Code On Time: Features

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Features

Tuesday, October 15, 2013Print Subscribe

Announcing Mobile Client, Mobile Factory, Active Directory Membership, and Synchronization Service in Release 8.0.0.0

For the past few months we’ve been busy preparing a collection of exciting features that are included in the Code On Time release 8.0.0.0. Most customers will receive an automatic notification to download the software by the end of this week.

Mobile Client Library

With this release we are turning Code On Time application generator in a mobile app powerhouse. The term “mobile app” is used quite loosely in this day and age. A few HTML pages wrapped in a native shell is what passes as a modern mobile application.

Web applications created with Code On Time are simultaneously supporting desktop and mobile clients. The application framework in the foundation of the generated apps automatically detects the client capabilities and links a corresponding client library to the pages rendered in a web browser on the native device. Exactly the same page will render a different GUI on desktop and mobile devices. If you are building a desktop app, then you have developed a mobile version already!

We are using jQuery Mobile to offer touch-enabled user interface in the new mobile client library. The current release is based on jQuery Mobile 1.4.0 Beta.

Applications are rendered uniformly in all popular mobile devices. Desktop users can easily enable the mobile GUI by specifying a switch in the URL of any page.

The key features of the mobile client library:

The latest styling found in devices from Apple
Touch-enabled user interface elements
Progressive loading of data. There are no “next” or “previous” buttons.
Tap-and-hold techniques allows selecting multiple items in lists.
Unified sliding panel with the navigation links.
Unified sliding panel with context actions.

The initial release of mobile client library supports read-only interaction with data.

jQuery Mobile has significantly changed starting with version 1.3.0, which has required a complete re-write of the original implementation of the library. We are not complaining – there are significant performance improvements. New user interface components are integrated throughout the Mobile Client Library.

Users will be to see the mobile client library in action as soon as an app is rebuild with the new release of the app generator. We expect to offer ability to modify data in mobile clients by the middle of November 2013.

Ability to render alternative user interface on desktop and mobile devices is available in Unlimited edition of the app generator.

Mobile Factory

The new project type will be available in the new release. Premium edition users will be able to create mobile-only apps that will render “mobile” user interface on all devices including desktop.

Active Directory Authentication and Membership

Integration with Microsoft Active Directory is now available in Unlimited edition. It is now possible to authenticate users by Active Directory domain. Active Directory groups are recognized as user roles. Read configuration instructions at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/active-directory.

Synchronization Service

It’s been our goal to allow maximum efficiency in team development. We’ve been working diligently on a solution, which is now fully integrated in application generator release 8.0.0.0. Step-by-step tutorials explaining configuration of a project for multiple developers will be published shortly.

Labels: Application Builder, Application Factory, COT Tools for Excel, Features, Mobile, News, Teamwork, User Interface, Web Application Generator

Thursday, September 5, 2013Print Subscribe

Announcing Multi-User Support in Project Designer

Code On Time is pleased to announce that the upcoming 8.0.0.0 release will allow users to share work done in the Project Designer with other developers to enable teamwork and collaboration.

Changes will be automatically submitted to the server. Revisions made by other developers will be downloaded whenever you start Designer. Team members, projects, and revisions can be viewed and managed online.

To get started, select your project and select Sync.

Payment email and activation code can be used as user name and password to start synchronization for a project. Accounts for other users can be created online.

Each member can also be provided with a temporary activation code to protect your purchase. Account owners will be able to create, delete, or disable user accounts and temporary activation codes when the composition of a team has changed.

This feature is designed to be used alongside existing source control systems, such as Microsoft Team Foundation Server, GitHub, or Subversion. A tutorial explaining how to use a source control system with the new Project Designer synchronization will be available shortly.

We will be offering this synchronization service at no charge.

The synchronization software will also be available for purchase separately. Customers will be able to deploy the software on their own servers for additional protection of their intellectual property.

The new release with support for synchronization will be available in September, 2013.

The release will also include extended support for mobile devices.

Labels: Application Builder, Collaboration, Features, Teamwork, Web Application Generator

Monday, April 29, 2013Print Subscribe

Feature: Tools for Excel

Code On Time Tools for Excel provides an alternative designer that allows rapid changes to configuration element properties. This tool can be used interchangeably with the Project Designer.

The picture below shows the default Orders form in a sample Northwind web application. Let’s compare methods of changing the form layout in Project Designer and Tools for Excel.

Suppose that it is necessary to place shipping fields in a second column in the form. The word “Ship” must be removed from the field labels.

Using the Project Designer, you would create a category and drag all shipping data fields into the new category.

Next, you would need to click on every data field, change the Header Text of the data field, and press OK to save.

You may save quite a few clicks using Tools for Excel.

Start Microsoft Excel, and switch to the Code On Time tab. Press Open | Northwind / Web Site Factory to link the project to the workbook, and then select Categories shortcut on the ribbon. Filter down to Orders controller by pressing Filter | Orders.

Add another category with the following properties:

ID	View	Controller	Header Text	Description	New Column
myCat	editForm1	Orders	Shipping Information	This is the shipping info.	yes

Next, click on the Data Fields shortcut. Make the changes highlighted below:

Field Name	Category	View	Controller	Header Text
ShipName	myCat	editForm1	Orders	Name
ShipAddress	myCat	editForm1	Orders	Address
ShipCity	myCat	editForm1	Orders	City
ShipRegion	myCat	editForm1	Orders	Region
ShipPostalCode	myCat	editForm1	Orders	Postal Code
ShipCountry	myCat	editForm1	Orders	Country

On the ribbon, press Sync to apply changes to the application. Then, press Browse to generate and open the web app in the default browser. Navigate to the Orders page and select a record. The shipping fields will now be in a separate category in a new column with new labels.

Learn more about Tools for Excel.

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