ApplinX uses the Software AG Designer, sharing the same development environment as other Software AG products (such as Centrasite, WS-Stack and EntireX). Using the common Software AG Designer, information can be viewed in standard Eclipse viewers such as the Console, Properties and Error Logs and enables direct integration with JSP Web Applications for ApplinX.
ApplinX has been integrated with Software AG webMethods Suite Components and Products and uses the following common packages:
Software AG common Java package (based on JDK 1.5)
Software AG common Tomcat package (based on Tomcat 5.5)
Software AG common Eclipse package (based on Eclipse 3.3)
Software AG common Web Services Stack
CentraSite integration for web services:
Registering ApplinX web services in CentraSite using JAXR Protocol.
Importing web service definitions from CentraSite to ApplinX external web services.
The new ApplinX designer, now placed in the familiar Eclipse environment and is based on Eclipse standards. The designer replaces most of the functionality that was available in the ApplinX Administrator in previous ApplinX versions. The ApplinX user interface has greatly improved as many of the processes are based on Eclipse standard components: Eclipse standard wizards for new applications, host, entity creation, Web Application Manager, Deployment Manager for J2EE and more, standard properties dialog boxes for ApplinX Server, ApplinX Host, ApplinX Application and more, Eclipse visual editors for ApplinX entities (such as Screen, Path/Flow/Program Procedure, Connection pool, Connection Information Set). Using the built-in HTML preview, it is possible to view the original host screen, as HTML, with transformations and patterns (such as windows and host keys).
Session improvements include:
Opening more than one session connection in parallel.
The look and feel of the emulation session has been greatly improved.
ApplinX provides the ability to have several session definitions and to run them in parallel (improving development time). There is a variety of connection types (online, offline (using trace files) or connection pool), are configured within the session definitions.
ApplinX now distinguishes between exporting just the entities (a gxz file is exported) to exporting the application configuration with/without entities (gxar file), together with trace files. The import process of gxar files can be via the Import wizard or "Hot deploy" method, placing the gxar file in the relevant directory.
The Application Map feature has been greatly improved. When enabled (by default), the Map is recorded at all times, creating a single map per application. The Map view is a group of thumbnails of the host screen images captured during the recording time and displays the steps between the different screens. Each step in the map is a part of the screen from which it originates. These steps have a status of pending/approved/not approved which indicates to the map whether these steps should be used for navigation. Additional steps can be added manually via the relevant screen in the screen editor. All Map paths from previous versions will be converted and merged to the new Application Map
The Procedures' Panel has been redesigned. A functions pallet enables displaying the procedure nodes by subject. The nodes can be dragged and dropped to relevant place within the procedure.
A new “step” node has been added to the Path procedure, simplifying the usage of the procedure expressions
The procedures can be debugged using the Eclipse debugger tool. The debugging process is displayed in the ApplinX Console, and the variables are displayed in a dedicated view. When debugging Path Procedures, the procedure can be followed in the Session Viewer.
Path procedures completely replace the previous version’s Paths. To edit Paths created in previous ApplinX versions you are required to convert these Paths to the new Path Procedures using the conversion tool (right-click on a Path and select Convert).
Note:
Old Paths are still supported in runtime, but cannot be edited or
changed.
The External web service entity is a new entity which contains External Web Service Procedures. When importing External web services, this new entity will be created and will contain the procedures. External Web Services are exposed directly via Flow Procedures and can no longer be assigned to a procedure group and then exposed as an ApplinX web service.
Software AG Web Services Stack (WSS) ver. 8.0 is a toolkit that provides functionality for execution, configuration and management of web services. It handles the complex process of sending and receiving of web services requests in Software AG products. It allows everyone to do web services while knowing only a few of the details about the web services specifications.
The core part of the WSS runtime is the SOAP engine, based on Apache Axis2. Incoming SOAP requests are processed by this SOAP engine. The SOAP request is given to the SOAP Runtime and sent back to the client as a SOAP response message. If an error occurs a SOAP fault message is sent back to the client.
ApplinX and other products in the webMethods suite use WS-Stack for exposing and deploying web services. Refer to Integration between ApplinX and WS-Stack for further details.
Screen based tables: screen based tables are now created from within the Screen entity (in the Tables tab) as they are logically part of the screen.
Path based tables have been replaced by Path Procedures. Previously existing Path based tables are now deprecated and supported only in runtime. Collection of complicated data structures such as multiple tables and data collected from several screens can now be executed using the ApplinX Base Object/web applications using the ExecuteProcedure method (instead of using ExecutePath, which returns the screen collection).
The Connection Information Set is now managed as an independent entity and can therefore be created, accessed and edited as any other ApplinX entity. Defining and configuring Connection Information Sets using the entity Editor is now simpler and more intuitive.
Partial page rendering using AJAX: ApplinX enables redrawing part of a page rather than reloading the entire page. This improves the application performance and also offers users direct feedback when actions are performed. This is typically used for Paging, Sorting, Collecting aggregated data from a few screens into the same web page.
Web Application templates (SAG standard, Business, Travel etc). Built in templates can be incorporated within any Web application which you create as part of the process of creating a Web application.
Host-Web synchronization using AJAX
ApplinX now partially supports Visual Studio .NET 2008/.NET 3.0/3.5 environment (runtime). The plug-ins are not supported yet.
.NET Web pages are now generated from the ApplinX .NET add-in (previously this was done from the ApplinX Administrator).
As ApplinX is developed within the Eclipse environment, when working with JSP projects, entities such as Screens or Procedure Clients are now generated directly into the relevant project.
You can open an HTTP Instant session from within the ApplinX Designer, to simulate Web enablement solutions and view transformations.
The new Deployment Manager for J2EE simplifies the deployment process, enabling you to package a web archive (WAR) of ApplinX Server or of the JSP Web Application or both. The Deployment Manager supports standard Application servers such as Apache Tomcat, IBM WebSphere, Web Logic and JBoss.
In the Printlet, we now support silent printing. Set the specific printer device parameter printer_device to "<default>".
A number of terms have changed in the new release:
“Business entity” has changed to “Data structure”
“Host Service” has changed to “Connection Pool”
“Composer” node has changed to “ApplinX Designer”
“Framework” has changed to “Web Application”
Demo applications are now provided as read only applications (gxz files). To select a database to be used as the repository refer to the Repository section.
Printer Applet support within the Designer: Printer session definitions, which are defined in the Designer, enable defining the printer applet parameters. This are typically used to test the printing jobs in design time.
Keyboard Mapping: Keyboard mappings defined in the Designer, (within the Application Configuration), are implemented also in the framework (replacing the keyboard mapping configuration in the framework configuration editor). Changes to the keyboard mappings can also be made in the xml file.
Improvement in multiple users working on the same application. These improvements have been made in conflicting scenarios where, for example, more than one developer edits the application properties or a specific entity.
Database configuration is now simple and intuitive. The Test Connection button enables testing the connectivity to the database.
Finding and looking up an entity is done using Eclipse's standard Open dialog box, enabling simple and fast looking up of entities.
The process of converting a read-only repository to a database has been simplified. At the end of the process, the database is imported.
It is possible to copy/show WSDL and web services from within the Designer.
Dragging and dropping entities within an application: It is possible to drag and drop entities from folder to folder within a single application.
Functionality has been improved when performing multiple user interface actions in parallel.
The SabraFood demo will no longer be provided with the installation.
