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Quick application creation

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Quick application creation

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1. General information

  • This guide describes the fastest ways to create a new application in NET Genium — either manually or using AI.
  • When creating applications manually, the process may also include generating sample data and creating view pages with various visualization forms.
  • When using AI, it is possible to create an application containing multiple tables including the corresponding edit forms, and a logically connected structure derived from the description entered by the user.
  • The application creation function is available only in admin mode, because it modifies the database structure, creates new tables, and generates the corresponding edit forms and view pages.
  • Applications created this way can be further modified in admin mode in the standard way.

2. Creating an application

  • In NET Genium, a new application can be created in admin mode directly from the home page using the “Create new application” wizard.
  • A minimal application contains at least one database table and the corresponding edit form.
  • The wizard offers the following options for creating an application, each differing in how the structure is defined:
    • Single table
      • Manual definition of the table name and individual columns, including optional specification of data types.
      • It is optionally possible to generate sample data and automatically create view pages with different types of visualizations.
    • AI-generated application
      • Creation of an application automatically based on the name and an optional description.
      • AI can propose the structure of one or more tables, including the corresponding edit forms.
      • The option is offered only to users whose language is Czech, Slovak, English or German.
    • Import application
      • Import of an application from a file. The option is offered only to the Administrator account. A detailed description of the import is provided in the separate guide Import and export of applications.
  • For users with another language, the icon on the home page is labeled “Create application with table”. If “Single table” is the only available option, the choice of options is not displayed and the single table wizard opens directly.
  • The application group, the application, the category, the edit forms, the view pages and all controls of the new application get the rights of the “Users” user group. All members of this group also become co-owners of the records of the new edit forms and can thus modify the records of other users. It is therefore advisable to check the rights and the co-owners of the edit forms after the application is created.

2.1. Single table

  • After switching to admin mode, the “Create new application” icon becomes available on the home page; for users to whom the “AI-generated application” option is not offered, it is the “Create application with table” icon.
  • Selecting “Single table” launches the wizard for creating a new application containing one database table. The wizard automatically generates:
    • an edit form corresponding to the new database table,
    • a view page with a datagrid showing the table records.

The wizard contains two input fields that define the structure of the future application:

  • Enter the table name – the name of the future application and simultaneously the name of the new edit form. The name is truncated to 50 characters and its first letter is converted to upper case.
  • Enter the columns of your new table – a list of names of new controls.
    • Individual column names are entered line by line, separated by the Enter key, each line represents one column of the table. Empty lines are skipped.
    • The column name is truncated to 50 characters and its first letter is converted to upper case; the specified data type does not count towards this length.
    • At most 100 columns are created, further lines are not used.
    • If no column is entered, a single text field named after the table is created.
    • A data type may be specified after the column name, written after a colon immediately following the name; the space after the colon is optional. Instead of the English key, the name of the data type in the language of the user can also be written (for example “Whole number”); neither letter case nor diacritics matter:
      • string
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: Text string
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Text string
        • Width: 150 px
        • Maximum length: 100 characters
      • integer
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: Whole number
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Integer
        • Width: 150 px
        • Maximum length: 50 characters
        • Alignment: Left
      • long
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Big whole number
        • Maximum length: 50 characters
      • double
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: Decimal number
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Decimal number
        • Width: 150 px
        • Maximum length: 50 characters
        • Alignment: Left
      • currency
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Currency
        • Maximum length: 50 characters
      • date
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: Date
        • Target control: TextBox
        • Data type: Date
        • Width: 150 px
        • Maximum length: 50 characters
      • file
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: File
        • Target control: File
      • image
        • Wizard button for quick selection of this type: Image
        • Target control: Image
    • Specifying a data type is optional; if no data type is provided, the default type is string.
    • An unrecognized data type is not used: a text string is created and the colon with the text after it remains part of the column name.
  • A new application is created after pressing the “Create application” button and answering the question “Do you want to create sample data and visualization?”
  • The edit form of the new application always contains a title with the name of the table, the “General” tab with the entered columns and the “Other” tab with the change history of the record and the read-only fields “Created by”, “Created on”, “Modified by” and “Modified on”. The fields “Created by” and “Created on” are filled in when the record is created, the fields “Modified by” and “Modified on” before saving a record in which the value of another control was changed manually.
  • The view page is named in the form “Records in table Book”, with the name of the entered table. Its view table shows the entered columns and below it is the “New record” button.
  • Answering “Yes” ensures:
    • Creation of one edit form, which additionally has the “Latitude” and “Longitude” fields for the geographic location of the record on the “Other” tab
    • Creation of one view page with a datagrid displaying records from the new database table
    • Creation of five sample records in the new database table
    • Creation of a new category “Visualization”, which contains the following view pages:
      • View table – datagrids with a standard query, an aggregate query, and a pivot table
      • Change tracking – datagrid showing history of changes in database records
      • Calendar – classic calendar similar to Outlook
      • Gantt diagram / Timetable
      • Booking calendar – multi-resource planning calendar
      • Chart
      • Map – map based on OpenStreetMap tiles
      • Tree structure
  • Answering “No” ensures:
    • Creation of one edit form
    • Creation of one view page with a datagrid displaying records from the new database table
  • After the question is answered, the message “Congratulations, your new application is ready :-) User mode will be activated now.” is displayed and the application is created. The message is displayed only for the first three applications created by this wizard in the same web browser; the count starts again if no application is created by this wizard in the browser for one month.
  • Pressing the “OK” button closes the wizard, and the newly created application can now be modified or extended as needed.

