Iron Speed Designer utilizes a simple set of XML-based code generation tags that let you quickly create n-tier web applications. Code generation tags specify the database-connected tables, fields, filters, and other controls you want in your application. Using any text or HTML editor, simply place these code generation tags in your HTML layout pages at the locations where you wish the controls to appear. From there, these code generation tags instruct Iron Speed Designer what to generate. The following illustration shows several code generation tags placed at desired locations within an HTML layout page.
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Code generation tags instruct Iron Speed Designer which components to generate. This example shows how complex pages are constructed in ordinary HTML with simple declarative code generation tags positioned where you wish databound components to be generated. |
Using code generation tags you can:
Add any number of database-connected components to a web page, including tables, records, fields, and filters. You can create pages of any sophistication and layout.
Change the look-and-feel of the generated components, including colors, fonts and other stylistic elements.
Create composite components using pre-existing components.
Create component and page templates that can be applied to any number of pages in your application.
Once code generation tags are placed in a web page, the Iron Speed Designer prompts you for the information required to connect the controls to the underlying databases and to set other application generation parameters. You do not need to know SQL or be a programmer to create sophisticated web applications using code generation tags.
When you build your application, Iron Speed Designer replaces the code generation tags with web controls to produce ready-to-use ASPX pages. The code generation tags are stripped out of the final generated ASPX pages, and replaced by corresponding web controls, code-behind logic, and transaction management code. This also means that the code generation tags have no run-time effect on your application because they are not present in the application. Your application runs completely independent of Iron Speed Designer; there is no residual presence from Iron Speed Designer left in your application, i.e., no special interpreted languages or 4GL’s.
The code generation tags are divided into these groups:
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Field Display Tags |
Record Tags |
Table Tags |
Table Component Tags |
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FieldLabel |
Record |
Table |
FieldStatistics |
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Filter Tags |
Layout Tags |
Button Tags |
Grouping and Iteration Tags |
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CategoryFilter |
HTML |
ImageButton |
ForEach |
Because code generation tags are simple XML statements, you can use any HTML editor to add code generation tags to any new or existing HTML layout page. Your HTML editor and web browser will ignore the code generation tags for display purposes, allowing you to view the pages without seeing the code generation tag.
Code generation tags are very easy to use:
Code generation tags are designed to be used by web designers – the graphic artists who design the creative layout of your web pages – without requiring them to become programmers or learn any new language. Code generation tags are very straightforward, and use standard XML syntax which HTML and your web browser easily accommodate. A web designer can drop a code generation tag into a web page specifying only the tag type and name. There are no additional parameters to learn or program.
Code generation tags do not specify database binding. Iron Speed Designer uses the data binding properties you set in the Page Properties dialog to generate the page component specified by each code generation tag. Thus, web designers can focus on layout without worrying about how to connect the components to the database.
You don’t have to learn how to program SQL. Unlike many scripting languages, code generation tags aren’t SQL queries, so neither the developer nor the web designer need learn the SQL language. Iron Speed Designer generates all of the SQL queries for you, using the information gathered about each of the code generation tags, generally from your direct input in Iron Speed Designer.
The specifics of each individual code generation tag are discussed elsewhere in more detail.
