Blog: Posts from June, 2013

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Posts from June, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013PrintSubscribe
Multiple Databases

Multiple database services are common in the modern business environment. Code On Time generator has the capability to tie this data together in a single web application.

In this example, DB1 holds the Categories and Products tables of an web-based order management system. DB2 holds the Suppliers table used by the purchasing department. You can see the database schemas in the picture below.

The schemas for databases DB1 and DB2.

Suppose that business requirements demand displaying vendor information next to the product name. We would like to add fields in Products to capture information from the Supplier, as well as allow access to information about Suppliers, all in the same application.

How do we overcome the physical separation of DB1 and DB2?

Take a look at the default web app generated from DB1 below. You will see that two pages have been created for Categories and Products, respectively. We will need to add Suppliers to this web app as well.

Categories and Products are available in the DB1 database.

Code On Time Generator does not support generation from multiple databases. Creating an application that handles different data sources will require a combined sample database that you can generate from. After the web app is created, you can change the connection strings to connect the remote data. In this example, it would be easiest to add the Suppliers table to DB1. Also, add SupplierID and SupplierCompanyName to the Products table. These fields, while not foreign keys in the database, will capture information from DB2 when we set them up as lookups.

Adding Suppliers Table to DB1

Start SQL Server Management Studio. In the Object Explorer, right-click on Databases / DB1 / Tables node, and press New Table.

Adding a new table to database DB1.

Assign the following values:

Column Name Data Type Allow Nulls
SupplierID int no
CompanyName nvarchar(50) no
ContactName nvarchar(50) yes
ContactTitle nvarchar(50) yes
Address nvarchar(50) yes
City nvarchar(50) yes
Region nvarchar(50) yes
PostalCode nvarchar(50) yes
Country nvarchar(50) yes
Phone nvarchar(50) yes
Fax nvarchar(50) yes
HomePage ntext yes

Press Ctrl+S to save the table. Assign the table a name of “Suppliers”.

Entering the name for 'Suppliers' table.

In the Object Explorer, right-click on Databases / DB1 / Tables / dbo.Products table node, and press Design.

Designing the Products table of database DB1.

Add the following columns:

Column Name Data Type Allow Nulls
SupplierID int yes
SupplierCompanyName nvarchar(50) yes

Save the table. Switch back to the app generator, click on the project name, and press Refresh.

Check the boxes next to Products controller and dbo.Suppliers table, and click Refresh.

Refreshing Products and Suppliers tables.

Proceed to regenerate the application.

When complete, notice that the Suppliers page has been added to the web app. However, there are no suppliers to be found. We will need to change the connection string for the Suppliers controller.

No suppliers are present in DB1 database.

Adding a Second Connection String

Switch back to the app generator. Click on the project name, and press Settings. Click on Web Server Configuration.

In the Web.Config modification instructions textbox, add the following:

AppendChild: /configuration/connectionStrings
<add name="DB2" connectionString="Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=DB2;Integrated Security=True;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

Press Finish to skip to the Summary page. Click Design to activate the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab and double-click on Suppliers controller node.

The Suppliers controller selected in the Project Explorer.

Change the Connection String Name property:

Property Value
Connection String Name DB2

Press OK to save.

Configuring Cross-Database Lookups

Double-click on Products / Fields / SupplierID node.

SupplierID field in the Products controller.

Make the following changes:

Property Value
Items Style Lookup
Items Data Controller Suppliers
Data Value Field SupplierID
Data Text Field CompanyName
New Data View createForm1
Copy SupplierCompanyName=CompanyName

Press OK to save. At the top of the Project Browser window, switch to the Data Fields tab. Assign an Alias of “SupplierCompanyName” to all SupplierID data fields.

Setting the Alias of SupplierID data fields to 'SupplierCompanyName'.

In the Project Explorer, double-click on Products / Fields / SupplierCompanyName (String(50)) node.

SupplierCompanyName field selected from the Products controller.

Switch to the Data Fields tab. Mark all data fields as hidden.

Marking the SupplierCompanyName data fields as hidden.

Viewing the Results

On the toolbar, press Browse. Navigate to the Products page, and start editing a record. Click on the SupplierCompanyName lookup – a list of suppliers will be displayed.

The lookup displays a list of suppliers.

Select a supplier. The ID will be inserted into the field, but the name will be displayed.

The Supplier lookup displays the Company Name.

Friday, June 14, 2013PrintSubscribe
Customizing the Footer

The footer is displayed at the bottom of every page in a web app. The text will display a standard copyright message by default.

Default footer copyright text displayed at the bottom of the page.

Let’s customize the footer content.

Changing the Footer Text

Start the web app generator and click on the project name. Select Settings, and click on Features. In the Copyright text box, enter the following:

Property New Value
Copyright
&copy;<b> Code On Time LLC</b> All rights reserved.

Press Finish, and then press Generate to continue regenerating the web app. Notice that the new copyright message is displayed.

The customized footer content displayed at the bottom of the page.

A custom user control may be used when more complex or dynamic content is necessary.

Placing a Custom User Control in the Footer

In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customers / page container node, and press New Control.

Creating a new control in the 'page' container.

Next to the User Control lookup, click on the New User Control icon.

Creating a new user control.

Assign a name to the new user control:

Property Value
Name CustomerFooter

Press OK to save the user control. Press OK to add the control to the Customers page.

Right-click on Customers / page / control1 – CustomerFooter control node, and press Rename.

Renaming the 'control1' control on the Customers page.

Change the name to “footer” and press Enter key to apply the change.

The name of the control has been changed to 'footer'.

On the toolbar, press Browse. Notice that the user control has replaced the footer content.

The user control has replaced the footer content.

Friday, June 14, 2013PrintSubscribe
Customizing the Sidebar

The sidebar is displayed on the left side of every content page. The About box displays a description for the page. The See Also box shows other pages on the same level in the navigation menu. The Summary box displays information about the selected record, if enabled for the specific view.

The sidebar contains the Summary, About, and See Also boxes.

Customizing the About Box

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, double-click on Customers page node.

Customers page node in the Project Explorer.

Change the About This Page property:

Property New Value
About This Page This page displays a list of customers.

Save the page. On the toolbar, press Browse. Notice that the text in About box has been updated.

The About box text has been updated.

Hiding See Also Box

The See Also box displays links to pages on the same hierarchy level. Let’s hide the See Also box.

In the Project Explorer, double-click on Customers page node.

The Customers page node in the Project Explorer.

Change the following:

Property New Value
Custom Style NoSeeAlso

Press OK to save. On the toolbar, press Browse. Notice that the See Also box has disappeared.

The See Also box is no longer present in the sidebar.

Custom content may be added to the sidebar in the form of a user control.

Placing a Custom User Control in the Sidebar

In the Project Explorer, right-click on Customers / page container node, and press New Control.

Adding a new control to the 'page' container on the Customers page.

Next to the User Control lookup, click on the New User Control icon.

Creating a new user control.

Assign a name to the user control.

Property Value
Name CustomerSidebar

Press OK to save the new user control. Press OK to add the user control to the page.

Right-click on Customers / page / control1 – CustomerSidebar node, and press Rename.

Renaming 'control'1 control on the Customers page.

Change the name to “sidebar”, and press Enter key to apply changes.

The control has been renamed to 'sidebar'.

On the toolbar, press Browse. Notice that the user control is now present in the sidebar.

The user control has been added to the sidebar.