Code On Time: Tutorials

Blog

Tutorials

Friday, October 27, 2017Print Subscribe

Get started quickly with the tutorials we have prepared for you. Take a single Tasks table and develop a full-blown task management application with file upload, many-to-many fields, master-detail pages, and more.

Watch: Building a ToDo App

Data model of Tasks.

Our product helps you turn your database schema into a modern application that works offline, online, and on-premises.

Modern responsive web app created from the Tasks model.

Here is a summary of what you will learn:

We will begin by creating a database and add a "Tasks" table. We will then create the app and explore the features. Finally, we will add an icon to the Tasks forms using the Project Designer.
To set up business rules, we will configure default values for the "Date" and "Created" fields. Then, we'll hide the "Created" field from the create form, and prevent the user from modifying the field for existing records. Finally, we will add a custom action that will mark tasks as completed. The "Completed" field will be hidden from the create form, and prevent editing in the edit form. Finally, we will create two views, "Active Tasks" and "All Tasks".
To add a lookup, we will add the "Categories" table and add a foreign key to "Tasks" table, and update the Tasks model with the new foreign key. Then, we will explore the features of lookups in apps created with Code On Time.
We will now add maps by creating a "Locations" table in the database and creating the model. A location lookup will be added to tasks. We will then add some locations, and assign these locations to tasks using the map.
In order to add master-detail relationships, we will create the "Attachments" table, create a model, and add a data view field on the Tasks form. We will then upload several files to a task.
Now we would like to restrict user access to data. The fields "Creator" and "Owner" will be added to the Tasks table. The corresponding model will be updated to include those fields. Users and Roles will be added to the app using ASP.NET Membership. The two fields will be marked as "User Name" lookups. Business rules will be added to set the current user as the creator and owner by default. Filters will be added to ensure that users can only see tasks created by or owned by them.
We will need to add some calculated fields. First, we will add the Expenses table and link it to tasks. We will add "Total Price" calculated field. Expenses data view field will be added on the Tasks form. We will add business rules to calculate the Total Price field, and display some aggregates on the Tasks form.
Then, we will need to add many-to-many fields. First, we will add "Tags" and "TaskTags" tables and models. Then, we will add a "Tags" field into the tasks form. This field will first be configured as a checkbox list. We will add several records in-line. Then, we will convert the field to a basket style drop down list. Finally, we will remove the now redundant Categories table.
Adding a status bar will help the user. First, we will add a static lookup field "Status" to the "Tasks" table. Then, we will change the business rules to automatically modify the "Status" value. Finally, we will enter a status bar definition for each value of the Status field to visually communicate the state of tasks to the users.
Customize forms to enhance the workflow of your users. Learn rapid development of responsive forms that work on any device with any screen size. Master the form design with field flow, tabs, multi-column categories, and custom layouts. Start by changing a flow of fields after a brief introduction of responsive forms. Group in categories, configure categories to display as tabs. Configure a modal popup. Try your hand with custom form layouts.
Organize navigation between the single page apps of your universal business application with Quick Launch icons and menu. Drag and drop pages in the navigation hierarchy, set a few icons to populate the Quick Launch bar, and move the menu from the toolbar to the sidebar.
Set up a cloud to deploy the app. Our app is ready for production. Learn how to set up Microsoft Azure Cloud for publishing from the app generator. This episode explains how to sign up for an account and provides step-by-step instruction for Azure Active Directory configuration.
Add a database to your cloud. An application deployed to Microsoft Azure is typically configured as Web App. The deployment infrastructure of Web App includes an Internet-facing App Service and Database Server. In this episode we will set up a database server and transfer development database schema to the cloud database.
Learn to deploy your app as an "app service" to service both web and mobile users. App Service is an Internet facing server that reads and writes data by making SQL queries to the database engine in the cloud. We will set up our app service in the "Standard" tier with SSL, multiple deployment slots, and on-demand performance with auto scaling.
Learn the staging-production pipeline to enhance your productivity. Deploy changed app to Staging slot for a live preview. Instantly swap Staging and Production versions of application directly from the app generator.
Learn to store binary data outside of the database. Large photos and documents can run up the database size quickly. Such objects known as BLOBs (Large Binary Objects) are frequently stored in the external file system or attached storage. We will show you how to set up external storage of attachments in the file system and Microsoft Azure.

Don't hesitate. Jump right in!

Labels: Tutorials, Video Tutorial

Thursday, October 26, 2017Print Subscribe

DotNetNuke + Code On Time = RAD for Business

DotNetNuke Portal and Code On Time apps are great together!

Create an online presence for your business or organization with the help of DNN in minutes. Build powerful data-driven apps for your portal and fully integrate them in the DotNetNuke portal with Single Sign On (SSO). Present data directly in the portal pages or access them offline, online, and on-premises. Use the power of DotNetNuke tokens in the business logic and access control rules of your apps.

App created with Code On Time is integrated in the instance of DotNetNuke Portal.

Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools available in Code On Time will help you build the apps that can be integrated with a DNN portal even if your app is running on its own server.

The introductory video demonstrates an app integrated into a DotNetNuke instance running in Microsoft Azure cloud. The app data can be presented in the online portal, access directly, or execute in offline mode on a mobile device.

This is possible without writing a single line of code. Simply install Cloud On Time Connector for DNN extension in your portal, configure an OAuth endpoint page, and create a corresponding SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) registration record in your app.

