I am in the process of creating a Web Component "ONLY" app to be used on the desktop or intranet without the use of the WAS. At this point I am using a Tabbed User Interface as the home page or menu which consists of buttons to open individual grids and dialogs as well as one or more images.
I installed RT and the A5 Dev on a spare computer on my home network. I opened up the A5RT and, walla, I was able to open and run the app on puter2 from puter1 as well as run the app on puter1, from puter1.
I have fund there are many, may advantages of using web components on what one might call the Web Component Desktop. This is a partial list of what I've discovered thus far:
1) All your web components can be used with the web and mobile. Other than perhaps a few minor changes, you're good to go.
2) Grids and dialogs are so much richer looking, in some case almost 3D.
3) There are many more styles to choose from than what's available on the DT. And, you can modify them or create your own.
4) Using check boxes to invoke If/Then/Else is ver easy to do.
5) Grids an be nested within grids
6) Grids can be embedded within dialogs
7) Single fields in a table can be used as a repeating section on a grid and new rows can be added and removed by a simple click
8) Lookups can be done on dbf tables and Sql tables, the genies are very easy to use.
9) Creating a progressive search in the DT is much more cumbersome and time consuming. Simply checking the search part checkbox on a grid setup and then selecting the fields is nearly all that has to be done. It is a bit different but just as easy.
10) Over the years, many have asked for a way to show totals at the bottom of a browse and finally a way was developed to put the totals in a separate field along side the browse. With a grid, simply check a couple of checkboxes and walla, there it is. Much quicker, neater and professional looking.
I suspect that when Alpha first came out with the "develop once, deploy all" slogan, this was not what they had in mind but rather using web components on forms, etc. The more I worked with this I quickly saw that by using a TUI as the opening page/screen/menu, there would be no need for forms or browses. Some of my questions were answered by Marcel and when he saw we both were working towards the same goal, he suggested we 'hook-up'. No doubt there are others who have discovered this new venue.
I closing, if you haven thought of creating a Web Component Desktop, start to explore and let you imagination run wild. I believe you will come away with the same enthusiasm as Marcel and I. One additional side note, The WCD seems to be more stable that the regular DT. At least I've not had to do a compact to remove excess files when something that was working, quit working. You really owe it to yourself to explore Alpha's best kept secret. You just might never want to go back to the 'old' DT.
P.S.
I've tried to upload a couple of snap shots but for some reason they will not upload even though they are small .jpg files. I'll see if I can't find another way to get it done.
I installed RT and the A5 Dev on a spare computer on my home network. I opened up the A5RT and, walla, I was able to open and run the app on puter2 from puter1 as well as run the app on puter1, from puter1.
I have fund there are many, may advantages of using web components on what one might call the Web Component Desktop. This is a partial list of what I've discovered thus far:
1) All your web components can be used with the web and mobile. Other than perhaps a few minor changes, you're good to go.
2) Grids and dialogs are so much richer looking, in some case almost 3D.
3) There are many more styles to choose from than what's available on the DT. And, you can modify them or create your own.
4) Using check boxes to invoke If/Then/Else is ver easy to do.
5) Grids an be nested within grids
6) Grids can be embedded within dialogs
7) Single fields in a table can be used as a repeating section on a grid and new rows can be added and removed by a simple click
8) Lookups can be done on dbf tables and Sql tables, the genies are very easy to use.
9) Creating a progressive search in the DT is much more cumbersome and time consuming. Simply checking the search part checkbox on a grid setup and then selecting the fields is nearly all that has to be done. It is a bit different but just as easy.
10) Over the years, many have asked for a way to show totals at the bottom of a browse and finally a way was developed to put the totals in a separate field along side the browse. With a grid, simply check a couple of checkboxes and walla, there it is. Much quicker, neater and professional looking.
I suspect that when Alpha first came out with the "develop once, deploy all" slogan, this was not what they had in mind but rather using web components on forms, etc. The more I worked with this I quickly saw that by using a TUI as the opening page/screen/menu, there would be no need for forms or browses. Some of my questions were answered by Marcel and when he saw we both were working towards the same goal, he suggested we 'hook-up'. No doubt there are others who have discovered this new venue.
I closing, if you haven thought of creating a Web Component Desktop, start to explore and let you imagination run wild. I believe you will come away with the same enthusiasm as Marcel and I. One additional side note, The WCD seems to be more stable that the regular DT. At least I've not had to do a compact to remove excess files when something that was working, quit working. You really owe it to yourself to explore Alpha's best kept secret. You just might never want to go back to the 'old' DT.
P.S.
I've tried to upload a couple of snap shots but for some reason they will not upload even though they are small .jpg files. I'll see if I can't find another way to get it done.