System Elements
Last updated
Last updated
Once the "System" and the "Target Hosts" has been configured then we are ready to start the Silk Development process. This starts by clicking the Project button in the Dashboard screen which provide access to the Silk Builder IDE application.
The screen is divided in two panels. The first one shows the system's elements and the second one is the code container. The "System" combo box allows to move between the different systems and load its elements.
A System hosts Elements. An Element is a container of other elements. To add a new Element click on the "+" button located in the top-left of the Silk Builder IDE panel. The "i" icon allow to open the element editor. Each Element has a UUID which will represent it when it gets deployed to Silk Clients.
The System's Elements are organized in a pre-define structure which defines how a system and its application gets configured.
The Project is the top element on the elements hierarchy. The Project should group applications with similar objective.
The Project hosts the elements: Data Model, Service Poll, and Conceptual Model.
The Data Model element's objective is to define the database model. This can be used to define the interaction with and existing database, or use to create a new database model.
The Data Model elements provide tools to define, setup and document the database. However, the developer could decide to only use it for database communication.
The Data Model hosts the elements: ORM Object, Data Diagram, View Object, Operation Object.
The ORM Object is responsible for the data interaction between the application and the database. The component's long name is "Object Relational Mapping Object". As the name describes the ORM Object objective is to map the relational database table and queries into an object with properties and methods.
This is not implemented yet but it is planning to show the ORM Objects relationship in a visual diagram.
The View Object is a code holder for the SQL Create View command. It does not have any operational purpose. This is only necessary for database documentations purposes.
The Operational Object is a code holder for the SQL code which generates triggers, functions, and store procedures. It does not have any operational purpose. This is only necessary for database documentations purposes.
The Service Poll element's objective is to hosts the applications which will interact with the end user. These could be private application which required user authentication, or public applications which do not require authentication.
The Service Poll hosts the elements: Private App, Private Service, Private Data Outlet, Public App, Public Service, Public Data Outlet, and Email Template.
The Private App and the Public App are the code holders of the application displayed to the user. These is where the developer will put the code to design the interaction with the end user.
A Private App will requires user authentication before accessing the application. The Public App will not require authentication.
The App Module helps to fraction the code in small modules for easy code management. These are called from the App using the JSP Include tag: <jsp:include page="relative URL" flush="true" /> The file URL has to include the .jsp extension.
The Private Data Outlet and Public Data Outlet elements exist to provide access to the ORM. The functionality of a Data Outlet is to shield the ORM from unwanted access. This provides an extra layer of security by configuring what an application can or can't access from the ORM.
A "Private Data Outlet" requires user authentication to operate. The Public Data Access does not requires authentication.
At execution time the Data Outlet becomes a REST services. This service can be directly accessed by the user, a mobile app, desktop application, or by a web application. By sending the proper JSON structure to the Data Outlet, the REST service, the ORM will operate actions in the database. This makes the Data Outlet a dangerous service if not configured properly.
By properly creating and configuring multiple Data Outlet the developer can shield the ORM's functionality and only provide what each user requires. The ORM structure can be very complex but this will never be directly accessible by the end user except by using a Data Outlet.
These are very similar to an App with the difference that these should not provided a user interface but behave like REST service communicating using POST or GET request and returning RAW data like JSON. The Service usually uses JAVA code and will direct access to the ORM file.
A Private Service will require authentication. The Public Service doesn't requires authentication.
An XML structure which defines email content which will be use to communicate with the end user.
These elements are used to create the documentation for the application being developed.
