Web Framework Tour
Now that the web framework is running, here's a brief exposure of some of the major default functionality. Development
is facilitated by the many features of the web framework, and so initial familiarity is a good thing.
Tools
Each page contains a header which is produced from the site theme. The standard theme contains a logo, menu and tools. The tools
are located in the top right and include logout, context-able help link and a link to the about page).
The HTML delivered by the web framework is typically created through an XSL transformation of input XML. The XML for each
page and from each service response is different, and the XSL (in a .page file within the html directory) formats
the input XML to deliver the result HTML. The current page may be edited via ctrl-alt-e as specified as a hotkey within
the administration menu. Similarly, the XML used in construction of the current page can be viewed by using the ctrl-alt-x shortcut.
These tool is quite useful when developing pages. More information on XSL can
be found in the XSL tutorial and more info on .page specifics (XSL as used by the web framework) can be found
in the page tutorial.
Menu
The default menu for the administrator contains only an Administration menu item. The submenu items of Adminstration include
design, development, security and services.
development contains tools relevant to development, including the design manager, menu editor, services and other tools.
- With the design manager it is possible to add and edit pages, html, css and javascript within the browser. Typical development is done within a traditional
editor or IDE, but in page editing can be quite nice for quick fixes or if site development is done remotely.
- Via the menu editor, menu items can be added, maintained and moved. Try it out and see what is possible.
- The
services entry lists all the available services that make up the application. Services are groupings of like functionality, and
may be access either locally (ie during page construction) or remotely. The services tie in directly to the security, so that only
functionality that is permissible may be accessed. More information about services can be found in the
Creating Services tutorial.
security provides management of users, groups, roles and permissions. Security is a central aspect of the web
framework, and the administrator can create users and delegate permissions as required. More detailed information about the security API
can be found in the security tutorial.
settings contains exposed and advanced configuration.
log displays the current log. Watching the application log on the server directly is not always possible or convenient. It is
now with the in application log viewer.