PowerVista Bridge Builder

• PowerVista BridgeBuilder is the developer interface for PowerVista Bridge.

• The BridgeBuilder is comprised of three main areas:

  • Visual editors for creating and maintaining windows, menus, schemas and application preferences.

  • A text based Resource editor for coding and maintaining application behavior and processing.

  • A complete set of interactive wizards that increase productivity in building your application.

• BridgeBuilder is the vehicle for Regeneratable Styles, a way to quickly build and maintain customized windows for your application.

The BridgeBuilder is used to create PowerVista applications. It outputs files that contain PowerVista Markup Language script (PVML). PowerVista BridgeBuilder is the interface between the developer and the application.

In building any database application, you need four main types of information: a schema that defines the data and relationships between data (the database), a menu for navigation, application preferences, and one or more windows (user interfaces). PowerVista BridgeBuilder is designed with both the novice and the expert developer in mind. It is organized so that any developer can quickly prototype their application and then add complexity to whatever degree is necessary to fulfill the end-user's needs. 

You can also walk-through an example of the Tutorial, or download the Trial Version of PowerVista Bridge to take the Tutorial in an interactive manner.

Use the Create New Project Wizard to quickly start a new project. This wizard uses three easy steps to automate much of the housekeeping involved with starting an application. 

The Project Window is displayed when the Create New Project wizard completes.  This is part of the project window for a version of the Tutorial. 

The project window shows all of the resources that are defined in the file "Project.pvp" (see a text version of a project file in More Examples). Clicking the "+" button to expand the resource to see its filename and include files. The icon in front of each resource indicates its type. The "About" resource is a Window that was not generated using a Style, the CustomerList was generated using a style. The buttons on the top of the window outline the 'normal' steps for developing an application. The first button in the set is for Generating a resource, the second button is for Regenerating an existing resource, the middle button allows adding a blank resource and coding its contents manually. The next button allows you to run your application at any time -- with no compiling of code. It will always show the last saved version of any resource. The last button is the Deployment Wizard, and allows you to "pack" or compile resources and associated files for delivery as a finished application.. Double-clicking on the Resource launches window(s) to edit the resource. If the resource is a window, the graphical layout tool and the text-based resource editor are opened. These are shown below for the CustomerList. There is a specific visual editor for the Menu, the Schema and the Application resource.

The image below is a partial screen shot of the visual editor for a window, showing the CustomerList from the project picture above.

This picture shows bounding box layout for resolution independent display. Controls are enclosed in invisible, elastic boxes that determine control position based on the available window size, pixel size (resolution), font size and control visibility. When any of these parameters changes, the box resizes and redisplays controls. For coordinate layout (layout using specific position parameters), the layout window is used to move control position. The layout window adds and deletes controls, and modifies control propertiess. Right-click on any control to display a property page that lists all the control's properties and their current settings. The visual editors are used for descriptive properties, such color, size, position, etc. To add procedural - Action - properties, use the text-based ResourceEditor. The picture below shows a portion of the screen containing the ResourceEditor for the window above.

 The ResourceEditor is more than just a text editor. It also displays available properties for the context level of the current cursor position, allows selecting from the available defined data variables (rather than having to type the names) and helps with correct formatting by matching code punctuation. Use the navigation panel to jump directly to code for editing. The above picture shows jumping to a Function defintion.

Regeneratable Styles are the fastest way to create an application. The Style Library is a list of the windows that are part of each Style, using the windows will ensure consistent look and behavior for your application. The picture below shows the TutorialStyle.

 When you make a window with a style, you enter information for four steps. First you select data, then you select how the fields will look on the window - how they will be represented. Next, you select buttons and actions from the set the style's author has created. You can also add your own functions and processing. Last, you set window level properties and connect the window to the menu. The Tutorial walk-through shows a picture of each of these steps. 

Once you've generated your window (or used the visual editor to lay it out), you can press the "run" button ont he project window to open your application. All your changes will be displayed, just as your end-user will see them. The Example below shows the CustomerList in the finished application used in the examples above. 

Here is a screen shot of the BridgeBuilder window for the Completed Tutorial Application (installed with PowerVista Bridge Trial Versions from either download or from the CD included with PowerVista Brochures.

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