Timeline

1. Logging in
2. Session Tracking
   • How to store? Files? database?
3. Database / Table creation
4. Table design
   • What features should be supported on each field (ie format for dates)
   • Should there be some abstraction layer between a table and it’s corresponding table in the RDBMS?
   • How to implement this abstraction layer?
   • What fields/values should a post contain during an update/add/delete
5. Table modification
   • How should tables be viewed?
     • One record at a time?
     • Multiple lines?
     • Chosen at table design time?
     • Must use a form, which
   • How should they be navigated?
     • Load many records, navigate using client script?
     • Load on record at a time, navigate by server script?
6. Form design
   • What properties does a form need?
   • What properties does a form-element need?
   • How shall form elements be saved?
     • html text?
     • database records?
     • xml files?
     • combo of some of above?
   • What functions can be made available to the developer to attach to form events?
   • How will records be filtered / ordered / navigated
   • How should Child Forms be implemented?
     • As a Table?
     • As a frame?
     • What if child fieldnames are the same as a parents?
   • How can child forms link with parent forms?
   • When a record in a parent is selected, how will the child filter it’s data?
   • Can forms based on a query be updated? If so, how will that be implemented?
   • Design of form designer
     • How can parts of a form be selected (popupmenus).
     • How will information about each identity (element, table, image) be stored? javascript? hidden inputs? named attributes?
     • Each page element will need an ID. How will these be generated
     • Will every minor change require a re-post?
     • Can changes be pouled and sent all at once?
7. Modularity
   • Can the table designer be opened using the form designer?
   • Can the form designer open the report designer?
8. Report design
   • What properties does a report need?
   • How shall it be designed?
   • What type of methods and events can be triggered?
   • How shall it be saved?
9. Errors: Define standard way of communicating errors to user
   • referential integrity errors
   • server-side errors (updates, queries, posts)
   • client-side errors (jscript errors)
10. Managing binary formats like JPG, PDF, DOC
    • Should all jpg/png files etc used in form design be stored in the database?
    • Should they be left as files? If so, where should they be stored?

consider the following xml file. It is html with extra markup

<page page_id='1'>
<form data_source='darth_field' src_type='table' at_a_time='12' id='darth_field'>
<split type='cols'>
	<split type='rows'>
		<container>
			<h2>Table ""Properties</h2>
			<data_layout type='tabular'><textbox label='Name'/></data_layout>
		</container>
		<spacer type='horizontal'/>
		<container>
			<h2>Field Properties</h2>
			<data_layout type='tabular'>
				<textbox size='16' binding='caption'/>
				<textbox size='16' binding='max_length'/>
				<textbox size='16' binding='format'/>
				<textbox size='16' label='constraint' binding='rule'/>
				<textbox size='16' binding='default'/>
				<checkbox binding='primary_key'/>
				<checkbox binding='indexed'/>
				<checkbox binding='is_unique' label='unique'/>
				<checkbox binding='required'/>
				<textbox binding='lookup' size='16'/>
				<checkbox binding='visible'/>
			</data_layout>
		</container>
	</split>
	<spacer type='vertical'/>
	<data_layout type='columnar'>
		<textbox size='16' binding='field_name'/>
		<combo binding='data_type' data_source='list:;Text;Integer;AutoNumber;Double;DateTime;Boolean;Hyperink;Binary Object'/>
		<textbox size='50' binding='comments'/>
	</data_layout>
</split>
<navigation_bar/>
</form>
<popupmenu id='edit_popup' left='15' top='0'>
	<menuitem text='Delete' onclick='delete_click'/>
	<menuitem text='Insert' onclick='insert_click'/>
	<menuitem text='Move Up' onclick='move_up_click'/>
	<menuitem text='Move Down' onclick='move_down_click'/>
</popupmenu>
</page>