2.1.1. Structure of the new application including visualizations

01-structure-with-visualizations.png

2.1.2. Structure of the new application without visualizations

02-structure-without-visualizations.png

2.2. AI-generated application

  • After switching to admin mode, the “Create new application” icon becomes available on the home page.
  • Selecting “AI-generated application” launches the wizard designed to automatically create a new application with the assistance of AI.
  • This method is suitable especially when the user wants to quickly prepare a more complex application whose structure does not have to be precisely defined in advance. AI is able to propose multiple tables, corresponding edit forms, and relationships between them based on the description.

The wizard contains two input fields that determine the structure of the future application:

  • Enter the application name – the name of the future application, serving as the main identifier and helping AI understand the focus of the new application. Based on the name, AI can infer the basic structure of the application.
  • Enter a description of your new application – an optional text field that allows specifying the purpose of the application more precisely.
    • The more detailed the description is, the more accurately AI will propose:
      • the final set of tables,
      • names of individual tables,
      • names of columns and their data types,
      • logical relationships between tables using foreign keys,
      • the controls of edit forms and their order.
    • The description may include key elements such as required data, workflow, specific categories of information, or examples of items.
      • AI always proposes data types automatically, regardless of whether they are mentioned in the description.
    • Data types are determined based on:
      • the meaning of the fields that AI generates,
      • the application name entered,
      • the words and context contained in the description (if provided).
    • According to the proposed structure, the controls TextBox, TextArea, RichTextBox, CheckBox, File, Image, ForeignKey, DatePicker, AutoSum, Radio, ComboBox, ListBox and MultiListBox are created; the maximum length of text fields is proposed by AI.
    • AI knows the edit forms that already exist in the instance, and the new application can refer to them with a ForeignKey or AutoSum control; AI is instructed not to create existing edit forms again. With a very large data model, the existing edit forms are not passed to AI.
  • After clicking inside the “Enter a description of your new application” field, the hint “Very briefly or in great detail — experiment :)” is displayed.
  • The new application is created by pressing the “Create application” button and answering the question “Do you want to create sample data?”
    • Answering “Yes” ensures that AI proposes sample records and they are added to the new tables. The owner of the sample records is the user who created the application, and the File and Image controls remain empty. A reference to a record that does not exist (a nested record or a foreign key) is cleared, and the values of AutoSum controls are recalculated after the sample records are created.
    • Answering “No” creates the application without records.
  • Successful creation of the new application is confirmed by the message “Congratulations, your new application is ready :-) User mode will be activated now.” The message is displayed only for the first three applications created by this wizard in the same web browser; the count starts again if no application is created by this wizard in the browser for one month.
  • After clicking “OK”, the wizard closes and the newly created application can be freely modified or further extended.

2.2.1. Structure of the new application

  • For each table that is not nested, an edit form and a view page with a view table of its records and a button for creating a new record are created. The names of the view page, the view table and the button are proposed by AI; if this fails, the view page is named in the form “Records in table Book”, the view table is named after the table and the button is “New record”.
  • The edit form contains a title with the name of the table, the “General” tab with the controls in the order of the columns proposed by AI and the “Other” tab with the change history of the record and the fields “Created by”, “Created on”, “Modified by” and “Modified on”.
  • A nested table has no view page of its own. Its records are shown by a view table in the edit form of the parent table, below which is a button for creating a new nested record.
  • A foreign key is created as a ForeignKey control with a picker. If it refers to a table of the new application, a tab named after the referring table is added to the edit form of that table, with a button for creating a new record and a view table of the records that refer to the opened record.