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The most exciting feature
of MaxBase, for the developer, is that you can actually
incorporate the MaxBase Java classes into your favorite
Java developing environment Bean Palette, because several
of those classes are also Java Beans!
Note: The next few
sections will be useful to you even if you don't have
access to a visual developing environment. They are
similar to javadoc-generated pages (but with far more
explanations in them).
There are several Java IDEs on
the market, so it wouldn't be possible to cover
them all; instead, I'll show you how to import (and use)
MaxBase in one of them: IBM VisualAge for Java.
The procedure required to use these beans with other
products (such as Borland JBuilder or Symantec Visual
Café) shouldn't be very different, however.
Please note that, since these beans are
fairly complex in their nature, they shouldn't be used in
simple bean IDEs like the Sun BDK which basically let you
attach events to simple methods/events/properties.
Finally, these beans don't make use of
serialization as a way to store their internal state:
they simply are initialized and customized with method
calls and properties setup (but I think most IDEs can do
this).
Importing MaxBase, JRXDBClient
and JRXDbase (as Java Beans)
into VisualAge for Java for Win32
Start VisualAge for Java, and
create a new project (or use an existing one if
you need MaxBase there).
Select the project and choose
"import" from the File menu. A
SmartGuide will appear.
Choose "import from JAR file
(including resources)" from the radio button
list, and browse your way to the MBASE.JAR file
you found in the original MaxBase distribution
file. Click on "finish" when you are
done.
Visual Age for Java will then
start importing the classes and resources inside
the JAR, and it will take a while. When the
import process will be completed, a new dialog
window will pop up, asking where to store the nrio.MaxBase,
nrio.JRXDBClient, nrio.reports.LineViewMockup
nrio.JRXDbase and
nrio.reports.PageLayout beans. Choose a
category, or create one, and click on 'Ok'.
Your MaxBase Java Beans are ready
for use! Congrats!
Importing MaxBase, JRXDBClient
and JRXDbase (as Java Beans)
into VisualAge for Java for OS/2
(subtitle: the OS/2 version of VAge
Java doesn't like JAR files)
Create a directory, and unzip
mbase.jar there (InfoZip's freeware Unzip is just
fine for the task).
Start VisualAge for Java, and
create a new project (or use an existing one if
you need MaxBase there).
Select the project and choose
"import" from the File menu. A
SmartGuide will appear.
Choose "Entire directory
(including resources)" and browse into the
directory where you unzipped mbase.jar into.
Click on "Next".
Uncheck "skip .class
files" checkbox and press
"Finish".
After several minutes (the import
takes a looong time to execute) you'll have the
entire suite imported into VA for Java.
Now you need to go into Visual
Composition editor and add to the palette (via
the "Options" menu, "Modify
palette" submenu, "Add category"
and "Add new bean" menu items) the
following beans:
nrio.MaxBase
nrio.JRXDBase
nrio.JRXDBClient
nrio.reports.LineViewMockup
nrio.reports.PageLayout
After you've done this, it's exactly as you
imported mbase.jar, only it takes more time and
some messing around. Hope that IBM will fix its
.jar import routines in the near future..
NOTE: A number of packages will be added to the chosen
project, such as COM.Taligent.widget, nrio, netrexx etc:
this is normal, since MaxBase is a fairly complex Java
Bean, and uses other JavaBeans.
Using the
MaxBase Bean with VisualAge for Java
MaxBase is a complete editor for databases (every MaxBase
instance is a new java.awt.Frame): it allows for record
editing/insert/deleting and even DB maintenance
(adding/modifying/deleting fields, import/export from/to
DBF). Thus, you use it in projects that require a visual
manipulation of data when you don't want to implement
such an object yourself. Take it as an editor for DBs.
Using the
JRXDbase Bean with VisualAge for Java
JRXDbase is a non-visual object, a bean that lets you
read/write data organized in records on the local storage
device. Every feature of MaxBase has a correspondent
mapping in RXDbase.
Using the
JRXDBClient Bean with VisualAge for Java
JRXDBClient is similar to RXDbase: a non-visual bean that
lets you read/write data organized in records. The main
differences are that:
The data is not stored locally,
but instead in a remote computer (that must be
running the Java program RXDBServer -- also
provided in this package).
You can't create or delete
databases with JRXDBClient. Every other feature
is there, however (changing/adding/deleting
indexes, records, requesting information, etc).
Using the
PageLayout Bean with VisualAge for Java
The PageLayout bean allows you to draw blank pages with
header, footer, watermark (aka wallpaper) that you will
later paint on using LineViewMockup.
Using the
LineViewMockup Bean with VisualAge for Java
LineViewMockup is the bean that allows you to draw your
reports into paper, screen or HTML reports. Every feature
of Line Mode reports from MERGe is exploitable from this
bean, even load/save of .lmr files!
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