Intro to Servoy Concepts

Some concepts in Servoy are described below.

Solutions

A solution is a single application containing forms, methods, variables, and other items built in Servoy Developer.

Solutions can stand alone, or they may also be a module. A module is a solution that is part of another solution.  You can specify a solution to be a module, but it is not required to use a solution as a module.

Table

A table is a preset format of rows (records) and columns (fields) that defines a store of information in a relational database. Data from created or pre-existing tables can be used by one or more forms in a Servoy solution.

Form

A form is the Servoy object that is used to edit, view, modify, insert, find and delete data. Forms can contain fields, labels, graphics, tabpanels, lines, buttons, portals and shapes - each of which has its own set of design time commands, events and properties.

Forms can also have methods and variables attributed to them, making form a unit of scope in Servoy programming. This means forms can have methods and variables that are within the scope of the form only. Inherited forms can also have methods and variables that are inherited from the parent form as well.

Form Element

A form element is a Servoy object that can be placed on a form for a purpose. Form elements include:

• Label - Text that can appear on a form; normally static but can be derived at runtime, cannot be changed or copied by the end user.
• Field - An element connected to a dataprovider; can be edited and selected by the end user and has many display types (text, radio buttons)
• Button - Special type of label preformatted to look like a clickable object on a form, normally tied to a method.
• Lines and shapes - various drawing objects that can be dropped on a form for aesthetics and UI design
• Portal - object that shows related data in a one to many relationship in fields.
• Tabpanel - an object that allows multiple forms to be displayed in a form.  Additional forms can be added through a relationship (thereby showing related data) or as an unrelated form.
• Beans - a Java Bean can be added to a form, extending the functionality of the user interface in Servoy. A Java API is available to write beans that can be used in Servoy.

Dataproviders

A dataprovider manages information. Dataproviders are not only database columns, but also include calculations, aggregations, global variables, and form variables.

Methods

Servoy's scripting engine uses methods to identify code that belongs together. A Servoy method is essentially the same as a JavaScript function. It is a grouping of code in a single unit used to perform various tasks in Servoy. A method can call other methods, set runtime properties for Servoy form elements, and call functions available in the scripting libraries.

Functions

A function in Servoy is the same as a method. It is a JavaScript function and is seen as the first line in a method call as in the sample below.

 function onActionAdd(event) 

All of the methods written in Servoy will begin with the word function in the actual .js page they are written in.

Record

A record is mapped to a single row in a SQL database table.

Plugin

A plugin extends the functionality of Servoy by using the Java programming language. Written in Java, they can be accessed in a solution through scripting. Plugins can add additional functions available to the Servoy programmer and can link to resources outside of Servoy. An API is available to write plugins for Servoy.