The point you are missing I think Nathan is that OA based products such as
Profound _can_ be used to build the kind of apps you describe.
I'll take another shot at this because there appears to be a
misunderstanding about the "kind of apps" I've been describing. Sorry that
I wasn't more clear before. I may lack the ability to make it more clear in
an email dialog, in which case, I apologize again in advance.
I'm not suggesting that Profound UI could not, nor should not be used for
"new" applications. I found a link to a menu of "sample" Profound UI
programs and looked at some of the content:
http://www.profoundlogic.com/samples.rpgsp
The OA handler for the "menu" generates a JSON data stream as follows:
http://code.midrange.com/1d5e05dc56.html
A browser-based Profound UI "applet" interprets the JSON, uses it to update
the browser's DOM, which "renders" the UI. "Applet" seems like an
appropriate name for the component that handles the JSON; I don't know that
the folks at Profound might call it.
I occasionally activate the TN5250J applet in a browser page to handle 5250
emulation. The Profound UI component which is running in the browser
performs a similar service; generating a "screen" from a data stream, and
forwarding "UI events" back to the OA handler and "applications" which
implement it.
The following random snippet from the generated data stream appears to tell
the Applet precisely how to render an output field, which includes absolute
positioning (top, left), width, and other attributes defined in the
"display file". That type of sizing and positioning is essentially the
opposite of "responsive UI design".
{
"id":"Label2_copy132",
"field type":"output field",
"css class":"label",
"value":"View Source",
"font size":"12px",
"text align":"left",
"left":"595px",
"top":"120px",
"width":"90px",
"color":"#003366",
"layout":"Layout1",
"container":"5"
},
The interface essentially implements near maximum coupling between the UI
and the OA handler, which is also essentially opposite the idea behind
single-page applications.
Granted that the "applet" runs in a single browser page, but that's about
where the similarities end.
When "applications" are "called" from a menu, they generate their own JSON
data stream which completely replaces the one pertaining to the menu. When
the user exits an "application" control is returned to the "menu", which
then regenerates "that" data stream. The similarities between Profound UI
and 5250 are remarkable.
I don't want my observations to be taken as critical of Profound UI; just
to clarify some differences between it and applications where the UI might
be designed, run, and tested independently of back-end services;
implementing a single interface which adapts to cell phones and desktop
screens via fluid positioning, sizing, etc.
midrange.com
