fields, views, categories, data fields, action groups, actions, business rules, styles, items, and field outputs.

Code On Time Tools for Excel is a Microsoft Excel add-in designed to provide a bird-eye view of project configuration element properties with the ability to make rapid and massive changes when needed. Users can change element properties, add, rearrange, and delete elements. A dedicated ribbon tab allows synchronizing changes with the project, modifying project settings, and generating entire applications straight from Microsoft Excel. Code On Time developers can switch between Project Designer and Tools for Excel, whichever tool is better for the task.

Getting Started

First, download and install both Code On Time application generator and Tools for Excel.

Start Microsoft Excel and open a blank workbook. On the ribbon, select Code On Time tab. Click on New button to create a new web app.

The application generator will start and display a list of project types. Proceed to create a sample Web Site Factory project named “Northwind” based on a sample Microsoft SQL Server database by following these instructions.

When application generation is complete, the web site will open in the default browser. Navigate to the Customers page. Let’s use Tools for Excel to make the following changes marked in the picture below:

Change the title of the page to “Current Customer List”.
Change “Company Name” column label to “Business”.
Remove “Region” column.

Using Tools for Excel

Switch back to Microsoft Excel. On the ribbon, select Open to see a list of existing projects. Select Northwind / Web Site Factory project from the list.

A new sheet will be added, displaying instructions. The ribbon will display the project control buttons.

The table below shows descriptions of controls on the ribbon.

Control	Type	Description
Sync	Button	Sync the current changes to project configuration files into the project. If errors are found, the sync will be canceled.
Browse	Button	Generate and open the web application in your default browser.
Project	Button	Display a menu of all available project actions.
Develop	Button	Open the application source code in Visual Studio.
Open	Button	Open the application project folder in Windows Explorer.
Filter	Dropdown	Click here to apply a page or controller filter to all sheets.
Pages	Shortcut	Pages are the building blocks of the application, and host instances of data controllers (Data Views) and custom user controls (Controls).
Containers	Shortcut	Containers are placed on pages, and hold instances of data controllers (data views) and custom user controls (controls).
Data Views	Shortcut	Data views are instances of a data controller. Data views render views of the data controller on the page, along with corresponding data controller action groups. The same data controller can be exposed with data views on the same or multiple application pages.
User Controls	Shortcut	User controls are the primary mechanism for extending the user interface of generated application pages. Instances of user controls (called controls) are placed in page containers alongside data views or other controls.
Controls	Shortcut	Controls are instances of custom user controls that are placed in containers on a page.
Controllers	Shortcut	Controllers define metadata used by the application framework to retrieve data, present it to the users, and respond to actions in live applications.
Commands	Shortcut	A command provides a developer-friendly dictionary of SQL expressions that correspond to the individual fields and also define the base table and joined tables. The application framework uses the command text elements to compose Select, Update, Insert, and Delete statements at run-time.
Fields	Shortcut	Fields represent a piece of data in a record. It may either reflect data in a specific column, or it may be derived from a calculation. Fields are instantiated on views in the form of data fields.
Views	Shortcut	A view is a configuration of the data controller composed of data fields and optional categories. Form views require all data fields to arranged in categories. Other types of views are incompatible with categories.
Categories	Shortcut	Categories are used to group data fields in a view. They are only compatible with form views.
Data Fields	Shortcut	Data fields are instances of fields in a view.
Action Groups	Shortcut	An action group is a collections of actions placed in in a specific area of the user interface. Action group scope determines determines how the actions are rendered.
Actions	Shortcut	Actions are rendered as buttons or action bar menu options in the user interface of the data controller view. The scope of the parent action group determines the part of the user interface that will display the action. Action commands with optional arguments are interpreted by the application framework. Custom actions can be processed with business rules.
Business Rules	Shortcut	Business rules extend the functionality of a web application through SQL, C# or Visual Basic, JavaScript, or Emails.
Styles	Shortcut	Styles are JavaScript expressions that evaluate to a true or false. When true, a CSS class is applied to the row.
Items	Shortcut	Items represent static values for a lookup field.
Field Outputs	Shortcut	Field outputs specify the output location of a command that produces data.

Click Pages configuration shortcut on the ribbon. A new sheet will be added to the workbook containing all pages and their properties. Make the following change:

Name	Title
Customers	Current Customer List

Next, click on Data Fields configuration shortcut on the ribbon. Then, set a filter by pressing Filter | Customers.

Set the Header Text of CompanyName data field in view grid1.

Field Name	View	Name	Header Text
CompanyName	grid1	Customers	Business

Right-click on the leftmost column of Region data field row of view grid1, and press Delete Row.

The changes are not yet integrated into the project. Press the large Sync button to synchronize all workbook sheets with the project. Alternatively, activate the dropdown and select a specific element type to synchronize.

Tools for Excel will validate the data entered in the workbook. If any errors are found, the invalid data will be highlighted and synchronization will be canceled.

If the data is valid, Tools for Excel will save the workbook and submit data sheets to the application generator one-by-one.

Application generator will detect changes and modify project configuration elements accordingly. The updated project configuration data will be returned to Tools for Excel.

Tools for Excel will delete processed data sheets and replace them with fresh data received from the application generator. The workbook will be saved.

On the ribbon, press Browse to regenerate and open the web app in the default browser. Navigate to Customers page. Note that the title of the page has been changed, the second column has been renamed to “Business”, and Region column is no longer present.

Labels: Application Builder, Application Factory, COT Tools for Excel, Tutorials, Web Application Generator

Thursday, April 25, 2013Print Subscribe

Amazon S3 Upload/Download Adapter

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a cloud-based data storage solution. Let’s add fields to the Suppliers table in the Northwind database in order to store company logos. The picture file name, size, and content type will be saved in the database, while the files will be uploaded to S3.

