This document covers the following topics:
Development Workplace
The development workplace is a browser-based development environment.
In the workplace, you can create, edit and run layouts using the different
tools which help you maintain these layout definitions. From within the
workplace, you can also access demo applications and documentation. For more
information, see the Development
Workplace documentation.
Eclipse Plug-in
For the development of layouts in an Eclipse environment, the Eclipse
plug-in Ajax Developer is available. It supports the major features from the
development workplace in an Eclipse environment. For more information, see the
Ajax
Developer documentation.
The most important tools that are used for the development tasks are briefly described below.
Layout Painter
The Layout Painter is an Application Designer server application, which means that the
editor runs in the browser or Eclipse
and the application logic runs inside the Application Designer server. In the Layout Painter, you
specify the layout of your pages using an XML tree. An active WYSIWYG preview
is provided in which you can test your applications.
Detailed information is provided in:
Layout Painter in the Development Workplace documentation.
Layout Painter in the Ajax Developer documentation.
Layout Manager
While the Layout Painter allows you to edit one layout definition, the
Layout Manager allows you to manage all layout definitions of a project. Mass
operations like regeneration of all intelligent HTML pages of a selected
project can be done with this tool.
For detailed information, see Layout Manager in the Development Workplace documentation.
Code Assistant
The Code Assistant - like the Layout Painter - is an Application Designer server
application and runs inside the browser or
Eclipse. You use its code generator to speed up development of Java
adapter classes. All set/get methods of referenced properties can be generated
easily using this tool. The Code Assistant is integrated in the Layout Painter.
Detailed information is provided in:
Using the Code Assistant in the Development Workplace documentation.
Using the Code Assistant in the Ajax Developer documentation.
Literal Assistant
Optionally, you can define all literals inside a page layout - the
"text IDs". The text for a text ID is derived from the multi
language management at runtime. The Literal Assistant is a tool for editing and
translating these literals. It is integrated in the Layout Painter.
Detailed information is provided in:
Using the Literal Assistant in the Development Workplace documentation.
Using the Literal Assistant in the Ajax Developer documentation.
Style Sheet Editor
All controls that are contained inside the Application Designer control library are
rendered using a style sheet. Application Designer delivers a variety of predefined styles but
also allows you to generate custom styles sheets. To simplify the creation of
custom style sheets, the Style Sheet Editor is available. With this tool, you
can both define the very basic style elements (main colors to be used) as well
as change the style definitions of the controls on the lowest level.
Detailed information is provided in:
Style Sheet Editor in the Development Workplace documentation.
Style Sheet Editor in the Ajax Developer documentation.
WAR Packager
To deliver your web applications built with Application Designer, you need to create
a web archive (.war file). This file is either created by
tools you might select from your development environment or by the WAR
Packager: You can create the .war file automatically,
using an easy-to-use graphical user interface.
For detailed information, see WAR Packager in the Development Workplace documentation.
You can use a standard Java development environment to develop the adapter classes for your layouts. The Ajax Developer plug-in provides extended support for Eclipse (open source), which is one of the most popular Java IDEs. For detailed information, see the Ajax Developer documentation.
Alternatively, you can also use different Java development environments such NetBeans (open source) and JBuilder. However, Application Designer does not provide any enhanced support for these environments as it does for Eclipse.
Depending on the functional capabilities, you can also use the development environment for remote debugging. If your development environment does not provide a remote debugger, you can use other debugging tools such as the JSwat debugger. See Appendix F - Using JSwat for Debugging.
