Version 6.3.8 for Windows
 —  Natural for Ajax  —

Application Designer Workplace Framework

The Natural example library SYSEXNJX provides an example of a workplace built on base of the Application Designer framework. The example can be executed with the following URL:

http://<host>:<port>/cisnatural/servlet/StartCISPage?PAGEURL=/njxdemos/wpdynworkplace.html

For information on the Natural versions with which this example is provided, see the section Support for Special Features.

Example workplace

The workplace framework bases on the multi frame page management described in the previous sections. It offers the following:

This document covers the following topics:


Framework Overview

An Application Designer workplace is a certain arrangement of frames in a multi frame page. Some of the frames have predefined tasks. Have a look at the example workplace in which you can already see the most important frames:

Framework

The "Functions" frame contains the available functions that can be chosen and invoked by the user. The "Content" frame contains the page or page sequence that is opened if a function is selected. The "Active Functions" frame shows the functions that were opened by the user and allows the user to navigate between the active functions.

Have a look at the XML layout definitions for this workplace; it defines how the frames are arranged (../njx<nn>.ear/cisnatural.war/njxdemos/xml/wpdynworkplace.xml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mfpage separation="rows" sizing="20,*">
    <mfwpactivefunctions resizable="false" withborder="false" scrolling="false" 
                         framestyle="border: 0px solid #000000">
    </mfwpactivefunctions>
    <mfframeset target="ZZZ" separation="cols" sizing="265,*">
        <mfframeset target="LEFTPART" separation="rows" sizing="*,400" border="true" 
                    framesetstyle="border: 1px solid #808080">
            <mfwpfunctions bootstrapinfourl="/njxdemos/xml/wpdynbootstrapinfo.xml" 
                           serversidescrolling="false" framestyle="border: 1 solid #808080;">
            </mfwpfunctions>
            <mfhtmlframe target="NEWS" url="../njxdemos/html/wpdynhowto.html" 
                    resizable="true" withborder="false" scrolling="true" 
                    framestyle="border: 1px solid #808080">
            </mfhtmlframe>
        </mfframeset>
        <mfwpcontent resizable="true" withborder="true" scrolling="false" 
                     framestyle="border: 1 solid #808080;">
        </mfwpcontent>
    </mfframeset>
</mfpage>

You see that there are three special frame controls that are used internally: MFWPFUNCTIONS, MFWPACTIVEFUNCTIONS and MFWPCONTENT. In addition, there is one HTML page arranged below the MFWPFUNCTIONS control.

Let us take a closer look at each of the three workplace frame controls.

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"Functions" Frame: MFWPFUNCTIONS

This is the frame to hold the available functions to be selected by the user. The control has the following properties:

Basic
bootstrapclass

Name of the class that is responsible for passing the initial workplace configuration. The class must support interface "IMFWorkplace2" and must support a constructor without parameters.

When being displayed the workplace creates an instance of this class and asks for an object that represents the workplace setup. Have a look into the javadoc-documentation for interface "IMFWorkplace2" for more information.

Optional  
bootstrapinfourl

URL to an .xml file that holds the initial workplace configuration. Do not use BOOTSTRAPINFOURL and BOOSTRAPCLASS at the same time!

Use /project/directory/doc.xml as syntax, e.g. /HTMLBasedGUI/workplace/bootstrapworkplaceinfo.xml.

Optional  
serversidescrolling

Flag that decides if the function tree providing the available workplaces functions support client side scrolling (default, "false") or supports server side scrolling ("true"). Server side scrolling should be used if a function tree containes more than 100 nodes.

Optional

true

false

defaultcontentpage

URL of a page that is shown in the 'content area' by default.

Optional  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
contentstylesheet

Style sheet that should be used for the content that is started inside the workplace.

Optional  
framestyle

Style that is passed to the HTML-FRAME definition that is internally generated.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

bordercolor

Sets the border color of the frame set.

Optional

#FF0000

#00FF00

#0000FF

#FFFFFF

#808080

#000000

marginheight

Defines top and bottom margin height. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

marginwidth

Defines left and right margin width. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

activefunctionsvariant

Defines how the MFWPACTIVEFUNCTIONS frame displays the list of started pages. You can either use a STRIPSEL or TABSTRIP control. Default is "tabstrip".

Optional

tabstrip

stripsel

withownborder

Flag that indicates if the functions page shows an additional border. Default is false.

