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Web 2.0
Friday, May 11, 2018PrintSubscribe
Inline Editing and Native Client

Release 8.7.0.0 is finally here and introduces many new amazing features! Your apps will run in a native mode with inline editing, multi-level master-detail data views, transactional data input, and more.

Inline Editing mode in a form of app based on Touch UI created with Code On Time app generator.

In the coming days we will post multiple video tutorials covering the new features available in your apps. Subscribe to our YouTube to say up-to-date at https://youtube.com/codeontime

Please make sure to watch the following tutorials right now:

  1. Controlling Inline Editing
  2. Multi-Level Master-Detail
  3. Wide Scrollbars
  4. Default Actions in Grid/List/Cards
  5. Transactional Data Input

Native Apps are discussed in these tutorials:

  1. Mobile Development with Code On Time
  2. Online and Mobile Preview
  3. Configuring Application for Cloud On Time.

Inline Editing

We are very excited to offer the first practical and universal implementation of inline editing in Touch UI. Inline Editing is the built-in feature available in apps created with Premium edition of Code On Time. It requires zero configuration and offers a high level of control when needed.

The feature is stable and ready for production use. We have a long list of various enhancements planned already. Many of them will be addressing some imperfections that we know about. 

Another minor release will go out in about a week and will introduce a performance enhancing feature called Optimistic Saving. This feature will be enabled by default in all apps. It will further enhance inline editing and change our approach to data saving via forms in general.

Native Client

The native client is here. We have started with two native clients for Windows 10 and Windows 7. Our app generator is a Windows-based product. We wanted to make sure that you can build native apps without requiring anything else on the development machine. In the next 45 days we will release support for iOS with Android and MacOS to follow.

Download the universal native client for Windows 7 and above at https://codeontime.com/releases/cloud-on-time-for-windows-7.

Download the universal native client for Windows 10 at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/cloud-on-time/9nblggh404nb.

Multi-Level Master Detail

Touch UI now supports multi-level master-detail relationships between data views in dashboards, full-screen, and modal forms. Data View fields can another such field in the data controller serve as the filter. Developers can configure relationships with any number of levels and complexity.

Multi-level master-detail form in an app based on Touch UI created wtih Code On Time app builder.

Data Pre-Fetching

Build a new app and try it in a web browser. You will notice that the data displays virtually instantly. Open the source of the page with CTRL+U and you will see that the data comes embedded in the page. This is a performance enhanching feature targeting web users of your apps. We are preparing a tutorial explaining how that works.

Transactional Data Input

Transactional data input is now available. The feature is disabled by default. Enter odp.enabled=true in ~/touch-settings.json and your will be able to enter data in transactional fashion if you add Data View fields in createForm1.

Note that inline editing is not yet compatible with ODP (Offline Data Processor). Some features of the server-side framework are also missing.

Release 8.8.0.0 will go out in June of 2018 along with a new product called Offline Sync Add-On. The release will make ODP a standard feature enabled by default and will make possible to build apps that work in disconnected/offline mode without writing any code. The majority of the code has been completed. We are preparing the infrastructure to start selling Offline Sync.

New Folder Structure

New apps will have a new folder structure. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/blog/2018/03/app-factory-vs-app-factory-advanced.

Real Time with Code on Time

We are planning to start hosting live video sessions on our YouTube channel each Friday at 10:00 AM. The purpose is to provide a real time demonstration of various product features. Viewers will be able to submit questions ahead of time, watch the show live, or review the latest episodes at their own convenience. Each session will include answers to your questions, we will tell you about the new stuff we are working on. The primary purpose will be to demonstrate how to use our product with practical exercises.

Release Summary

This is a brief description of the features and bug fixes included in this release:

