Converting a Smart Client Solution to Web Client??

Forum to discuss the Web client version of Servoy.

Converting a Smart Client Solution to Web Client??

Postby Kahuna » Tue May 10, 2011 11:41 am

Hi Folks - at the outset of developing with Servoy our Guru (Graham Greensall) suggested that if we develop for the Web Client then the Smart Client should work fine out of the box. After a few weeks, we found due to the many limitations on what we could do in WC, we chose ignore his sage advise and go Smart Client only - idiots!

Now, way down the line, we need a Browser version of this app fairly quickly. So, wiser heads than mine have been down this path before and your experience will be invaluable for us, here are the challenges I think we have and I'd value feedback on how or if it's possible to over come them. First of all a basic question:

Q: Should we even consider making this already live solution both web and smart available, is it too complex and if so, should we simply take the core functionality and build a new web specific version without attempting to make it work well in both arena's?

There are a few aspects I know we need to address:

1. Pop-up Dialogs. We think if we convert these to all be 'Warning' dialogs as opposed to info etc then they should all be converted to alerts in WC.

2. Shaped Graphics. Where possible we have used the Servoy shapes rather than importing gif's etc. Partly to simplyfy resizing and anchoring and partly for ease of use. However in the WC these rounded corner rectangles (for example) become square rectangles. This is also true of the grouping shape. Is it possible to change this behaviour using CSS?

3. Some text in labels becomes miss aligned in WC where its perfect in SC, perhpas look and feel has this effect?

4. A number of aspects of the UI look poor in WC - though I know the CSS from Harjo may overcome some of this.

5. Dialog forms - we think should all be converted to windows to work on WC.

As you can probably tell I'm really unsure (other than to know I should have listened to Guru Greensall) as to the way forward here. We could easil just duplicate the solution and fix what does not work for WC but that will leave us with two versions to support. Because its a small subset of users that need to have a WC we could perhaps allow only limited access to the functionality of the app through WC and that way reduce what we need to modify - but that seems like a bit of a cop out!

For those who have the time to comment - your input and suggestions will be very gladly recieved :D

Ian
(Servoy Version: 6.0.7 Win XP / 7 - SQL Server 2008 R2)
Ian Cordingley (Kahuna)
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Re: Converting a Smart Client Solution to Web Client??

Postby nestrocuation » Wed May 11, 2011 1:29 am

Hey ,

we just moved our application from smart client to web client and it was painful. :evil:

Q: Should we even consider making this already live solution both web and smart available, is it too complex and if so, should we simply take the core functionality and build a new web specific version without attempting to make it work well in both arena's?


No based on what i have learned , dont make the live solution both smart and web , since web client runs on server side and smart client on client side so behavior of most of the plug ins would be different and it would be too complex and not all the beans are supported in web client .

Best option duplicate solution and build a new web specific version.

1. Pop-up Dialogs. We think if we convert these to all be 'Warning' dialogs as opposed to info etc then they should all be converted to alerts in WC.


there are web client dialog solutions that takes care of the dialog plugin restriction of working only in smart client

2. Shaped Graphics.
3. Some text in labels becomes miss aligned in WC where its perfect in SC, perhpas look and feel has this effect?

4. A number of aspects of the UI look poor in WC - though I know the CSS from Harjo may overcome some of this.


Yes Css would take care but also keep in mind different browsers have different way to present the UI .
CSS from Harjo may overcome some of this - I love that alternate web CSS on servoy forge :P
5. Dialog forms - we think should all be converted to windows to work on WC.


Having Modal dialog is not an issue in WC if you just have single modal dialog - but having modal dialog over another modal dialog will be an issue.

for what i have learned moving from smart client to web client - if u r doing anything with client side file system and has lot of beans its going to be time consuming since u r moving from client side to server side , else its not that hard and use the compatiblity overview to find changes you have to make .

hope that helps . :D

Nirav Shingala
Database Application Developer
Bizmanualz Inc
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Re: Converting a Smart Client Solution to Web Client??

Postby pbakker » Wed May 11, 2011 9:38 am

Hi Ian,

First step would be to look at the Compatibility overview here: http://wiki.servoy.com/display/DOCS/Web ... y+overview and determine the which area's in your code require refactor.

Most likely candidates are bean usage and dialogs.

I wouldn't recommend the suggestion of Nirav to just duplicate your solution and branch your code. Depending on how you've structured your code, you could opt to make a specific Web and Smart Client entry point solution and include all shared modules in both or just check in your code if it's running in SC or Wc and do a little branch withing your code based on it.

I do not understand your suggestion for item 5, for item 3: got examples? Not sure if everything can be fixed or supported, but if we have specific examples, we can look at it.

Paul
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Re: Converting a Smart Client Solution to Web Client??

Postby Kahuna » Wed May 11, 2011 10:10 am

Thanks Paul, Nirav - I'll come back with more specifics as we discover them - but the guidelines in the docs are a starting point.

I suspect that if we need to offer the entire solution in both WC & SC then a fully modified solution (probably branched in SVN) would be a sensible option as I think some major structural changes will be necessary.

However, I'm beginning to think that those who need web access in the short term could probably be limited to a subset of the solution through our security and therefore we might be able to get a version working both ways relatively quickly with minimal modification.

I guess we could extend that as we move on - ensuring new functionality is compatible with both WC & SC.

Good stuff - looks like some midnight oil is in store!
(Servoy Version: 6.0.7 Win XP / 7 - SQL Server 2008 R2)
Ian Cordingley (Kahuna)
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