DSP® Application Development Overview

The Data Stewardship Platform (DSP®) architecture creates powerfully simple, codeless web applications, known as WebApps, with inherent business logic. The platform offers a robust way to dynamically design scalable and secure WebApps that complement or extend business processes.

The DSP® is the framework upon which all WebApps, including itself, are built. Though the architecture is similar to that of nearly every other web-based product, DSP® pages are never created with interpreted or compiled code from files stored on the web server. The engine directly renders WebApp pages in the client browser based on metadata stored within DSP®. All the information used to create the functionality and controls of an application is stored as dynamically updateable data, not as code, and the content seen in a client web browser is generated on the fly in the browser itself.

NOTE:  It is assumed that the audience has a working knowledge of SQL, including creating tables, and creating and optimizing views and stored procedures. The performance of a WebApp as measured by the responsiveness of the web pages and the overall user experience is directly affected by, and very sensitive to, the performance of the views and stored procedures created for the WebApp by the DSP® Designer. When building complex WebApps and/or working with large data sets, careful attention should be paid to optimizing the table structures, indices and SQL views.

There are many ways to build a DSP® WebApp; however, the optimal method is by applying Rapid Application Deployment (RAD) for new applications. This method defines the steps necessary to create a new application, which are performed with concise and accurate probability.

The following steps apply the RAD philosophy to build DSP® WebApps quickly:

  1. Create a Data Source – Each WebApp in DSP® is based on a database. Refer to Create Tables in SQL and Create Views in SQL for more information.
  2. Create the WebApp –Refer to Create a WebApp in DSP® for more information.
  3. Register Menus – Horizontal or Vertical Menus determine where links are available on the current page. Menus can link to pages or menus in other WebApps within the site. Refer to Configure the Navigation Pane, Submenus and Links to Pages for more information.
  4. Register Pages and Assign Page Properties – Performed through page properties, page registration is the foundation of a WebApp and contains most of the primary information that controls the web environment including security and database connection to tables. All pages in the WebApp must be registered to access views. Page properties are then assigned to determine page functionality. Refer to DesignPages for more information.
  5. Modify Menus – Update menus to include new pages.
  6. Assign Column Properties – Column properties are used to control the behavior of fields and how data displays on a page using control items, such as list boxes, buttons, labels, page links and images. Column properties can be applied to the Horizontal View and/or Vertical View.  Refer to Assign Column Properties for more information.
  7. Create and Assign Validation Rules – Validation rules are defined through database views and applied to a page or a field. Errors or warnings display messages based on the criteria specified in the rule. Refer to Validation Rules for more information.
  8. Create and Assign Business Rules – Corporate business rules can be incorporated into a page or a specific field triggering an action or event based on a business process. Refer to Business Rules for more information.
  9. Create and Assign Control Views – Control views provide a way to define column control based on what is known about the data, page, and/or user. Refer to Control Views for more information.

Following these steps when designing a new WebApp provides the necessary details about core functionality as a foundation to deliver a WebApp in the shortest time possible.