Rich UI Tips, Number 1 - What I'm Finding

JoePluta — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:49:32 GMT

I can't think of a better title for this, but since I hope this becomes an ongoing series of posts, I want to make sure I stick a number in there. Maybe I should have made this one Number 0, because it's going to be sort of an introductory post, but that's okay.

This blog series will be based on things I find as I'm writing RUI applications. It will range from little things like tips for formatting (using a class to right-adjust grid columns) to major RUI topics such as how to implement services in a modular architecture (the answer is Delegates, but the devil is in the details).

Because of the book, I've already got a list of topics on hand. In fact, as I write the blog posts you'll get more glimpses into the book writing process. But I can give you a few quick previews. For example, I'm becoming pretty proficient at formatting Grids. This is important stuff for those of us in the i community; the Grid is the replacement for the subfile and it's crucial to being able to build applications quickly.

Another thing that comes into play is the fact that all the HTML for a RUI page is generated at runtime. Because of that, it's difficult to see the actual HTML which in turn makes it hard to diagnose CSS issues. I've figured out a way around that. I hope to make a generalized widget available soon, but I will at the very least post some example code. The trick is outerHTML...

Anyway, I'll be back posting more. Let me know if there are areas you need addressed.

Joe

EGL and i

Rich UI Tips, Number 1 - What I'm Finding