Overview

The Ratchet-X Appspace Editor (AE), is the tool you use to create appspaces. Appspaces are the means by which application screens get integrated into the Ratchet-X platform and thus add new features to existing application screens without requiring any changes to those applications. You can load AE from Commander’s Tool menu. Pretty sparse, huh? Don't be alarmed. This is the way AE is supposed to look when it loads. This might be a good time to familiarize yourself with the anatomy of the AE.

To create a new appspace, click File | New. When you do, AE populates the explorer panel with the standard tree items, RegWins and Connectors, and presents the appspace header fields. Let’s look at the appspace header panel in detail.

NOTE: We ship a 32-bit Windows demonstration application called MyCRM along with Ratchet-X so you can easily test out the concepts discussed in this guide. You can load MyCRM from Commander’s Tools menu or AE’s Help menu and clicking the ”Load MyCRM Sample Application” menu item.

Appspace Header Detail Panel

Appspace ID

The first thing we need to do is give the appspace a name. We do this via the Appspace ID field. This ID is the name by which all other Ratchet-X components will refer to this appspace. You can give your appspace any ID name you want as long as it's comprised only of letters and numbers - no spaces or punctuation marks. This field is mandatory and is seeded with a default value of "MyAppspace". Please note that since an appspace is eventually saved to disk, the Appspace ID will also serve as the default file name. The only place this disk name appears is in the title bar of the Appspace Editor wrapped in parenthesis next to the Appspace's ID. Prior to saving an appspace to disk for the first time, its default file name is (new).

Namespace 

Most assets in Ratchet-X platform use namespaces to help ensure uniqueness and provide context. By default, AE supplies the standard ASP.NET http://tempuri.org/ namespace. You should change this to a valid namepsace that is specific to your needs. This field is required.

Help URL

Since each appspace is different, it is incumbent upon the appspace creator to provide an associated help facility that describes the appspace. The facility referenced in this field can be as simple or as elaborate as you want depending upon who will be using the appspace. The URL you supply here will serve as the “Help” link that appears in the Appspace Details dialog.within Commander. While this field is not mandatory, we strongly recommended you provide at least an html page that provides basic information about your appspace.

Publisher

The Publisher field is a free form text field that allows you to brand your appspace. This field is most applicable to appspace creators that are making the appspaces available to users outside their organizations such as system integrators and software vendors. This field is not mandatory.

Icon

You have the option of associating a 16x16 pixel icon file (.ico), with your appspace. This icon will appear anywhere your appspace is referenced (e.g. Commander alert window, appspace tab, etc.).You may associate an icon with the appspace by either selecting the icon from a file or by gathering it from a running Window. Click the button that corresponds with the manner in which you want to acquire the icon and follow the subsequent dialog instructions. You can reset the icon back to the default appspace icon by clicking the Reset button. The default Ratchet-X appspace icon will be used if you do not assign an alternative icon.

Description

Every appspace should be accompanied by a user-friendly description. This description will be available anywhere the appspace is referenced either in explicit text or via a tool tip. While this field is not mandatory, we strongly recommended you supply a description for your appspaces.

Once you’ve supplied the header information for your appspace, you’re ready to start adding and configuring regwins. We recommend you save your work at this point by clicking File | Save As and supplying a name for your appspace file. By default, AE will use the Appspace ID value as your appspace’s file name. It’s up to you whether or not you want to keep that name.

Appspace Backup

Just before AE saves your appspace, it automatically makes a backup copy of the appspace based on its state before the save. This backup is saved to the same folder as the original and has the same name with the only difference being an additional extension. This additional extension contains the word backup. For example, if you open an appspace named MyAppspace.appspace, when you make changes and save, a backup copy will be created named MyAppspace.appspace.backup. Since the extension is different, the backup copy will not appear in the AE’s File | Open dialog.

AutoSave

In order to minimize the loss of work due to a power outage or rare system abend, AE is equipped with an auto-save feature. AE will periodically and automatically save your appspace to a temporary save file based on your AutoSaveInterval setting in Commander’s options setting. The auto-save file (named AutoSave.appspace), is stored in Commander’s App Data Folder which can be accessed through Commander by clicking Help | About and clicking the Open App Data Folder link at the bottom of the dialog. If your Ratchet-X session should terminate for any reason, when you reload AE, you’ll be informed of the existence of the auto-save file and offered the opportunity to recover it.

Suspension of Commander Scanning

When you load AE, it’s important to note that Commander will suspend scanning for regwins. You’ll know Commander scanning has been suspended by the presence of the “pause” icon superimposed over the Commander icon in the system tray ( ), and the Ratchet-X icon will be removed from the title bar of all active regwins. Once. you unload AE, Commander will reload all appspaces, restart scanning and place the Ratchet-X icon back in the title bar of all recognized regwins. When you close AE, Commander may load maximized depending upon the value you have set for the LoadInTray Commander option.

If you click on the Commander icon in the system tray while AE is loaded, you will be presented with a dialog reminding you that Commander and AE cannot be actively scanning at the same time.

© Copyright 2008, RatchetSoft, LLC