AJAX Web Development with Visual DataFlex

Visual DataFlex includes an "AJAX Library" for building Rich Internet Applications (RIA) - fast & easy!

The AJAX Library’s pre-defined classes and components enable developers to build fast, feature-rich, great-looking web applications with less code. It includes both the foundation for building AJAX (or "Web 2.0" applications), as well as a sample application that shows developers how to do it.

“Libraries” are a feature of Visual DataFlex designed to make sharing common source code resources across all of a developer’s workspaces and between multiple computers and developers easy and flexible. 

The AJAX Library produces browser-based web applications using XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript and XML. Using the new AJAX library classes, browser-based applications are controlled by server-side Visual DataFlex objects. These classes, which manage the web pages and control your business rules, are all assembled as a web application that runs on the Visual DataFlex Web Application Server.

The AJAX library consists of Visual DataFlex classes for the server, and client-side JavaScript classes, CSS files and templates for the browser. Web application pages running in a browser are updated dynamically using web-services. This allows for page content to be updated without needing to regenerate and refresh the entire page. The result is faster, better looking web applications.

Client pages created with the AJAX Library are also “intelligent” - they take full advantage of the information provided by the Visual DataFlex data-dictionaries, allowing for better client side validations without any extra coding. New client JavaScript classes are used to create browser controls that support multi-column data entry grids, popup selection lists, tab-pages and much more. All of this is created with just a few lines of application code. The libraries and the framework take care of all the rest.

The AJAX Library can be used to quickly added web interfaces to existing Visual DataFlex Windows applications to create new web applications. The AJAX classes can save developers literally years of development time by making it easier to move a Windows desktop application with all of its rich capabilities to the web. 

Support for the AJAX Library, is only available for Visual DataFlex revision 12 or later revisions. 

The latest AJAX Library 2.2 release includes updated themes, expressions, a new VdfCall API, implementation of data bound server calls, runtime labels, improved DDO structure support, and a new error details section & CollapsePanel.

Read more about the features and benefits of the latest AJAX Library 2.2 release.