Development Sequence      (back to index)

Building Java database applets or Dynamic HTML from ODBC data sources is simple with Lodi, and requires four steps.

1. Create DataSets™ to integrate data sources into transactions
2. Create DataMaps™ clients map to DataSets to get data
3. Build Presentation Panels™ and generate JavaBeans
4. Incorporate JavaBeans into applets or generate DHTML

Lodi helps you perform the first three steps in minutes, completing 90% of of what is required to build a fully functional Java database application or generate Dynamic HTML.

The final step involves integrating the Javabeans into your Java applets and compiling them, or generating dynamic HTML from the JavaBean at run-time. 

Development Tools              (back to top

The process of building a Lodi Java or DHTML application requires using three tools: the DataSet Editor, the DataMap Editor, and the Presentation Panel Builder. 

Lodi tools run in web browsers and may be used from any location in the world if you have an Internet connection.

Lodi stores application resources such as meta-data on the web server, except when you want to customize and compile Java applications from remote locations.

Lodi enables you to specify where all its components are located, and where output from the tools should be stored on the server in a properties file.

DataSet Editor                     (back to top

The first Lodi tool maps logical database transactions to physical databases through DataSets.

The DataSet Editor enables developers to rapidly select, join and set criteria for database transactions.

DataSets encapsulate the database source information, the SQL to access and update that data, as well as meta-data used to perform query management and database transaction processing.

DataMap Editor               (back to top

Once a DataSet is created, the developer builds a DataMap to define the interface the client application can use to get and put data to the DataSets.

Every Lodi (Java applet and DHTML) client accesses and updates data through DataMaps, which in turn trigger transaction processing on the server using DataSets.

DataMaps create links between data-aware screen controls in end-user Java applications or Dynamic HTML web pages, and the data they need, through the translation of DataMaps to DataSets.

To build a DataMap you run the Lodi DataMap Editor illustrated below.

The DataMap editor allows you to select a DataSet from which to build a DataMap that the client application uses to access data stored on the server.

You might ask why DataSets and DataMaps.  The answer is because they create layers between the Lodi clients and server that make Lodi applications secure on the Internet and resilient to change over time. It also sets up the framework for executing transactions on the server.

Presentation Panel Builder     (back to top

Once you create DataSets and DataMaps the next step is to design Presentation Panels™ that allow end-users to display and update the data you mapped.

This involves selecting data elements defined in DataMaps and building user interface screens from them with the Presentation Panel Builder.

Building Presentation Panels is fast and easy using the Presentation Panel Builder illustrated below.  The job can be accomplished in less than five minutes.

The Panel Builder allows developers to select fields defined in DataMaps and place them in the desired order on the Presentation Panel.

The screen controls you drop on Presentation Panels are data-aware Lodi screen controls that link with their associated data sources through a DataMap. You may also use Lodi client controls manually within your own Java applications.

Because Presentation Panels reference data sources through DataMaps and because DataMaps reference DataSets which then reference the actual data sources, Lodi applications in Java or HTML do not expose database names, locations or structures to the Internet or its users.

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