Art Licensing Manager v3 - EasyData2 Database Model for Xojo
Aug 19, 2015 08:53 PM
Summer Vacations and Thinking
It's been a few months since the last post about converting the Art Licensing Manager to a Xojo Web App. It's been a busy summer between working on projects for clients, going on RV camping trips, and thinking about the best way to convert our FileMaker Runtime to a Xojo Web App. One of my favorite 'work' days this summer was working on the web app from our travel trailer campsite while enjoying the weather.
FileMaker Runtimes Still Listed as Deprecated
The 2015 FileMaker DevCon has come and gone but we've gotten some great news about Runtimes. FileMaker stated on the Community Forums that FileMaker Runtimes will be in the next version of FileMaker. Since FileMaker 14 was released in May 2015 the next version should be available 12 to 16 months later. That gives us plenty of time to complete the conversion. Just to be clear, Runtimes are not deprecated yet, but are on the list to be possibly deprecated.
Database Models Galore
After some conversations, looking at several data models, and a bunch of coding, I think we found a solution. We took EasyData1 that is currently on github and make it easier to work with. It's now very flexible. There are now simple calls that can be used most of the time or the detail calls can be used for complex work. The prior version was all or nothing that made complex work difficult. One of our favorite features of EasyData2 is that it only loads the database fields that you need rather than all of them all of the time.
Showing Promise
It's already starting to look good. EasyData2 can now automatically mask fields like changing text to Title Case. It will be trivial to mask data like phone numbers and zipcodes. We already have ideas for security and navigation. Keep in mind that Xojo Apps are quite a bit different than a FileMaker Database. With Xojo, fields on a Window, WebPage, or a View are are not bound to a database field. You have the power and responsibility to do with it what you will. I think a good an example in FileMaker would be if you created a layout based on table of only global fields. In that scenario, the developer is responsible for prepping the data to be edited, saved, or deleted.
Seeing is Believing
Check out the video below and download the example file. Using techniques like this help to make software for our clients much faster!
More to Come
We'll be posting more as we progress with the Art Licensing Manager 3 conversion from a FileMaker Runtime to a Xojo Web App!
The 2015 FileMaker DevCon has come and gone but we've gotten some great news about Runtimes. FileMaker stated on the Community Forums that FileMaker Runtimes will be in the next version of FileMaker. Since FileMaker 14 was released in May 2015 the next version should be available 12 to 16 months later. That gives us plenty of time to complete the conversion. Just to be clear, Runtimes are not deprecated yet, but are on the list to be possibly deprecated.
Database Models Galore
After some conversations, looking at several data models, and a bunch of coding, I think we found a solution. We took EasyData1 that is currently on github and make it easier to work with. It's now very flexible. There are now simple calls that can be used most of the time or the detail calls can be used for complex work. The prior version was all or nothing that made complex work difficult. One of our favorite features of EasyData2 is that it only loads the database fields that you need rather than all of them all of the time.
Showing Promise
It's already starting to look good. EasyData2 can now automatically mask fields like changing text to Title Case. It will be trivial to mask data like phone numbers and zipcodes. We already have ideas for security and navigation. Keep in mind that Xojo Apps are quite a bit different than a FileMaker Database. With Xojo, fields on a Window, WebPage, or a View are are not bound to a database field. You have the power and responsibility to do with it what you will. I think a good an example in FileMaker would be if you created a layout based on table of only global fields. In that scenario, the developer is responsible for prepping the data to be edited, saved, or deleted.
Seeing is Believing
Check out the video below and download the example file. Using techniques like this help to make software for our clients much faster!
More to Come
We'll be posting more as we progress with the Art Licensing Manager 3 conversion from a FileMaker Runtime to a Xojo Web App!