Optional

true

false

workplacestylesheet

Style sheet that should be used for the workplace itself.

Optional  
withplusminus

If set to "true" then +/- Icons will be rendered in front of the mfwpfuntions.

Optional

true

false

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"Active Functions" Frame: MFWPACTIVEFUNCTIONS

This frame shows the functions that the user started and between which the user can switch.

Basic
resizable

Decision if the user is able to resize the frame. This property must be in synch with the definition in the "neighbour frames". If the neighbour frames do not support resizing then it will not be offered to the user as consequence.

Valid values are "true" and "false". Default is "true".

Optional

true

false

withborder

Boolean value defining if the frame has a border on its own. Default is "false".

Optional

true

false

scrolling

Boolean that indicates whether the frame can be scrolled. Default is true.

Optional

true

false

framestyle

Style that is passed to the HTML-FRAME definition that is internally generated.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

bordercolor

Sets the border color of the frame set.

Optional

#FF0000

#00FF00

#0000FF

#FFFFFF

#808080

#000000

marginheight

Defines top and bottom margin height. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

marginwidth

Defines left and right margin width. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  

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"Content" Frame: MFWPCONTENT

This is the frame in which content is started that is selected from the functions area.

Basic
resizable

Decision if the user is able to resize the frame. This property must be in synch with the definition in the "neighbour frames". If the neighbour frames do not support resizing then it will not be offered to the user as consequence.

Valid values are "true" and "false". Default is "true".

Optional

true

false

withborder

Boolean value defining if the frame has a border on its own. Default is "false".

Optional

true

false

scrolling

Boolean that indicates whether the frame can be scrolled. Default is true.

Optional

true

false

framestyle

Style that is passed to the HTML-FRAME definition that is internally generated.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

bordercolor

Sets the border color of the frame set.

Optional

#FF0000

#00FF00

#0000FF

#FFFFFF

#808080

#000000

marginheight

Defines top and bottom margin height. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

marginwidth

Defines left and right margin width. Value is a pixel value. Default is "0".

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

withownborder

Flag that indicates if started pages show an own border. Default is false.

Optional

true

false

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  

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Filling the MFWPFUNCTIONS Frame Initially: MFWPBOOTSTRAPINFO

The MFWPFUNCTIONS frame can be filled initially by using the bootstrapinfourl property. This property expects an URL to an XML file that represents the initial workplace setup (for example, ../njx<nn>.ear/cisnatural.war/njxdemos/xml/wpdynworkplace.xml).

Have a look at the corresponding XML file:

<mfwpbootstrapinfo
         defaultcontentpage="/HTMLBasedGUI/empty.html"
         workplacestylesheet="../cis/styles/CIS_DEFAULT.css"
         synchtabnavigation="true"
         showdustbin="true"
         withtakeouttopopup="false"
         withcloseallwindowsicon="false"
         mfworkplaceeventlistener="com.softwareag.cis.workplace.MFDefaultEventListener"
         targetnameofresizableleftpart="AVAILABLEACTIVITIES"
         translationproject="tshmfp"
         translationreference="mfworkplace">

  <mfwptopic
         name="System"
         treeclass="WORKPLACETOPIC1ClientTree">

    <mfwpfolder
         name="System"
         draginfo="System"
         opened="true">

      <mfwpopencispage
         name="Login"
         activityurl="/cisnatural/NatLogon.html&amp;xciParameters.natsession=Workplace
                      &amp;xciParameters.natparam=stack%3D%28LOGON+SYSEXNJX%3BWPLGIN-P%29"
         onlyoneinstance="true"
        followpageswitches="true">
      </mfwpopencispage>

    </mfwpfolder>

  </mfwptopic>

  <mfwptopic
       name="Maintain Workplace"
       treeclass="WORKPLACETOPIC1ClientTree">

    <mfwpopencispage
       name="Maintain Function Tree"
       activityurl="/cisnatural/NatLogon.html&amp;xciParameters.natsession=Workplace
                    &amp;xciParameters.natparam=stack%3D%28LOGON+SYSEXNJX%3BWPFUNC-P%29"
       onlyoneinstance="true"
       followpageswitches="true">
    </mfwpopencispage>

    <mfwpopencispage
       name="Maintain Content Pages"
       activityurl="/cisnatural/NatLogon.html&amp;xciParameters.natsession=Workplace
                    &amp;xciParameters.natparam=stack%3D%28LOGON+SYSEXNJX%3BWPCONT-P%29"
       onlyoneinstance="true"
       followpageswitches="true">
    </mfwpopencispage>

  </mfwptopic>

</mfwpbootstrapinfo>

Note:
To make sure that you are using a proper bootstrapinfo.xml file, use the XML Schema editor.xsd (and all corresponding XSD files) to validate your XML file (for example, in XMLSpy).

