A4: Introduction to the OpenEdge ® GUI for.NET Jim Lundy Principal Product Manager

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 2 Agenda  What is the New UI  GUI for.NET Overview  Architectural Overview  Visual Designer Demo  Q & A

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 3 D I S C L A I M E R Under Development  This talk includes information about potential future products and/or product enhancements.  What I am going to say reflects our current thinking, but the information contained herein is preliminary and subject to change. Any future products we ultimately deliver may be materially different from what is described here. D I S C L A I M E R

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 4 A Microsoft ®.NET ™ based Windows graphical user interface that can replace or be integrated into an existing OpenEdge GUI Client What is the New UI? The New UI is…

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 5 OpenEdge GUI for.NET  Based on Microsoft.NET GUI Technology (WinForms) De-facto standard for state-of-the-art desktop applications Purposed for line of business applications –Data-centric UI controls –ADO.NET maps well to a ProDataSet ™ Wealth of.NET controls –Microsoft and Infragistics ® –Other 3 rd party controls

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 6 What is it Called?  New UI Project name: “OpenEdge Advanced GUI” Not a product… A feature of OpenEdge Develop using OpenEdge Architect or ABL development products  New control set Project name: “OpenEdge Advanced UI Controls” Will be a product… optional add-on Add-on to OpenEdge development products Bundle of controls from Infragistics that extends the.NET UI development capability

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 7 What is it Called?  New UI Technology name: “OpenEdge GUI for.NET” Not a product… A feature of OpenEdge Develop using OpenEdge Architect or ABL development products  New control set Product name: “OpenEdge Ultra Controls for.NET” Will be a product… optional add-on Add-on to OpenEdge development products Bundle of controls from Infragistics that extends the.NET UI development capability

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 8 Who is the target audience?  ABL Developers using OpenEdge Architect…  Seeking to build extremely modern and appealing.NET graphical user interface…  Through the ease of ABL

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 9 Target audience characteristics  ABL Developers using OpenEdge Architect… For customers on OpenEdge Comfortable with Object Oriented concepts  Seeking to build extremely modern and appealing.NET graphical user interface… Windows oriented for development and user client  Through the ease of ABL Desires an OpenEdge-centric development environment

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 10  Leverages the ABL Single language; No need to learn C#, VB.NET Data binding between ABL data sources and UI controls Event binding between ABL methods and UI events  Single design center: OpenEdge Architect No need to purchase, learn or use non-OpenEdge products (Visual Studio ® )  Benefits: Shorter ramp-up  Higher productivityShorter ramp-up  Higher productivity Built-in data binding  Purposed for business applicationsBuilt-in data binding  Purposed for business applications Built on OpenEdge: Deployment and data source flexibilityBuilt on OpenEdge: Deployment and data source flexibility Primary Features and Benefits

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 11  Integrates with existing GUI (at container level)  Independent of deployment topology (C/S or n-tier)  Extensible with 3 rd party controls and custom controls  Adaptable to future UI enhancements or other emerging UIs  Benefits : Adopt at your own paceAdopt at your own pace Contemporary Windows look and feel without compromiseContemporary Windows look and feel without compromise Architected for investment protectionArchitected for investment protection Primary Features and Benefits

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 12 How does it compare to other OpenEdge UI Technologies? OpenEdge GUI for.NET Build modern state-of- the-art.NET ™ GUIs in ABL OpenEdge Architect 10.2A or above UI Technology Primary Use Progress ® GUI WebClient ™ OpenClient WebSpeed ® Character Build Windows 95 user interface look and feel Build thick client GUI with thin client deployment characteristics Provides the capability to add alternate UIs (.NET & Java ™ ) to OpenEdge Apps Build Web-browser based apps with zero client footprint Build traditional green-screen user interfaces Progress Dynamics ® OpenEdge Studio OpenEdge Architect OpenEdge Studio OpenEdge Architect OpenClient Toolkit WebSpeed Workshop OpenEdge Architect OpenEdge Studio 4GL Development System Tools to Use

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 13 Zero Client Footprint Thin Client Footprint 2-Tier Computing OpenEdge GUI for.NET WebSpeed Progress GUI Progress Character OpenClient.NET & Java ™ n-Tier Distributed Computing How does it compare to other OpenEdge UIs?

