Utilities (Magic xpa 3.x)
Magic xpa provides many utilities to make the development process easier.
A program can be generated from the Data repository or from an entry in the Program repository. Magic xpa’s Automatic Program Generator (APG) is designed to create programs automatically.
You can use this utility to:
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Generate programs for online data entry and maintenance
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Export data from the database file to an operating system text file
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Import data from a text file to a database file
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Print programs
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Generate general Web programs, such as an HTML report or an HTML query screen
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Generate forms from the Form Editor.
The Check Syntax utility lets you check models, data sources, tasks, programs, help screens, and menus for incorrect syntax.
The DDF Maker utility is a wizard that creates Data Dictionary Files (DDFs) from the table definitions in your Magic xpa project's Data repository.
Magic xpa’s export and import functionality provides a convenient way to move or convert application components.
You can:
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Export application components across physical sites and platforms to import those components to another Magic xpa application, or to the same application to reorganize the application file.
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Import application components that have been exported. The imported components are appended to the relevant repositories.
The Find Reference Utility provides information about where an entity such as a model, column, or program is used.
The Get Definition Utility lets you load table definitions directly from the selected DBMS Data Dictionary into the Data repository. Single or multiple table definitions can be loaded from a database.
When using an existing database, it is often preferable to read the existing table descriptions for the DBMS Data Dictionary tables than to redefine those descriptions in Magic xpa. This reduces the risk of error and makes the development process quicker and easier.
The MakeKey Utility lets a developer create a feature license that can be checked out and in by end users of the application.
The Monitor utility lets you monitor your enterprise servers for a selected broker. The Monitor utility provides information about the following:
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All active enterprise servers
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The context threads for the selected request broker
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The requests issued to the server by the selected request broker
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The requests’ statistics
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The available applications
This program is included with the ODBC driver, which tests the ODBC data source and prints a list of functions that are produced by the driver. The test will tell you whether or not the driver can be used with the Magic xpa Database Gateway for ODBC. See also ODBC Check Driver Utility.
The Runtime Form Designer lets you make changes to the form during Runtime mode, including:
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Move controls on the screen by dragging and dropping and by using the keyboard.
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Resize the controls.
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Hide (and restore) controls.
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Change some of the controls’ properties, such as Color and Font. The changes can be saved per each user or in a central location.
The String Extraction Utility extracts all of the text phrases from the project. This is useful for developing a multilingual interface for an application, where the programmer needs to maintain a translation dictionary containing all of the text phrases that exist in the application.
Table conversion is a process Magic xpa starts automatically if the physical structure of a table is modified and the data table exists. For example, changes such as adding a column to a table, removing a column from a table, changing a column's attribute, changing index specifications, adding or deleting a Foreign Key, or modifying a model used in a table, automatically launch the table conversion process.
The Tools Infrastructure utility lets you create your own tools, wizards and batch processes that can run from a dynamic menu in Development mode.
The Upgrade Manager utility is provided to make the upgrade process easier. The utility shows you the changes done automatically to your applications and the steps that you need to do manually.
This utility is available after running the upgrade process on a uniPaaS V1.x project. No upgrade is required for 2.x or 3.0 projects.