  • New field values changed with custom actions are displayed when user activates the invisible content with tabs. Previously the original row values were displayed instead.
  • Method $app.execute now supports argument property "background" to control if the UI is to be blocked. If set to true then a non-blocking background call is executed without any indication of progress.
  • Data views displaying data in grid are automatically synced when user returns to the previous pages and there were changes to the same data controllers prior to return.
  • Wide scrollbars are enabled if (1) ui.scrollbars.wide == true or (2) ui.scrollbars.wide == 'pointer' and the pointing device is not "touch".
  • Tags inline-editing, inline-editing-none, inline-editing-when-pointer, and inline-editing-option-none are controlling "Inline Editing" mode in the view.
  • Web.config now includes <authentication mode="None"> for apps with no membership.
  • Ensured js/_ignore.txt is copied to output directory in Web App Factory projects.
  • ListBox, CheckBoxList, RadioButtonList styling is matched to accents.
  • Fixed issue with agenda not selecting rows properly.
  • Fixed issue with incorrect page being displayed as selected in site menu.
  • Added support for "view-selector-none" tag to disable view selector on lookup fields.
  • URL Hashing replaces spaces with "+" when getting from URL to avoid exception.
  • Fixed Azure Publish re-authentication bug.
  • Dbl-click on modal title bar will toggle fullscreen mode of a form.
  • Added haxisformat and vaxisformat properties to allow formatting the axis values using the following options: none, decimal, scientific, percent, currency, short, long.
  • Publish now supports FTPS by using "ftps" in the URL.
  • Blob Handler now checks if user has acess to BLOB column and requested row before streaming to user.
  • Blob adapters are publicly accessible if no membership is enabled.
  • ApplicationServices.HandleError and ApplicationServices.HandleException is now overridable to allow for custom error logging.
  • If command Confirm with argument set to the name of the child dataview field is specified then field values are accessible in business rules of custom data controller as @Parameters_MasterFiel1, etc. It is now possible to implement custom search with stored procedures as explained at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClCHL8JuuMg&t=0s&index=4&list=PLy2g3SjvDe2b2cl9i0msBaMVLntQucZtb.
  • SQL business rules support @[FieldName]_FilterValue1 and @[FieldName]_FilterValue2 for reading filter values.
  • New Advanced Search tags for data fields.
      - tag “search-sample-distinct” will force distinct samples
      - tag “search-sample-all” will force all samples
  • Field values with HtmlEncode = false and containing HTML content will not be trimmed.
  • Advanced Search displays "yes" and "no" options for Boolean fields.
Saturday, April 28, 2018PrintSubscribe
Scrollbars

Horizontal scrollbars are presented in summary and “see all” grid views starting with the release 8.7.0.0. This illustration demonstrates horizontal scrollbars in the summary views. The scrollbars are revealed on devices with the “pointer” input, such as mouse or stylus.

Horizontal scrollbars are displayed along the bottom edge of the summary view grids in apps with Touch UI.

In this screenshot a grid of products is presented in “See All” mode with the infinite scrolling. Horizontal scrollbar is displayed along the bottom edge of the view.

Horizontal scrollbars are displayed along the bottom edge of the screen in grids of apps with Touch UI.

By default, the vertical and horizontal scrollbars are presented with a narrow footprint for mobile and desktop users. A new setting in ~touch-settings.json will enable “wide” scrollbars in the app. If the primary audience of the app is expected to use a mouse, then set this option for a more comfortable scrolling.

Wide scrollbars setting will increase the comfort of scrolling for the end users with pointer devices, such as mouse or stylus.

Wide horizontal scrollbars are also displayed for summary grid views in Touch UI.

This configuration of ~/touch-settings.json enables “wide” scrollbars unconditionally.

{
  "ui": {
    "scrollbars": {
      "wide": true
    }
  }
}

Use the following configuration of ~/touch-settings.json to enable “wide” scrollbars when the device is controlled with a mouse or stylus.

{
  "ui": {
    "scrollbars": {
      "wide": "pointer"
    }
  }
}
Friday, January 19, 2018PrintSubscribe
Dark Theme and Client/Server Configuration

Code On Time release 8.6.12.0 introduces the new Theme Engine with support for custom themes. The new engine comes with new “Dark” theme. Now developers can choose from 70 color combinations provided by 2 themes and 35 accents.

We have also renamed Settings/ Web Server Configuration section Settings / Client & Server.

We have extended the client framework with the foundation for “inline editing” in grids/cards/list. Keep reading to find more.

Dark Theme

An example of  Dark theme with Construction accent.

An example of  Dark theme with Construction accent in app with Touch UI.

This is an app with Dark theme in Vantage accent.

This is an app with Dark theme in Vantage accent. The app was created with Code On Time app generator.

Here is a bootstrap-based page in an app with Dark theme and Aquarium accent. We have implemented new “software breakpoints” for bootstrap content to enable correct rendering of bootstrap content in modal pages and the upcoming split screens. The menu is not displayed on the toolbar if every page with icon is referenced in the Tab Bar at the bottom of the screen.

Here is a bootstrap-based page in an app with Dark theme and Aquarium accent.  The app is implemented with Touch UI.

