Using Application Preview
Beginning with the January 16, 2012 update of m-Power, developers will now be able to see their applications prior to building them. Throughout the build process, developers can watch their application take shape. Each time a change is made, developers can see the change immediately rather than having to compile the app to see what those changes will look like. This means less time spent building the app, which allows for more time perfecting your app.
Installation
After installing an update on or after January 16, 2012, simply click Apply Update. This is all that is needed to begin using the application preview feature of m-Power. For further information in disabling/enabling application preview, or for information on how to configure the application preview, please see the additional notes section below.
Implementation
The application preview screen has been designed with the developer in mind and as a result is simple to use. For existing applications, when you open the application menu, you will see a preview of the application in the center of the screen as noted below.
If this application has already been compiled, then you will also be able to view the built application by hovering over the Options button in the top right of the application preview pane and selecting built as shown below.
There are several important areas of this upgraded interface screen to take note of. The Options button and the Title area are where the information about the current preview can be located. Preview mode will show the way the app will appear completely unpainted, and is only supported for the Retrieval, Report, and Maintainer templates that ship with m-Power.
Built mode is the exact application that has been built and painted, and is available for every Retrieval, Report and Maintainer that has been compiled.
Users also have the option of turning application preview off for an individual application by selecting ‘Disabled’.
Finally, the number of records displayed in the preview pane can be controlled by selecting one of the “Select Preview Max Records” values.
See the additional notes section below on configuring these values.
Additional Notes
- Application preview can be disabled at either an application level or a data dictionary level. Use the Options button within an individual application to disable preview for that app. To disable preview at a dictionary level, navigate to Admin ->Edit Data Dictionary Files->Dictionary Configuration. On this screen, click the Application Properties icon (
) on the toolbar to open the graphical editor. Navigate to the Application Preview Options tab and set the preview_type to “Disabled”. Click OK and save.
- The values under “Select Preview Max Records” can also be customized in the dictionary configuration screen. Navigate to Admin->Edit Data Dictionary Files->Dictionary Configuration and then click the Application Properties icon (
) on the toolbar to open the graphical editor. Navigate to the Application Preview Options tab. The five values listed under preview_max_rows_X can be customized as desired.
- If after installing the m-Power updated, the following error is seen, please be sure to click Apply update, found by navigating to Admin->Version & Software Update.
- Developers will no longer have to wonder whether or not an application has previously been compiled. Now, when an application has not been compiled, several buttons that depend upon a compiled application are disabled, including “Execute”, “Presentation”, and “Properties”.
Once the application has been compiled, however, these buttons can be used to further customize your application as desired. - Most elements of the application will be displayed as expected within the preview pane, however certain external objects that require runtime information will not affect the preview pane, such as Row Level Security.
- If sign-on security has been enabled, the user will be given a sign-on screen when viewing the built application. This will allow the developer to sign in to view the built application; however, no other interaction between the user and the preview pane is allowed.
- Application preview is not available for summaries or some special templates.
- This new application preview screen replaces the old application menu screem.
- The application preview pane is for previewing the application only. Developers cannot interact with the application through the preview pane. To fully interact with the application, developers will still need to click the "Execute" button.