The in-depth review of Rapid Application Development for DotNetNuke with Code on Time takes through the various aspects of integration enhanced with the video tutorials.

The tutorial covers the following subjects:

Configuring DNN Portal in Azure
Creating a Sample App with Code On Time
Configuring DNN for Open Authentication
Advanced Features (Roles and DotNetNuke tokens)
Rapid Application Development and Data Model Builder
Server-Side Technology of Code On Time apps
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
Data Access
Business Rules
Server Deployment
Client-Side Technology
User Inteface Design (Forms and Navigation)
Data Binding
Client Deployment

Apps created with Code On Time can also integrate with other content management systems such as SharePoint Online in Office 365.

App created with Code On Time is integrated in SharePoint Online.

Labels: Content Management System, DotNetNuke, Mobile, OAuth, SaaS, Security, Tutorials

Monday, October 16, 2017Print Subscribe

Rich Text in Touch UI

By default any HTML content stored in the database table column will be displayed in the raw format with the tags plainly visible to the end user. Rich text mode will force the framework to prevent encoding of the values and let the browser to render the content with the formatting. Property Text Mode of a data field enables rich text formatting when set to Rich Text. End users will have access to the text formatting options available on the special toolbar displayed when the field is focused on the form.

The formatted text will also be visible in the Grid and List view styles.

If the Text Mode is set to the default value, then the formatting tags are revealed as plain text.

Button “…” displayed on the right side of the formatting toolbar will bring up a full list of formatting commands available to the user.

Developers control the Richt Text Format (RTF) toolbar with the tags assigned to the data field.

Tag rtf-frame will display a frame around the field content when the focus is received.

Tag rtf-toolbar-location-bottom will set the preferred location of the formatting tollbar to be at the bottom of the field in the form. This option may prove to be useful when implementing messaging forms with the the recepient and subject displayed above the field value.

Note that the framework will move the toolbar above or below the field boundaries as the user scrolls the contents of the form. The text boundaries will grow as the user types in more content.

Tag rtf-editor will force a dedicated editor form to be displayed when user activated the field with the Text Mode set to Rich Text. This mode may help when a long text is expected to be entered as the field value. User can press Ctrl+Enter keyboard shortcut to save the contents when edting is finished to retun to the data form.

Tag rtf-editor-fullscreen will display a fullscreen editor window upon activation.

The dedicated editor form can be activated by pressing F11 when the rtf-editor tag is not specified and the focus is on the Rich Text field.

Individual commands on the toolbar can be controlled by providing a combination of rtf-command-(command-name) tags. For example, if a limited text formating is desired then rtf-command-bold rtf-command-italic rtf-command-insertUnorderedList combination of tags will transform the formatting toolbar as follows.

The complete list of supported formatting commands is presented in the table.

Tag	Description
rtf-command-formatBlock-p	Formats text as a paragraph. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-blockquote	Format text as a quotation. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h1	Format text as Heading 1. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h2	Format text as Heading 2. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h3	Format text as Heading 3. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h4	Format text as Heading 4. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h5	Format text as Heading 5. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-formatBlock-h6	Format text as Heading 6. This option is avialable in under Format drop down on the toolbar.
rtf-command-bold	Format text as bold.
rtf-command-italic	Format text as italic.
rtf-command-underline	Format text as underlined.
rtf-command-strikethrough	Format text with a strike through.
rtf-command-insertUnorderedList	Format selected text as unoredered list or start a new unordered list.
rtf-command-insertOrderedList	Format selected text as ordered list or start a new oredered list.
rtf-command-justifyLeft	Align the selected text to the left.
rtf-command-justifyCenter	Align the selected text to the center.
rtf-command-justifyRight	Alight the selected text to the right.
rtf-command-justifyFull	Justify the text to fill the full width of text boundaries.
rtf-command-indent	Increase indentation of the text on the left side.
rtf-command-outdent	Decrease indentation of the text on the left side.
rtf-command-removeFormat	Remove formatting from the selected text.
rtf-command-rtf-editor	Enables an option to activate a dedicated editor for the field content.

Additional formatting commands will be available in the future releases. Don’t hesisitate to contact customer support if specific formatting options are desired.

The implementation of rich text formatting is based on the native content editing capabilities of the modern browsers. Applicaiton frameowork will use P tag to format paragraphs accross different platforms and strip all formatting when the text is pasted from the clipboard. The implementation of rich formatting is touch friendly. The new RTF editing support will be also utilized in the upcoming page builder of the built-in Content Management System (CMS) available in the apps created with Code On Time.

Note that variations in the implementations of content editing by browser vendors may produce a slightly different formatting output but appear the same to the end users on different platforms. An attempt to provide a unified formatting across various platforms will require creating a full featured document editor, which is not an easy task.

There are great RTF editors out there. Many of them are with a permissive licensing. Some of the editors are already providing a decent touch-friendly user interface. We will be integrating support for the leading solutions in the future implementations of the framework. Custom RTF editors are equipped with their own extensive user interface. Therefore we will be offering external RTF editor integration as dedicated forms via rtf-editor tag extensions. External editors will display on top of the forms. If you would like to sponsor an integration of a particular RTF editing framework, then please contact customer support to request a quote.

Labels: Application Builder, Content Management System, Tutorials, User Interface, Web 2.0