Overview of the bootstrapinfo hierarchy:

<mfwpbootstrapinfo>         // root tag
    <mfwptopic>             // new topic
       <mfwpfolder>         // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeFolder
       <mfwpopencispage>    // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeCISPage
       <mfwpopencispopup>   // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeCISPopup
       <mfwpopencistarget>  // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeCISTarget
       <mfwpopenhtmlpage>   // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeHTMLPage
       <mfwpopenhtmlpopup>  // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeHTMLPopup
       <mfwpopenhtmltarget> // MFWorkplaceTreeNodeHTMLTarget

Each of the sublevel tags can contain all sublevel tags as subnodes, including itself.

The following topics are covered below:

MFWPBOOTSTRAPINFO Properties

Basic
defaultcontentpage

The workplace consists out of several frames, one of it the content frame. If there is no active activity in the workplace then the defaultContentPage is displayed inside the content frame. You can use this in two ways:

(1) Either create one "background page" which always is shown in an "empty" workplace.

(2) Or create one "background page" which the workplace opens by default. E.g. you want in a start-workplace to first present to the user a logon page.

EXAMPLE: "/HTMLBasedGUI/empty.html"

Optional  
workplacestylesheet

The stlye sheet which is used for the left and top frame of the workplace. If no style sheet is specified then the workplace adapts to the standard style sheet which is kept in the CISsession context. You typically want to use one fix child for a workplace - because the workplace is typically embedded in some other frames arranging some graphics/etc. around, and you do not want the workplace colour's to change independent from this.

EXAMPLE: "/cis/styles/XYZ_STLYE.css"

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

translationproject

Name of the project where the actual used multilanguage file is located.

e.g. cisdemos

Optional  
translationreference

Name of the multilanguage .csv file.

e.g. test

(if the file test.csv should be used)

Optional  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
mfworkplaceeventlistener

Use this interface to react on workplace events.

(1) Create an implementation of this interface

(2) Use method MFWorkplaceInfo.registerMFWorkplaceEventListener to register your class

(3) Use method NODEInfo.setDropInfo on each tree item to be able to drag that item

Step two and three are typically done within the "bootstrap info provider"-class

A CISworkplace is a certain arrangement of frames in a multi frame page. The "functions"-frame (MFWPFUNCTIONS) holds the available functions to be selected by the user (click with the left mouse Button). In addition you can provide for right mouse button menu or drag and drop within the function tree. With that you may allow users to add/remove/shift menu items (personalization).

Optional  
targetnameofresizableleftpart

The workplace may contain a favourite list. At the bottom of the favourite list there are some items by which you can influence the size of the corresponding left part of the workplace. The name of the target frame to be resized is passed with this method.

Optional  
View
showdustbin

Flag that indicates wether the dustbin (have a look at the DEMO WORKPLACE) is shown or not.

Boolean value, default is false.

Optional

true

false

synchtabnavigation

Set flag that decides if the tree "on the left" is synchronized with the tab navigation "on the top". If the user selects an opened activity in the tab strip then the corresponsding tree node and topic is shown as consequence.

Pay attention: the base of the synchronization is the naming of nodes. There is currently no naming concept beyond (that e.g. assigns ids to nodes). Make sure, your tree nodes are set in a way that each one holds a unique name. Use the tabText (setTabText) in order to make nodes unique!

true ==> synchronization is done; false ==> synchronization is not done;

default is false.

Optional

true

false

withcloseallwindowsicon

Flag that indicates whether the CloseAllWindowsIcon is shown in the workplace or not.

Boolean value, default is false.

Optional

true

false

withtakeouttopopup

Flag that indicates

Optional

true

false

MFWPTOPIC Properties

Basic
name

Text of the topic.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
buttonstyle

Style info that is passed to the button representing the topic.

Optional  
iconurl

The button that represents this topic may have an additional icon in front of the text. Use this parameter to set the icon URL.

