Servoy 3.0 alfa9 preview

[Jan Blok]

Since there was a lot of interest at Servoy World to be able to "play around" with the new Web Client (part of Servoy 3.0) we decided to release an alpha version.
An alpha version is a very early release and will likely contain bugs, so this version is only meant to give you an idea of what is possible with this technology and discuss it here.
IMPORTANT! Keep in mind there is NO support for this version! Use Servoy 2.2.1 for any "real life" deployment.

Release notes:
-Do install in separate directory, contains many new libs, configurations which are not compatible with 2.2.x Releases
-Can use a 2.2.x repository
-ALWAYS make a backup of existing (repository) databases before testing a new Servoy version

What is the Servoy Web Client:
-It's a automatic (editable) web interface to a normal client
-Is build on top of the headless client API and consumes a single concurrent client license just like the current headless client
-Accessible when servoy 3.0 is running at http://localhost:8080/servoy-webclient

Differences between Servoy smart client and web client:
-There is no "auto save" of data when clicked on the form, you (or your developer) need to place 'save/submit' button which executes the command: controller.saveData()
-Interactive beans/applets can not be used, charting beans are supported(converts the bean UI to image for display in browser)
-Shapes, pen drawings and such will likely not be supported
-RTF cannot be supported
-Listview/multiline portal will not be supported in first version

Not yet functional:
-Events other than onAction
-ANY dialogs, using them stalls the Web Client, so don't use them yet!
-Rectangles with title border
-editable properties
-Editable HTML area field (non editable HTML fields are working)
-Anchors are not currently working in webpage
-JavaScript manipulation of form elements (visible/read-only is working)
-HTML on buttons (HTML on labels is working)
-calendar has no time support

Known issues:
-Solution startup script is not fired
-MacOSX Safari browser has display problems, Firefox,IE and opera browers work fine

HTML Templates:
-Servoy Web Client generates HTML templates from a Form, which can be edited by a web designer
-Templates are editable via WebDav (windows web folders) or can be viewed in the browser at http://localhost:8080/servoy-webclient/templates
-The templates are always generated from the latest changes on a form until manually edited and saved
-After deletion of edited files, the templates are generated again.
-Restrictions to the templates, you cannot remove the "servoy:xxxx" parameters in the html tags

Will default only work on Java 5 !
To run Servoy 3.0 under Java 1.4.x use: java -Djava.security.policy="./server/conf/catalina.policy" -jar servoy_developer.jar

[akalehzan]

Jan,

After installing Servoy 3.0 alfa9 preview. If I import our solution would Jan,

After installing Servoy 3.0 alfa9 preview. If I import our solution, would the imported solution be viewable via Servoy webclient?


Please let know.

Thanks,

Abrahim

[Jan Blok]

yes, open http://localhost:8080/servoy-webclient and see for your self

[akalehzan]

Jan,

I opened the: open http://localhost:8080/servoy-webclient

and selected the solution, but I get the following:

Unexpected RuntimeException

wicket.markup.MarkupException: Unable to find component with id 'anon_element_3099' in [MarkupContainer [Component id = Body, page = com.servoy.j2db.server.headlessclient.MainPage, path = 4:servoy_page:servoy_dataform:forms:0:webform:View:Body.h, isVisible = true, isVersioned = false]]. This means that you declared wicket:id=anon_element_3099 in your markup, but that you either did not add the component to your page at all, or that the hierarchy does not match.
[markup = http://localhost:8080/servoy-webclient/ ... gator.html, index = 175, current = '<span servoy:id='anon_element_3099' id='anon_element_3099' >' (line 70, column 1)]
at wicket.markup.MarkupStream.throwMarkupException(MarkupStream.java:277)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderNext(MarkupContainer.java:1172)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderComponentTagBody(MarkupContainer.java:804)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.onComponentTagBody(MarkupContainer.java:746)
at wicket.Component.renderComponent(Component.java:1886)
at wicket.markup.html.WebMarkupContainer.onRender(WebMarkupContainer.java:77)
at wicket.Component.render(Component.java:1160)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderNext(MarkupContainer.java:1129)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderComponentTagBody(MarkupContainer.java:804)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.onComponentTagBody(MarkupContainer.java:746)
at wicket.Component.renderComponent(Component.java:1886)
at wicket.markup.html.WebMarkupContainer.onRender(WebMarkupContainer.java:77)
at wicket.Component.render(Component.java:1160)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderNext(MarkupContainer.java:1129)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderComponentTagBody(MarkupContainer.java:804)
at wicket.MarkupContainer.renderAssociatedMarkup(MarkupContainer.java:473)
at wicket.markup.html.panel.Panel.onRender(Panel.java:95)
at wicket.Component.render(Component.java:1160)............................




