Blog: Posts from March, 2012

Let’s create a baseline Code On Time Web Site Factory application. Run the web app generator, and select Web Site Factory project type.

Web Site Factory project type is based on a directory structure. Files will be compiled upon saving to the hard drive. Web Site Factory is suitable for an application of any complexity and is the easiest to manage. If you’re starting web development or coming to ASP.NET from other technologies, then this is the project type for you.

In the Name field, enter “OrderForm”. This will be the name of the folder that stores the project, and will be the display name shown on the start page of the code generator. Select the programming language of your choice, and press Create.

On the next page, you can enter the Namespace, which will be used throughout the whole application. The namespace is a prefix used in all classes of the generated code base. We’ll leave the default name “MyCompany”. You can also change the Framework to either .NET 3.5 or 4.0. The latter is suggested, as it has better performance.

Code On Time release 6.0.0.21 includes numerous new features and enhancements.

New http://codeontime.com has been launched. Use the search feature of the web site to find everything related to our products including documents, tutorials, video, blog, support, and community resources.

Several originally planned features were excluded from this release. We are still testing Code On Time Sync and will likely release it to production in the next two weeks. The server infrastructure of Sync is in place now.

• Business rules are invoked correctly if data operations are initiated by data access objects.
   
• Previous version was incorrectly displaying annotations when users start creating a new record. The annotation fields are now displayed only when user edits an existing record. Future updates will support annotations when creating new records.
   
• LastView property in now available in PageRequest, ViewPage and ActionArgs classes.
  The application framework takes advantage of this property and automatically copies the "View Filter" from a grid view to a form view at runtime if the form view does not have its own "View Filter". Learn more about view filter expressions at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/multi-tenant-applications/view-filter-expressions.
   
• Custom master pages are now supported. Learn more at  http://codeontime.com/learn/pages/custom%20master%20page.
   
• Code generator now features integrated support for Google Translate API Key in globalization settings of projects. Lear more at http://codeontime.com/learn/globalization-and-localization/automatic-translation.
   
• New Controller.ConvertToType method is used in Data Access Objects and business rules engine to convert client values to native .NET types.
   
• Fixed the exception with filtering of DateTimeOffset fields.
   
• Culture manager prevents duplicated initialization.
   
• Class Controller allows overriding the new GetDataControlStream method. The method can return a stream of XML data controller definition from any source based on arbitrary condition.
   
• Implemented data controller virtualization. Two methods are required in a business rules class: SupportsVirutalization and VirtualizeController.
   
• Access control rules support filtering expressions with the data controller field names wrapped in square brackets. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/multi-tenant-applications/data-segregation-and-filtering.
   
• All available user interface are now supported right-to-left languages.
   
• The collection of themes has expanded. You can see new theme samples at http://codeontime.com/learn/introduction/user-interface/themes-a-c.
   
• Dynamic access control rules are now available in Premium and Unlimited editions. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/multi-tenant-applications/dynamic-access-control-rules.
   
• New ContainsField method is now available in ViewPage class. There is also a utility class SqlParam used with Dynamic Access Control Rules.
   
• Business rules correctly process a single null or DBNull.Value as a restriction of an access control business rule method. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/multi-tenant-applications/restricting-access-to-null-values.
   
• Data Views number support Show Row Number property. The logical row number is displayed in the first column if Show Row Number is set to true. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/learn/pages/data-views/displaying-row-number.
   
• Search Options are now supported in Premium and Unlimited edition. Learn more at http://codeontime.com/blog/2012/02/search-mode-options.
   
• Report handler is now declared as partial class. It will allow overriding the File Name composed when a report is rendered with Report Viewer. The method name is FormatFileName.
   
• Method DataViewExtender.AssignFilter will correctly clear the data view filter when called in response to ASP.NET events.
   

      protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
          dve1.AssignFilter(new FieldFilter[] {
              new FieldFilter(
                  "CategoryCategoryName",
                  RowFilterOperation.None) });
      }

• Setting property Hyperlink Format String to a URL with _blank prefix will open a new tab in IE8/9. If user click the link while holding Shift key then the new popup window will open.
   
• In-line creation of lookup values in a Data Sheet view will not result in an exception. Cancellation of modal lookup will not cancel editing in a Data Sheet view.
   
• Reversed description of Hidden/System fields in the project wizard.
   
• RichText in data fields will not cause a security exception raised by ASP.NET when executing any "Report..." action.
   
• Modified the globalization mechanism to use the new "culture" folders under [Documents]\Code OnTime\Library\_Localization.
   
• The code generator will not crash if a decimal point value is entered as Columns or Rows property of a data field.
   
• Fixed the incorrect display of multi-layered modal views. Previously the subsequently opened modal views would not cover the previous view. Users were able to interact with them. Now the modal view covers with the semi-transparent background the entire area underneath.
   
• Fixed the exception error message displayed in Designer Preview if a modal view was open at the time of closing when user exists the Designer.
   
• The latest release generates applications with Ajax Control Tookit 51116. Learn more at http://ajaxcontroltoolkit.codeplex.com/.
   
• Class DistinctValueRequest is now declared as partial. Developers may find it useful overriding the property MaximumValueCount to control the number of distinct values returned to the client.

  using System;
  using System.Web;

  namespace MyCompany.Data
  {
      public partial class DistinctValueRequest : DistinctValueRequestBase
      {
          public override int MaximumValueCount
          {
              get
              {
                  if (Controller == "Customers")
                      return 10;
                  return base.MaximumValueCount;
              }
              set
              {
                  base.MaximumValueCount = value;
              }
          }
      }
  
  

• Multi-byte search values entered in Advanced Search Panel and custom column filters are now working correctly.
   
• Code generator will refresh the Application baseline to reflect changes in the project settings when your execute project Refresh. If any customization has been applied to the application design then only new pages composed by the code generator to host application data controller will be affected by the changed settings.
   
• Attributes AccessControl and ControllerAction allow a regular expression to be entered as a Controller property. This allows a shorthand definition of a business rule method that can cover multiple controllers with a certain name pattern.
   
• Project action Refresh now incorporates any new pages or data controllers inserted or modified directly in *.Baseline.xml files. Custom data controllers must not have nativeSchema or nativeTableName attribute in the definition to be included in the application design.