Optional  
treestyle

Background style for the tree. You can e.g. define background colors and background pictures. Avoid the usage of ' and " characters.

Please also have a look onto the method "setStyleClass" - via this method you can pass a reference to a CSS class.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

treeclass

Sets the style class for rendering the tree area of the topic. There are 10 standard style classes available in the default style sheet: PLACETOPIC1ClientTree to WORKPLACETOPIC10ClientTree. These style sheets can be maintained within the CISstyle sheet editor.

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

MFWPFOLDER Properties

Basic
name

Text of the tree node folder.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
opened

Flag that indicates whether the folder is opened or not.

Boolean value

Optional

true

false

tooltip

Text of the tooltip of the tree node folder.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

MFWPOPENCISPAGE Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node. You can append parameters to the URL by appending them via "andamp;param1=value1andamp;param2=value2"

Obligatory  
followpageswitches

If the user navigates inside the called page (e.g. switches from one page to the other) then this navigation is registered. True means:

when reinvoking the page through the tree then the user come back exactly to the page where he/she stayed. False means: the user id brought back to the starting page always.

Obligatory  
onlyoneinstance

A page with the corresponding text is only started once inside the workplace. If the page already exists no new pages is started but the existing one is picked.

Obligatory

true

false

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text. The workplace iself is running in project "HTMLBasedGUI" - you have to go up first "../" to address your icons.

Optional  
tooltip

Text of the tooltip of the tree node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

MFWPOPENCISPOPUP Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node. You can append parameters to the URL by appending them via "andamp;param1=value1andamp;param2=value2"

Obligatory  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text. Must start with "../project".

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of tooltip.

Optional  
width

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (width)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

height

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (height)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

left

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (left)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

top

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (top)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

MFWPOPENCISTARGET Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node. You can append parameters to the URL by appending them via "andamp;param1=value1andamp;param2=value2".

Obligatory  
target

Name of the target Frame in which the CIS page is going to be opened.

During workplace definition each frame you define gets assigned a target-id.

Obligatory  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text. Must start with "../project".

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

MFWPOPENHTMLPAGE Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Optional  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node.

Optional  
onlyoneinstance

A page with the corresponding text is only started once inside the workplace. If the page already exists no new pages is started but the existing one is picked.

Optional

true

false

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text. Must start with "../project"

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

MFWPOPENHTMLPOPUP Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Optional  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node.

Obligatory  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text. Must start with "../project"

Optional  
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  
width

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (width)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

height

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (height)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

left

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (left)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

top

Set the dimension of the popup in pixels. (top)

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

MFWPOPENHTMLTARGET Properties

Basic
name

Text of the node.

Obligatory  
textid

Multi language dependent text that is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Optional  
activityurl

URL to be started when user clicks on node.

Obligatory  
target

Name of the target Frame in which the HTML Page is going to be opened.

When defining a workplace page you assign a target-id per frame.

Obligatory  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
iconurl

URL for the icon in front of the text Must start with "../project".

Optional  
draginfo

Any information that is useful to react on a drop event. Characters ' and \ are not allowed.

Optional  
tooltip

Tooltip of the node.

Optional  
tooltipid

Text ID of the tooltip.

Optional  

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Session Management inside the Workplace

When the user selects functions in the MFWPFUNCTIONS frame, then pages are opened in the content frame, or as popups or in a named target frame.

The workplace offers a "multi document interface" - i.e. you can work in parallel in several activities and you can switch between these activities. This structure is reflected in the server-side session structure. The section Details on Session Management in the Special Development Topics (which is part of the Application Designer documentation) explains this in a detailed way. However, some information is given below.

The session management of Application Designer knows sessions (typically representing a browser instance) and subsessions (reflecting a user activity with a defined life cycle). A session contains one or more subsessions. Inside one subsession, the adapter object are kept which are required by a page or a page sequence. Subsessions are isolated from one another.

The workplace proceeds in the following way:

When programming content pages, you do not notice the session management: every page that you design and test in the Layout Painter behaves in the same way in the workplace. Due to the separation into subsessions, you are not aware of "neighboring" subsessions.

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Workplace API for Dynamic Manipulation

Internally, the workplace is started when the workplace frameset page is loaded. So far you got to know the framework to set up the workplace by providing a MFWPBOOTSTRAPINFO file.

But you can also dynamically manipulate the workplace. There are two typical usages:

For this purpose, there is a set of controls containing the workplace functions that you can use from your application:

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