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This chapter provides an overview of the most important concepts in the Servoy patform
Concept | Basic Description |
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Solution | A Solution is a single application that can be run in any of the Servoy Clients. It contains forms, business logic and datalayer definitions. |
Modules | A Module is solution that is contained within another Solution. |
Form | A Form is an object that provides a UI and/or contains business logic. The UI of a Form is built up of Form Parts, which in turn contain Elements. |
Abstract Form | An Abstract Form is a Form that does not implement any Form Parts and as such can not be shown to the user, but can contain business logic and can act as a Super Form for Child Forms |
Super Form | A Form that is used as a Parent for a Child Form through inheritance |
Parent Form | Alias for Super Form |
Child Form | A Form that extends another Form through inheritance |
Form Parts | Horizontal bands on the Form that together make up the vertical dimensions of a Form, like a header, body and footer. |
Form View | The 'view' mode of the Form. There are three modes available:
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Element | A UI widget that can be placed on a Form, like a Field, button, Label or TabPanel for example |
Container | A Element that can contain another another Form, like a TabPanel or SplitPane |
Bean | A UI widget that is not a core Element in Servoy, but a drop in extension to the built-in list of Elements |
UI | UI is short for User Interface. In Servoy a UI is provided by Forms with their Form Parts which contain Elements |
Media | A file object, usually images. |
Media Library | The library in which Media's are stored. |
Inheritance | The mechanism of creating new Forms (Child Form) that extending existing Forms (Super or Parent Form). |
Business Logic | The logic written by developers in JavaScript |
JavaScript | The scripting language used in Servoy to write business logic |
Scripting Layer | The virtual layer in the Solution where all the execution of business logic takes place |
Scripting API | The predefined set of functions by Servoy to facilitate common actions, for example the API of all the datalayer components for easy datamanipulation |
Plugin | A drop-in extension to the Scripting API |
Function | A single bit of executable logic in JavaScript |
Method | A JavaScript function that is tied to an object is called a method of that object |
Variable | A named property that can contain a value |
Scope | A JavaScript execution context within the Solution. A scope contains variables and functions. When the functions get executed, they are executed |
within that scope. Within Servoy there are a few types of scopes:
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Globals | The default top-level scripting scope inside a Solution or a Module. |
Datalayer | The exposed objects in the Form scopes that are tied to columns and tables in the database. |
Datasource | A datasource is the identifier for an external source of tabular data, in most cases a table from a database. |
Dataprovider | A named property that contains data. The property can be tied to a element in the UI or can be interacted with in scripting.
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Relation | A object from the datalayer that provides the link from one datasource to another, based on one or more matches between the dataproviders in the datasource and an operator |
ValueList | An object from the datalayer that is used in the UI to provide selection lists and translations of internal values to display values |
FoundSet | A FoundSet is a represention of a datasource as an object in the Solution. Each record from the datasource is contained in the FoundSet as a Record, making the FoundSet a collection of Records. |
Record | A Record is a representation of a record in a datasource as an object in the Solution. Records are contained in FoundSets |
DataSet | A DataSet is an object with inmemory |
Calculation | A dataprovider on datasource level, who's value is calculated by business logic and is exposed as a dataprovider on each Record in Foundsets based on the datasource |
Unstored Calculation | A calculation that is not stored in the external source behind the datasource |
Stored Calculation | A calculation that is stored in the external source behind the datasource. Calculations automatically become Stored Calculations if defined with the same name as one of the columns in the external source of data behind a datasource |
Aggregation | A dataprovider that is an aggregation of a column in the datasource |
Databroadcasting | The automated mechanism of Servoy to notify Servoy Clients that have data in memory to update their cache if the data was altered by another ServoyClient |
TableFilters | The facility in Servoy to set a filter on a datasource, after which Servoy will automatically apply the filter to all interaction with that datasource |
Designtime | Designtime refers to everything the developer creates inside Servoy Developer that becomes part of the Solution. These are the Forms, the business logic written, the datalayer definitions etc. |
Runtime | Runtime refers to everything that happens while a Solution is running in a Servoy Client |
SolutionModel | The scripting API that allows developers to modify the design of the Solution at runtime |
ClientDesign | The mode in which a form can be set that allows user to resize and rearrange the Elements on the Form |
Internationalization | The act of and tools for adding multi language and multi timezone support to a Solutions |
i18n | Short for Internationalization |
Smart Client | A native Servoy Client that automatically installs and updated itself on the client machine |
Web Client | A browser based, fully Ajax aware Servoy Client, that executes all it's business logic on the Servoy Application Server, while rendering the UI using just HTML and CSS in a browserNG |
NG Client | A browser-based application of which the UI is rendered in the browser using pure HTML, CSS and a bit of JavaScript for event handling and communication with the Servoy Application Server (HTML5, CSS3 and websockets communication is used). The business logic of the Solution that is running in the NGClient is executed on the Application Server for security reasons: the code of the business logic is not exposed in the webpage markup. |
Headless Client | A Servoy Client that has no UI attached to it and runs on the Application Server and provides a Java API for interacting with all the business logic and forms contained in the Solution it runs |
Batch Processor | A Headless Client that is configured on the Servoy Application Server to automatically start when the Application Server is launched |