XAP: Architecture

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+ + + +

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Architecture

Below is the architecture as it is proposed to work and what we are working towards. These ideas will evolve as the project moves forward.

The Big Picture

Extensible Application Platform (XAP) user interface and data binding are described by Extensible Application Language (XAL) files containing an XML-based markup language designed to support application development - rather than document markup. XAP maps XAL markup to specific UI widgets. An XAP DOM, separate from the HTML DOM, maintains the UI state.
(and updates the HTML DOM through UI bridges.)

+

An XAP application consists of server- and client-side components as follows:

On the server side
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Component Description
1 Any Web server. There are no specific server requirements; XAP code operates only on the client.
2 +
HTML boostraps or hosts.
+ An HTML file bootstraps the XAP application, or
an HTML file hosts an XAP application.
3 +
One or more XAL documents.
+ XAL documents describe the user interface, data binding and modifications.
+
On the client side
+
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Component Description
1 Web Browser Runs in any Web browser.
2 +
XAP DOM
+ Holds the state of the XAP application and provides APIs for modification and structure listeners.
3 +
XAP Engine
+ Consists of an XML parser, modifications modules (XModify), XPath, containers for system services,
and bridges for connecting XAL markup to HTML/DHTML/JavaScript.
4 Event Handlers Coded in JavaScript on the client or located on the server as any request/response handler.
+
+
+
Figure 1a - XAP high level architecture
+

Figure 1b - XAP block diagram
+
Client Side Detail

The XAP engine works with the HTML DOM to display the user interface.

The XAP engine parses XAL documents which contain markup that builds the XAP DOM. The XAP DOM represents the user interface and state of the application. Each XML tag within an XAL document is either markup or an instruction to a system service. The XML can contain:
+
+
user interface tags
+
XModify statements that can declaratively change user interface or application state
+
(XModfiy ?) statements that create or execute macros and managed client side code
+
(XModfiy ?) statements that call a system service such as networking

On the client:
+
+
+
Figure 2 - XAP client side detail
+

The above diagram shows: +
+
User Interface component bridges map XML tags to user interface
+
XAP DOM - holds the state of the XAP application
+
Containers manage system services and client side code objects (MCOs)
+
XML Parser processes the markup; markup consists of UI elements and instructions to operate on the UI DOM or other DOMs +
+
XModify: provides a declarative means of updating user interface and application state
+
XPath: used within XModify statements and whenever DOM path resolution is supported
+
MCOs: client side managed code objects written in JavaScript; contain business logic and can be called via XML handlers
+
System Services such as networking, style sheets, etc.
+
Macros that provide simple XML modifications that can be executed on the fly
+
+
+
UI Toolkits provide implementation of user interface components and make the relevant changes to the HTML DOM
+
Actual web browser DOM
+
+XAP Architecture (simplified workflow)

The following diagram provides a high level overview of the XAP architecture with a workflow of XML input to the UI output. "A" is the XAP application, which is an XML file that consists of XAL markup and instructions. Subsequent changes to the DOM can be made either via additional XAP XML documents containing declarative modification instructures or programatically via object oriented interfaces.

+
Figure 3 - XAP Workflow
+

The above diagram demonstrates how XAL XML is fed into XAP to build the user interface. Events generated by user interaction are fed back into the XAP application. +
+
XML Parser processes the markup; markup consists of UI elements and instructions to operate on the UI DOM or other DOMs
+
Processed markup builds the UI DOM. The XAP DOM manages user interface state for the XAP portions of the application; listeners allow hooking into DOM changes.
+
Component bridges map XML tags to user interface
+
UI Toolkits provide implementation of user interface components and make the relevant changes to the HTML DOM
+
Actual browser DOM representing the web browsers user interface
+
Events are fired when the user interacts with the UI; these events are handled by the XAP application
+
+
XAP Architecture (component detail)

The following diagram shows the same workflow but breaks out the steps in more detail and provides more information on the system components.

