This section describes the runtime ASP.NET custom web controls generated for your UI project and integrated into your Enhanced Web Pages.
Integrated Data-Aware Controls
The Enhanced UI framework uses custom Web controls in order to provide high-performance data-aware controls that automatically move data from the data access layer (the Task objects) to the web page on display. On entry of a web page, any changed data is then set as changed to ensure that any host writes are accurately performed.
The IOBag and IOField Data Layer Objects
The core object used to manage the transfer of information between the task object(s) and the web page is the IOBag object. The IOBag object is a simple wrapper of a collection of IOField objects, which are stored in a Hashtable with FieldID as the key.
All web forms in a Flynet Enhanced UI solution extend the FVPage class (which extends the System.Web.UI.Page class). The FVPage class manages the creation and Session persistence of the IOBag for your forms.
Where's My DataSet Class?
While the DataSet class has been used extensively in Microsoft coding patterns, the performance as well as productivity issues of the DataSet were considered inappropriate for large-scale host interface migrations. In a large-scale host migration, literally hundreds of web pages need to be migrated from their host screen base, with many screens containing over a hundred labels and fields. To ensure user acceptance, the new web pages then must perform with minimal response time differences from the host screens.
Since Typed DataSets provide better productivity (no more text-string data names in web controls) and can exhibit adequate performance if persisted in the session (avoiding per-page class construction), future releases will see increased use of Typed DataSets as an alternative to the IOBag and IOField layer.
Flynet Web Control Advantages
The advantages of the existing framework, with the Flynet Custom Web controls tied to the task objects through the IOBag and IOField objects include:
•Minimal data transfer code is required
•Automatic provision of data changed flags to the Task layer
•A FieldID Enumeration property as well a Selection-based property editor makes it easy and reliable (as well as runtime efficient) to set a web control's target
•Dynamic screen attributes are automatically reflected in a control's CSS class (no coding required). This allows host-driven highlighting to remain useful, such as color-coding values based on range, and so on.
Solution Project Folder and Source Files for Custom Web Controls
The custom controls are generated based on the contents of the c:\program files\flynet\viewer\studio\projtemplates\webcontrols folder.
The custom controls after generation are located in your Visual Studio Solution in the WebControls folder and currently include:
Flynet Development is happy to help any customer needing assistance in implementing a new template for a custom wrapper for any web control, both standard as well as from a commercial control library
