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Jargon Software uses Device
JavaScript as a key enabling technology inside of their
connected, cross-platform applications. Below you can
read all about the technical approach Jargon used to
employ our ScriptEase
Integrated SDK on
wireless handheld platforms.
Technical
Overview
Applications
written for Jargon Software's Jargon Reader(tm) are
described and distributed as an XML file. The UI layout
and actions performed by the UI elements are embedded
within this XML file. All application functional behaviors
are specified using embedded Nombas Device Javascript
scripts.
Consider the XML source
code for the "Sports 2000 Customer Setup" application,
part of the Jargon Palm
Demo.
The XML document is divided into several sections. Each
of first few sections, delimted by <frame>
tags, contains XML source describing the layout of the
application's UI. The various <label>,
<textfield>, and <button>
tags define the attributes (titles, sizes, and behaviors)
of the elements within the form.
These XML tags define the first row of the customer
information frame of the demo application:
<label name="label0" text="Cust. No.">
<gbc/>
</label>
<textfield name="tCustNum" columns="5">
<gbc gridX="1" rightInset="5"/>
</textfield>
<button name="bDisplay" label="Display"
isSeparated="false">
<gbc gridX="2" gridW="2" bottomInset="2"/>
<ActionEvent taskNames="Display"/>
</button>
The <label> tag describes a field label
("Cust. No."), the <textfield>
tag a editable field (containing the customer number),
and the <button> tag a push-button ("Display").
The button description inclues an <ActionEvent>
tag, which indicates the action to take when the button
is pressed.
The second part of the XML document, delimited by the
<script> tags and written using Nombas'
Device Javascript, contains the application functionality.
The functionality of the "Display" button is specified
by these two functions:
function CallRemoteProc(TranType, CustID) {
rpc.SetRemoteProgram("a5/customers.p");
rpc.SetRemoteProcedure("getcust");
rpc.AddNameValuePair("tCustNum", CustID);
rpc.AddNameValuePair("H-action-type", TranType);
rpc.Execute();
}
...
function Display() {
CallRemoteProc("get", tCustNum.GetText());
}
When user presses the "Display" button, the
Display() JavaScript function is called.
The global tCustNum object, created when
the application is run, represents the frame's customer
number field; calling tCustNum.GetText()
retrieves the value of that field. This is then passed
to CallRemoteProc(), responsible for the
mechanics of the remote procedure call request to the
database server. The end result for the user is that device
retrieves the specified record from the server and displays
it within the Jargon application.
All of this functionality is completely transparent
to the user of the software. Device Javascript runs
exceptionally fast and has minimal system requirements.
For Jargon Software, all of this adds up to a no-compromise
solution for cross-platform, wireless, rapid application
development.
Want
to see more? Download
a free demo of the Jargon Software's product.
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