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Question about using menus and whatnot for web deployment (qooxdoo)

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Tue, 12/27/2011 - 20:30
#1
Rick
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Joined: 12/07/2011
Question about using menus and whatnot for web deployment (qooxdoo)

Vincent et-al,

 

I've been playing with the workspaces a bit but am trying to figure out how to have something that does not look 100% like a full-on desktop application from the get-go.  In my case our app will be used on the web only and it'd be nice to have something similar to the Jspresso home page with links on the left edge that may display static pages and perhaps a series of tabs or pages where one will allow a user to login and get to the underlying jspresso application.  Once in the application, do I have any control over the way the application is rendered by Jspresso -- meaning the use of pull-down menus and the like.. I'm just trying to figure out how customizable the interface will be or will it mostly look like a desktop app 99% of the time with the option to define static pages served up by Tomcat or similar?  I didn't see anything like this referenced in the PDFs (tutorial section anyway).. Thanks and hope the question makes sense..

 

 

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Thu, 12/29/2011 - 10:51
#2
vvandens
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Joined: 05/29/2008
Question about using menus and whatnot for web deployment (qooxd

Hi Rick,

A first option would be to use skinning/theming. Both Qooxdoo and Flex have great support for theming and we've already built some custom themes for customers. However, it does not change the fundamental nature of the underlying components used (a tree component remains a tree component, etc...). You can definitely change the way the frontend looks like but the overall structure remains the same and it would still look like a desktop application.

A second option which is definitely the one I would opt for and that has proved itself very efficient for B2C applications, is do build a complete custom B2C frontend using any technology you (or any web agency) would be comfortable with (JQuery, PHP, ...), and interact with the Jspresso backend using REST web services as discussed in this post. Using Jspresso EE (which is not yet publicly available), it's a kid game to publish any Jspresso based service as a REST web service. You have then the full freedom for the customer frontend(s) (even for mobile devices), using any technology you want and without restraining your UI creativity. So you actually end up with a 2-blades knife :

  • one single backend to handle the business-rules/services/transactions/persistence/...
  • one backoffice frontend used to do all the administrative tasks (reporting, masterdata management, customer management, application house keeping, ...). This one is a Jspresso based UI.
  • one (or multiple) fontoffice frontend that is specifically tailored for web integration and that talks REST to the backend. This one is even very easy to subcontract to any "traditional" web company.

We really believe in using the right tool for the job. Although Jspresso UI can definitely be themed/customized, it is really meant (and efficient) for desktop-like UIs.

 

HTH,

Vincent

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