Introduction to the Repository tooling
Most of the repository tooling is provided as GUI for .NET applications along with other maintenance screens of the SmartFramework meta data. Browser based variants are under development.
Additional parts of the repository tooling (especially wizards to generate screen components) are available as a plugin in the Business Entity Designer.
Starting and logging in to the SmartFramework application
Open the SmartComponent Library client application. In the prompted login form please use the following credentials:
User name: | demo or “admin” |
Password: | demo or “password” |
Login company: | Consultingwerk Ltd. (default option) |
In the main menu you will find the “SmartFramework Maintenance”. The menu tree view provides access to the repository tooling in the ”Repository Maintenance” branch of the menu:
Attribute maintenance
In the attribute maintenance developers can define the list of attributes supported for screens and components by the repository. These attributes can be attached to an object type in the object type maintenance.
The Attribute Group is just a logical grouping of attributes and only applies to the Attribute Maintenance screen.
Attribute Label and Technical Name are the displayed names of the attributes.
Description lets you set a description for the Attribute, it’s typically used for instructions for the developer.
The Runtime Only and Virtual options decide when the Attribute is activated.
The Property or Event radio set, defines the attribute type.
The Lookup Type defines the type of the lookup displayed when choosing the value of the attribute in the Object Master Designer Attributes.
Lookup Values will set the options displayed inside the lookup.
Property Type and Repository Type will set the type of the attribute. The repository type defines the data type used in the repository database to store values for this attribute. The technical name and property type are currently not yet used but are reserved for a more dynamic implementation of rendering engines.
Object Type maintenance
The Object Type Maintenance allows developers to define custom repository types on top of the types that we provide with the SmartFramework product component. As described previously we have defined a set of “Meta” components using this tool.
In the Attribute/Events tab you can inspect and modify the list of attributes and events that the object masters and instances of selected type (in this sample the MetaViewer) will provide to developers along with their default values.
The Supported Links tab lets you define and configure which links and their directions (as source or parent) are supported during development and runtime.
The Supported Instance Types tab lets you define what kind of objects are supported in a container like a Viewer or a Form. In our case this will define the valid object type that you can place as instances inside the MetaViewer container.