Thanks for all the help Paul, I will definitely give this a whirl. BTW, are there any plans to make it possible for Dabo to use SQLAlchemy as a db intermediary? I imagine that there must be many folks like me who are doing business db backends with turbogears or pylons and are looking for nice solutions to making fat web clients but have already invested a fair whack of time in modelling their data with sqlalchemy in mind.
Thanks Iain On Thu, 2007-16-08 at 14:13 -0700, Paul McNett wrote: > iain duncan wrote: > > On Thu, 2007-16-08 at 13:02 -0700, Paul McNett wrote: > >> iain duncan wrote: > >>> Hi Dabo folks, I am checking out options for a python fat client to a > >>> python backed ( turbogears/pylons ) restful web service. I have my web > >>> service command line client working ok, defined as various model classes > >>> that look a lot like an sqlalchemy or sqlobject orm. I've always liked > >>> using raw wxPython for my hobby hacking but am wondering if dabo could > >>> speed up the process of building forms and doing simple validation for a > >>> fairly generic business tool. If anyone has done or tried similar > >>> things I'd love to hear success/horror/warning stories. > >>> > >>> So in dabo I want to use my custom model in the backend that will do > >>> stuff like: > >>> > >>> - make beautiful form for entering new client > >>> - validate a form for entering a new client > >>> - save through my webserviced backed model instead of the usual dabo db > >>> - get results from the web service as xml, parse with elementtree, > >>> display results in beautiful ouput > > > > Thank you for the detailed reply! > > > >> I would say Dabo can live up to your needs. You would use the > >> application and ui layers of dabo, and ignore the existence of the db > >> and biz layers (you effectively already have your own bizobj, the > >> webservice client). > > > > Now, the biz layers are what hold business rules, correct? So would it > > Yes. > > > be possible to also use the biz layer but have it interract with my > > model? I would like to put simple rules in the client to avoid the delay > > of round trip server calls that are only going to get errors. I realize > > this means my rules will need to be in two places, but that should not > > be too bad if both apps are able to use the same python modules. > > You can do that, but as it is currently implemented, dBizobj assumes it > is dealing with a classic database at the db layer. In fact, to > instantiate a dBizobj you pass it a db connection. However, you could > make your own subclass of dBizobj, overriding such methods as: > > save(): save the current record > saveAll(): save all changed records > new(): new record > first(): move to first record > last(): move to last record > next(): next record > prior(): prior record > getFieldVal(): get the value of the field in current or passed record # > setFieldVal(): set the value of the field in current or passed record # > > This would actually be the best way to go, as you could then do the > standard bizobj data binding at the ui level, making textboxes, > checkboxes, grids, etc. using e.g.: > > grd = dabo.ui.dGrid(frm, DataSource=bizCustomers) > grd.addColumn(DataField="company_name") > grd.addColumn(DataField="address1") > ... > > > >> Dabo has data-bound ui controls, that don't need to be bound directly to > >> db data, but can be bound to your own properties or functions as you > >> need. You'd probably build a lightweight wrapper around your webservice > >> client to bind your ui controls to. > > > > Cool, that was precisely what I was thinking. I got that working in a > > simple form with a raw wxPython list, but I expect that in this > > situation Dabo provides a lot of the views I would just be making by > > hand in wxPy > > You'll still need to design your UI. You have a couple options: > > 1) By hand using Python code (save .py files) > 2) Use the Class Designer to visually lay out your forms (save .cdxml > files). > > Each has its own set of pros/cons. Each is fairly straightforward. > Coding by hand has you typing more and using the class designer has you > pointing and clicking more. I don't think there's much if any runtime > difference. > > > >> Your form validation, for example, would hopefully call a method like > >> validateClient() in your webservice client. The form wouldn't be able to > >> close unless that function returns True or the user cancels. No problem > >> with any of that. > >> > >> Saving data: same thing. > >> > >> Displaying XML "beautifully": I guess I'd need to know what you mean. We > >> have an editor widget that syntax-colors xml, but perhaps you are > >> thinking that you aren't going to display the xml, but whatever the xml > >> represents. If this is the customer data, then yes, no problem. > > > > Yes, bad writing by me. I did mean displaying the represented data > > results in Dabo. The xml would get parsed back into a local model that > > dabo would use as a gateway. > > If you subclass dBizobj as I suggest, you'd override the requery() > method to retrieve the xml, and then save it in some sort of structure > that your code in getFieldVal/setFieldVal could reference to get/set the > needed field value. > > Conversely, you'd override save() and saveAll() to send the changed data > back to the server, in whatever fashion your webservice needs it. > > > > Are there any examples in the docs or wiki of using dabo without the db > > backend? Or is it really easy to see where to make the changes? > > I know the bubblet game uses a bizobj with no db, but I'm not sure how > well it applies to your situation. I would just read a bunch of example > code using databases (steer clear of AppWizard-generated apps to keep it > simple, though) and ask specific questions here. For a dirt-simple > 32-line script that creates a database and displays the data in a ui > grid, see dabodemo/tutorial/dbEditableGrid.py. > > Welcome! > _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: Dabo-users@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/dabo-users Searchable Archives: http://leafe.com/archives/search/dabo-users This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/dabo-users/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