Any idea?

Thanks,

Abrahim

[IT2Be]

Hi Abrahim, from what I understand you opened an existing solution.

There are still a lot of thing to be done that are not working yet. So, from my experience, when you open a solution that's big enough there can be a variety of reasons why the error happens.

I would just try to build a new solution for now and see what happens. We are talking (early) alpha here...

[jcompagner]

name all youre elements on the form you are showing and let me know which element (type) that didn't show.

[IT2Be]

I would have loved to test it again but can't test it anymore since my repository is too new for 3.0 now but I have posted an issue where naming the elements myself moved all elements to the upper left hand corner in 3.0a9...

[akalehzan]

I tried a different approach by creating a new solution and a form using one of the CRM tables that is called Actions.
Then tried to view it via web client, but still getting error.
Attached file is copy of the error that Im getting.



Thanks,

Abrahim

[Westy]

Last night I tried viewing a large solution with webclient and received error messages the first time through. Then I went to File/Solution settings and removed the opening method that was opening a dialog at startup. That helped.

Then I decided to attempt to view every form in my solution with webclient. It ended up being easier than I expected. I just kept going back to File/Solution Settings and changing the "First Form" setting. Then I would immediately open the solution from the webclient. This allowed me to quickly see how the webclient handled each of my forms. There was no need to restart the solution, nor did I have to refresh the webclient browser.

It was interesting to see what worked and what did not work. Of course there were many forms that could not yet be properly displayed in webclient, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the forms which I had expected not to display well, looked very good in webclient.

[akalehzan]

Luck you!!

The solution that Im testing has a simple small form without and methods.

Abrahim

[jcompagner]

and as you can see in the trace (that you send twice?) you have an element "image" that is causing the problem
Remove it and try again.
What kind of element is it?

[akalehzan]

Johan,

Is that mean forms with the image content will not work in web client?

Abrahim

[patrick]

No. That's not what he meant, as far as I understand. Images will be supported. He meant: try without it and tell him what it was so he can fix it Remember, you are using Alpha software...

[akalehzan]

Patrick,

I didn't have any images in that form. All I had was some combo box "Pull-down menu".
I removed them and it worked!

Then I added the combo box again and still working ok.

Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

Abrahim

[Westy]

I have been experimenting some more with Servoy Web Client and find that images placed on Servoy forms work particularly well. I created a new solution and placed a large gif image of a web site on the Servoy form. Then I placed fields on the image and viewed it in a browser. The web page looked exactly like the Servoy form. Perfect pixel for pixel layering of the fields over the image.

Then I tried adding Servoy buttons to the form with mixed results. Then I replaced the buttons with gif images of the buttons and all problems went away. I have found that by using only gif images and fields on the Servoy forms I can achieve very favorable results.

What really surprised me was the way the Servoy Web Client allows gif images and fields to be layered on a form and perfectly represented in the browser. Staying away from boxes, lines, labels, etc. and sticking with just images and fields seems to make all the difference.

I am using Servoy 3.0 alfa10, Windows XP and IE6.