Technical Overview Index

Overview

Lodi is a patent-pending Java database transaction server and Web-Client Development Kit. It enables you to build ultra-thin (<30kb) database applets or ever so thin Dynamic HTML that is secure and efficient enough to deploy enterprise information on the Internet and Extranets, and in consumer electronics.

What sets Lodi apart from other web application development suites is that Lodi

  • Works with 'best of breed' Java or HTML authoring tools
  • Increases web application developer productivity up to 90%
  • Allows any HTTP device to access web-services from a URL
  • Builds database applets thin and secure enough for Internet
  • Generates Dynamic HTML from reusable (GUI) JavaBeans
  • Utilizes standard Internet protocols to eliminate middle ware
  • Web Services and DataConnectors™ are extensible

Lodi is for Java developers using "best of breed" Java tools for development applications.

In less than fifteen minutes a Java developer can build a 30k database applet or generate Dynamic HTML that securely accesses and update SQL and legacy system databases over the Internet. For Intranet applications, Lodi increases the ability to handle additional applications and users.

Lodi services are implemented as Java Servlets on the web server, offloading clients and making it possible to build extremely thin and secure Internet applications.

Lodi eliminates 90% of the design, development and debugging decisions and work by doing all  the mundane work for you, while offering developers high-level easy to use Java APIs that give you the ability to finish off the applications exactly the way you want to.

Lodi uses standard Internet protocols to perform client-server communications, eliminating the need to install and administer expensive middle ware no matter how large the applications grow.

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Development Environment      (back to index)

Lodi works with and enhances leading 'best of breed' Java development environments, the ones typically found on a Java developer's workbench—the Java IDE and HTML authoring tool.

The first release of Lodi if for IBM VisualAge for Java, Version 2.0 and later.

Lodi is a suite of reusable Java Servlets that get installed on the web server and reused from then on, and the Client Development Kit that helps you build ultra-thin and secure Java or Dynamic HTML.

The Lodi Servlets provide SQL and legacy system data access, generate Dynamic HTML, send emails, manage web states, run calendars with events, and provide remote file services and remote Java method invocation that work on any leading web browser or platform.

The Web Client Development Kit is comprised of pure-Java Rapid Application Development tools and run-time classes that build ultra-thin and secure Java or Dynamic HTML clients.

The RAD tools help you build Lodi Presentation Panels™, which are reusable Graphical User Interfaces to access and update databases connected to the Lodi server.

Presentation Panels encapsulate GUIs in JavaBeans to include in your Java applets, or from which you can generate Dynamic HTML at run-time on the server.

Lodi JavaBeans do everything required to access, insert, update and delete database records automatically, or you can manipulate the data manually through the Lodi APIs. The data controls in Presentation Panels know how to use the Lodi Servlets on the web server to access and update JDBC/ODBC databases, and use other Lodi web services.

You may also use the data-aware Lodi GUI controls and web services in your own applications.

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Application Model      (back to index)

Lodi adheres to the model-view paradigm that segregates the display of information (views) from the business rules that govern the use and storage of that data (model).

By separating logic this way you can build a model of your business in software and then build views that let users access and update data using any technology.

The (business) model owns the data and governs its storage and use.  Views ask the model for data, and likewise for performing updates.

Layered this way, the client and server can evolve over time without affecting each other, and people get the same view of the information because there is only once source, the model.

Lodi also implements a layer between the web-server and database. This open architecture allows clients to build custom DataConnectors that take advantage of any data source.

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Run-time Requirements      (back to index)

Lodi tools and applications are pure-Java and run on any standard Java Virtual Machine and Java Servlet enabled web server with connections to ODBC databases.

The client-side of the application requires Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator 4.0+.

A POP3 Email Server is needed to use the Lodi email Servlet.

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Technical Overview
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