Setting Up S3

Navigate to http://aws.amazon.com/s3 and log in to your account. If you do not have an active account for Amazon S3, sign up for AWS Free Usage Tier.

When logged into the AWS Management Console, select S3 under Storage & Content Delivery section. Click on Create Bucket.

Enter a bucket name and press Create.

When complete, click on the account name in the top right corner and select Security Credentials. Scroll down to Access Keys section. If necessary, create a new access key. Click on Show under Secret Access Key and save both the Secret Access Key and Access Key ID for later use.

Adding Utility Fields to the Database

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

Add the following columns:

Column Name	Data Type	Allow Nulls
LogoFileName	nvarchar(250)	yes
LogoLength	int	yes
LogoContentType	nvarchar(50)	yes

Save the changes. Switch to the generator and click on the project name. Select Refresh, check the box next to Suppliers controller, and proceed to refresh the web app.

Configuring BLOB Field

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on Suppliers / Fields node, and press New Field.

Assign the following properties:

Property	Value
Name	Logo
Type	Byte[]
Allow Null Values	yes
Value is retrieved on demand	yes
Source Fields	SupplierID
On Demand Handler	LogoBlobHandler
On Demand Style	Thumbnail
Label	Logo

Save the field. Drag the new field node and drop it onto Suppliers/ Views / editForm1 to instantiate the field as a data field in the editForm1 view.

Drag the field onto view grid1 to display the picture in the list of products.

Next, double-click on the Suppliers controller node. Enter the following in BLOB Adapter Configuration.

BLOB Adapter Configuration

Field: Logo
Storage-System: S3
Access-Key-ID: AKIAJASDFSHLPC4B7P6Q
Secret-Access-Key: lNFaASDFyosrjY3j77ASDFCUTHj408Pgz5yoCci
Bucket: northwind
Path-Template: {SupplierID}-{LogoFileName}

Note that the values above are not functional. Replace the highlighted parts with your own settings.

Make sure to save the controller.

Viewing the Results

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Suppliers page and start editing a record. The new Logo field will accept file uploads. Click on the link and upload a file. The bar at the top of the screen will show a confirmation of upload and a thumbnail of the picture will be displayed. The File Name, Length, and Content Type utility fields will be updated accordingly.

The files can be seen in AWS Management Console.

To upload files larger than 4 MB, you will need to increase the application upload size limit.

Labels: Application Factory, BLOB, Tutorials, Web Application Generator

Wednesday, April 24, 2013Print Subscribe

Azure Upload/Download Adapter

Microsoft Azure Storage is a low-cost option that allows storing binary content in the cloud. Let’s implement storing of product pictures in the Northwind sample database. We will capture name, size, and content type of the picture file in the Products table. The actual pictures will be saved in Microsoft Azure Storage.

Setting Up Azure Storage

Navigate to http://azure.com and click on the Portal link in the top right corner to log in to your Azure account. If you do not have an account, a free three month trial is offered.

When the Management tool loads, click on the New button in the bottom left corner. Select Data Services | Storage | Quick Create option. Assign a URL for your new storage and press Create Storage Account.

When complete, click on the new storage account name in the list to view details. On the action bar displayed at the bottom, press Manage Access Keys. Copy one of the keys into the clipboard.

At the top of the form, click on Containers tab. Press Add Container at the bottom of the screen.

Assign a name to the container. If you do not expect the product pictures to be accessible to anonymous users, then leave Access property as “Private”. Click on the Check icon to save.

Adding Utility Fields to the Database

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

Add the following columns:

Column Name	Data Type	Allow Nulls
PictureFileName	nvarchar(250)	yes
PictureLength	int	yes
PictureContentType	nvarchar(50)	yes

Save the changes. Switch to the generator and click on the project name. Select Refresh, check the box next to Products controller, and proceed to refresh the web app.

Configuring BLOB Field

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab. Right-click on Products / Fields node, and press New Field.

Assign the following properties:

Property	Value
Name	Picture
Type	Byte[]
Allow Null Values	yes
Value is retrieved on demand	yes
Source Fields	ProductID
On Demand Handler	PictureBlobHandler
On Demand Style	Thumbnail
Label	Picture

Save the field. Drag the new field node and drop it onto Products / Views / editForm1 to instantiate the field as a data field in the editForm1 view.

Drag the field onto view grid1 to display the picture in the list of products.

Next, double-click on the Products controller node. Enter the following in BLOB Adapter Configuration.

BLOB Adapter Configuration

Field: Picture
Storage-System: Azure
Account: northwindproductpictures
Container: pics
Key: e2Wl668b6fEGauS6cOTAHaj7Ut6QfwKdbGY4Vd8yngz40y2f54M5EfZtSNNHYoXW7i7+kZAfFJrg==
Path-Template: Products/{ProductID}-{PictureFileName}

Note that the values above are not functional. Replace the highlighted parts with your own settings.

Make sure to save the controller.

Viewing the Results

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Products page, and edit any record. Note that there is a Picture field which accepts files. Click on the link to upload a file and select a picture from your hard drive. A bar at the top of the page will announce completion of upload and the thumbnail of the picture will be displayed. The utility fields will be updated with the picture file name, length, and content type. If you do not want users to change any utility field values, configure the data fields as Static.

The thumbnail will display the file extension if the file is not an image.

The uploaded files are visible in Azure Management screen.

To upload files larger than 4 MB, you will need to increase the application upload size limit.

Labels: Application Factory, Azure, BLOB, Features, Tutorials, Web Application Generator