Client & Server

Project configuration section in Settings previously called Web Server Configuration is now called Client & Server.

image

Client & Server section allows selecting the front end for your app. The default option is the Web Browser. This option is already familiar to developer using Code On Time. The app generator will start the default web browser of the operating system.

image

Two additional options Generic App and Custom App will start a native app either based on Chromium Embedded Framework (all versions of Windows with API compatible with Windows 7) or Universal Windows Platform (Windows 10 and above).

image

The native custom or generic app will install JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Fonts, and Images of your application on the device by downloading them from the server. IIS Express is the server that developers work with to test their applications.

Entire application framework is installed on the device in the native mode. Native app loads local pages in a platform-specific web view. Local pages will request data from the remote server (IIS Express in development mode). The main advantage of native apps is faster load time and ability to interact with the device.

We are launching a new product called Offline Sync Add-On that will enable native app to work in a completely disconnected or “offline” mode. It will perform preemptive downloading of data on the device. No changes to the server-side application will be requires. Any app created with Code On Time and deployed to a server will work in a completely offline mode with the help of the add-on.

The rollout of native apps will begin with Generic App for Windows 7 and Universal Windows Platform.

Custom apps for the same platform will become available in February of 2018. Offline Sync Add-On is expected to become available in the same time frame.

Generic and Custom apps for iOS will become available in March 2018, which will be followed by Android and MacOS.

Release Summary

The following features and enhancements are included in the release:

  • Theme engine has been extended to support multiple themes with accents. The new theme called Dark is introduced. It can be combined with any of the 35 accents.
  • Data fields with HyperlinkFormatString are displays as links in forms. TouchUI
  • SQL business rules use the connection string name specified in the data controller if any.
  • Bootstrap responsiveness is now based on "software" breakpoints calculated for each page in Touch UI.
  • Bootstrap responsiveness is fixed app-min-lg in Classic UI.
  • Method dataView.tagged() does not assign tag cache if there are no tags defined
  • Any view tagged as history-search-none will not retain values in filter, quick find, advanced search and will also forget selected view if different from the default.
  • The following configuration of ~touch-settings.json will disable the search history globally in the lookups.
    {
      "history": {
        "lookup": {
          "search": false
        }
      }
    }
    
  • Section on the project settings Web Server Configuration has been renamed to Client & Server. It allows configuring the front-end on the development that will be used to preview the app. Supported options “Browser”, “Generic”, and “Custom” apps.
  • Running an app created with Unlimited Edition in debug mode of Visual Studio will automatically link “debugging” versions of the JavaScript libraries.
  • Client library now includes uniqcode.js to allow better parsing of text with non-Latin characters.
  • Removed the code related to the legacy transaction management in the server-side framework. It will be replaced with the new code to support ODP (Offline Data Processor).
  • Menu strip is not displayed in the toolbar if all menu items have icons and the Tab Bar is visible. Touch UI
  • Menu strip is not displayed in the toolbar if all menu items have icons and the all icons are visible at the bottom of the sidebar. TouchUI
  • Touch devices with small form factor do not reduce density of summary views anymore.
  • Added "beforeusercontextshow.app" event to add user context menu items in sidebar, menu bar, user dropdown. Touch UI
  • Fixed issue with Web App Factory projects not finding "Template.xslt" file.
  • Password character is now rendered as "black circle" character. Touch UI
  • Tooltip for Boolean values in grids displays values as Yes and No. Touch UI
  • Added CSS minification to theme stylesheet generator. Touch UI
  • Removed the limits on the width of app name in the toolbar when sidebar is minimized. Touch UI
  • View Selector on action bar has the same color as actions and groups. Touch UI
  • Switching between Charts and [ViewStyle+Aggregates] correctly resets the page height. Touch UI
  • Method $app.touch.resetPageHeight will reset the height of the current page. Touch UI
  • Fixed security issue with anonymous access to controller XML in apps with HTML implementation.

Inline Editing

The most frequently requested feature that we hear about from customers is the ability to edit data inline. The direct insertion of inputs in grid/list/cards view styles is complicated by the fact that these styles are displaying data inside of “A” tag. Our internal discussions have led to a conclusion that inline input will be integrated in the future rewrite of these view styles, further delaying availability.

Luckily our independent effort on Universal Input and Surveys allowed us to architect the method of inline editing in Touch UI apps compatible both with touch devices and device with keyboard/mouse input. The foundational components are already in place and will work with the current “link-based” implementation of grid/list/cards.

The complete integration of Inline Editing in the Touch UI in expected in a couple of weeks!!!

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