Specialized Tools

Specialized Tools for Database Development

Clarion's focus on database applications, and its basis in a database oriented language has helped create a product that focuses on the tasks common to business applications, and provides the code necessary to implement those tasks. In other words, the Clarion philosophy is to do as much of the work common to most database applications, such as knowing how to insert a record, or how to perform a concurrency check, for example, so that the developer need only focus on the tasks specific to their vertical market, thereby increasing productivity. We believe that Clarion incorporates more of this "programming pro-activity" and delivers more "prepackaged" application logic for database tasks than any comparable product.

Referential Integrity, Validity Checks, Concurrency Checks, Hot Fields, etc.

In cases where you choose to use a flat-file, Clarion provides procedures to perform tasks sometimes usually reserved for the DBMS, such as maintaining referential integrity. This allows the developer working with a PC flat file database, such as dBase or Btrieve files to provide DBMS type relational stability to a standalone application. This is also useful for developers working with DBMS's, but who wish the front end application to perform some of these tasks in order to reduce network traffic. The latter is of prime importance to developers deploying applications over the web or IP-based WANs. With Clarion, these developers never have to create code for this task: they simply define the options in the Data Dictionary.

Clarion also provides for many additional features, including concurrency checking and hot fields. Concurrency checks define what should be done if user "A" opens a record, keeps it open a while, makes a change, and then saves it, but in the meant time, user "B" opened the same record, changed it, and saved it before user "A" saved their edits. Clarion applications by default automatically "pop" up a message saying that another user changed the data, and offers to show those changes, overwrite them, or leave them and cancel the new ones (illustration below). And if the programmer doesn't like these options, checkboxes in the template interface allow different behavior.

Hot fields are simply what Clarion uses to implement a method of synchronizing navigation through two or more data grids filled with data from related tables. Most other products would require a developer to write application-specific code (i.e., non-reusable in another application navigating a different table or database) to monitor the cursor (the selected record in a parent table), create a new query for the child table, and refresh the contents of an associated data grid for the child table. With Clarion it's as simple as choosing a table and field from a popup window and dropdown list. In fact the Application Wizard creates these automatically for forms that edit a record in a parent table, creating a listbox of child records on a tabbed property sheet that appears behind the form for updating the fields in the parent record.

Additionally there are threaded browses, which also save a great deal of work for programmers. These automatically create multiple record buffers, so that an end user can navigate and update more than a single record from the same table at a time.

In general, Clarion programmers take for granted many complicated business application behaviors, and are free to concentrate on business specific tasks.

Application Wizards

When creating a new application from a data dictionary, Clarion saves developers' time by creating an application structure, laying out windows for navigating and editing the database, and creating reports. It then organizes these structures as procedures in an application tree.

By analyzing the relationships within the database, Clarion lays out a hierarchy of data grids and entry forms, from top level tables down through their child tables and their "grandchild" tables.

The Clarion data dictionary not only stores the database schema and business rules, it also stores important formatting options for controls referencing that data. A spin box, for example, may be specified for a certain field, with a default value of X, not to exceed Y, and the increase and decrease buttons are to change the value by step value Z. Once the dictionary stores a description such as this, all subsequently generated wizard applications referring to the field will create by default such a spin button when populating that field in a form.

The Clarion metabases save many, many hours when Clarion developers develop multiple applications for the same database, and provides a consistent corporate look among many corporate applications.

Built in Reporting Tools

Clarion applications contain pre-compiled reports, including print preview functions. There is no need for an external reporting tool, making the size of the total application package much smaller, and reports in general much faster.

The application wizard lays out simple columnar reports. An additional template allows a developer to add in "child" details, i.e., data from related tables as a "sub group" of the first table, quickly and easily.

The Report Formatter, which allows developers to visually customize a report layout, appears below:

Referential Integrity, Validity Checks, Concurrency Checks, Hot Fields, etc.

Application Wizards

Built in Reporting Tools

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