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 14 OpenEdge GUI Architecture “Classic” OpenEdge GUI ( Windows, Frames ) DataSets, Temp-tables Data Access Data Sources Common Infrastructure OpenEdge Runtime

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 15 GUI for.NET Architecture “New” OpenEdge GUI ( Windows, Frames ) DataSets, Temp-tables Data Access Data Sources Common Infrastructure OpenEdge Runtime.NET GUI CLR UI Logic ( events, data binding ) Bridge Single Process GUI Visualization User interaction and events GUI components Data access I/O blocking Event handlers

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 16 ABL Extensions  Progress.Windows.Form ABL forms inherit from this class InitializeComponent method (generated)  Progress.Data.BindingSource New ABL object to access Progress data sources Extends.NET BindingSource class Binds.NET control to ABL data source (query)  Event Subscription Subscribe method added to every.NET event Takes an ABL method / procedure name

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 17 A Closer Look into the GUI for.NET Presentation Layer.NET GUI OpenEdge Runtime Bridge.NET CLR Bridge frm = NEW Form( ). frm:Closing:Subscribe( EventHdlr1 ). WAIT-FOR Application.Run( frm ). EventHdlr1( ) … frm = NEW Form( ). frm:Closing:Subscribe( EventHdlr1 ). WAIT-FOR Application.Run( frm ). EventHdlr1( ) … One Process for OpenEdge and.NET Runtime ABL Logic AVM: ABL Virtual Machine CLR: Common Language Runtime

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 18 A Closer Look into the GUI for.NET Presentation Layer.NET GUI OpenEdge Runtime.NET CLR 3 DEF VAR frm AS Form. frm = NEW Form( ). frm:Closing:Subscribe( FrmClose ). WAIT-FOR Application.Run( frm ). Method VOID FrmClose( ) MESSAGE “BYE” VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX. END. ABL Logic Bridge

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 19 GUI for.NET ABL Language Window Create form and controls Event subscription & handler methods (default) Binding to ABL data Form.cls Startup.p Entry point to run GUI NEW’s Form.cls Performs WAIT-FOR Form / Data.p /.i’s Alternate location for event handlers Data source definition and query

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 20 GUI for.NET – IDE Architecture OpenEdge Architect ABL Editor Visual Designer Eclipse, OpenEdge and.NET work together Eclipse (foundation platform).NET GUI UI Logic Bridge AVM CLR

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 21  WYSIWYG Form creation and editing Define Form Add.NET controls Set properties of controls and components Define data binding objects Add event subscriptions  Class Browser Displays class member information about ABL and.NET classes Visual Designer Built as an Eclipse plug-in for OpenEdge Architect

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 22 Generated code for a form Form class ABL Editor (source code tab) Define form property Define control variables Constructor Destructor Delete / free resources Initialize form and components

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 23 Visual Designer Perspective Toolbox Properties view Selected property Form Visual Designer Control Class Browser

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 24 GUI for.NET Demo

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 25 Visual Designer Perspective Toolbox Properties view Selected property Form Visual Designer Control Class Browser

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 26 What reviewers are saying… Tony Vertenten, Intris “OpenEdge 10.2A offers a superior interface that not only streamlines developer productivity but also allows us to enhance the look-and-feel of our applications for our end-users”

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 27 Areas for Learning in GUI for.NET  ABL Object-oriented ABL –Create and access UI objects –Call methods, access properties –Subscribe to UI events.NET Windows Form Framework Classes.NET Infragistics Windows Form Classes  OpenEdge Architect WYSIWYG Visual Designer –Properties View and Control Toolbox Object-oriented Class Browser

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 28 Exchange 2008 Content OpenEdge GUI for.NET  DEV-16 Leveraging the Power of the Advanced GUI Tony Vertenten, Intris Erwin in ‘t Veld, CCS Roland de Pijper, Eric Debeij, Progress  DEV-29 Deep Dive into Developing with Advanced GUI Shelley Chase, Product Architect, Progress  DEV-32 Using the Advanced GUI, Structured Error Handling and SonicMQ to build a Semi-Disconnected Point of Sale Brian Preece and Romin Sanai, BCP Software  DEV-40 Using SmartObjects with Advanced GUI Mike Fechner, ConsultingWerk

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 29  Development Methodology Early POC and Usability input from customers Structured “Technology Preview” approach; Beta; GA  Expected dates Technology Previews released during 2007 Beta test started Q General Availability target Q When will it be available?

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 30 Preparing for OpenEdge GUI for.NET  Move to OpenEdge 10… Ideally 10.1C  Separate logic from UI  Consider UI Design  Get familiar with new concepts  Ready? Beta is under way! Steps You Can Take Now… …Ride the Wave!

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 31 Questions ?

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 32 Thank You

© 2008 Progress Software Corporation 33