+
Figure 4 - XAP Workflow Detail
+
This diagram shows: +
+
XML Parser to process markup
+
Namespace handlers take actions based on specific namespaces
+
Containers manage system objects +
+
MCOs: client side managed code objects written in JavaScript; contain business logic and can be called via XML handlers
+
System Services such as networking
+
Macros that provide simple XML modifications that can be executed on the fly
+
+
+
The XAP DOM manages user interface state for the XAP portions of the application; includes listeners that allow hooking into DOM changes.
+
Component bridges map XML tags to user interface
+
UI Toolkits provide implementation of user interface components and make the relevant changes to the HTML DOM
+
Actual browser DOM representing the web browsers user interface
+
Events; these can be handled by (1) client side code objects (MCOs), (2) network requests back to the web server or (3) UI state changes. UI state changes can be listened for.
+

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License

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+ +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + \ No newline at end of file Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1058.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:eol-style = native Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1058.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:executable = * Added: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1060.html URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/incubator/xap/site/index.php%40cid%3D1060.html?rev=415473&view=auto ============================================================================== --- incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1060.html (added) +++ incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1060.html Mon Jun 19 18:06:37 2006 @@ -0,0 +1,127 @@ + + + +XAP: Contribution + + + + + + + + + +

+ + + +

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+ + + +

Project

News

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Getting Involved

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Contribution

The Apache XAP project needs and appreciates any contributions, including documentation, source code and feedback. Suggested changes should come in the form of code or very detailed and c onstructive feedback. The first step to getting involved is to join the mailing list.

To subscribe email: xap-dev-subscribe@incubator.apache.org

As with any Apache project: +

Discussion occurs on the XAP mailling lists
Bugs and other issues can be posted on the project JIRA
Additional documentation and discussion can be found on the project wiki

+XAP holds bi-weekly IRC chat on irc.freenode.net - channel #xap. This is held on thursday of the 2nd and 4th week every month at 17:00PM GMT (1PM ET, 10AM PT) for one hour.

Contribution Policy
+

Due to the oversight which we wish to provide for XAP, the following process will be used for committers, contributors and their contributions.

In summary:

We are working to ensure that we have broad participation from the community, at all experience levels and interests, but at the same time will work to minimze any risks to the the ASF, the project and our community due to inappropriate contributions of the intellectual property of others.
We will adhere to the standard Apache process and contribution agreements, but enhance to gather information about contributor's previous experience with similar technology. This information will be used to ensure that the work contributed to the project does not infringe the intellectual or other property rights of others.
We will compartmentalize our SVN repository and use fine-grained access control to ensure broad participation while still ensuring that inappropriate or questionalble contributions do no occur.
We will require every contributor to fill out a "Authorized Contributor Questionnaire", while will be used to help limit the risks to our source base from inappropriate contributions.

+More information can be found under How Apache Works.

Committer Requirements

As with any Apache project:

Each committer is required to complete a standard Apache Individual Contributor License Agreement. This document asserts that the contributor is licensing their material to the ASF under the Apache license and is their original work. This document is maintained and managed by the Secretary of the Apache Software Foundation. +

We encourage every committer, if appropriate, to have their employer execute a Apache CorporateContributor License Agreement. Note that this is recommended, but not required.

+ + + + + + + + +

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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + \ No newline at end of file Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1060.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:eol-style = native Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1060.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:executable = * Added: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1064.html URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/incubator/xap/site/index.php%40cid%3D1064.html?rev=415473&view=auto ============================================================================== --- incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1064.html (added) +++ incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1064.html Mon Jun 19 18:06:37 2006 @@ -0,0 +1,142 @@ + + + +XAP: Getting Started + + + + + + + + + +

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Project

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Get ting Started

Getting Started

Prerequisites

In order to use the build system of XAP you'll need:
+

Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) Java Development Kit (JDK)
Apache Ant

+Instructions +

Installing a Java Development Kit (JDK)

The XAP build requires Sun J2SE JDK 5 (1.5).

To download the latest Sun J2SE JDK 5 (1.5): +
- Go to: java.sun.com.
- Locate and select J2SE 5.0.
- Look for the JDK 5.0 Update (Latest) banner.
- Click Download JDK 5.0 (Latest) to install it on your development system.
  Note: This installer includes JS2E Runtime Environment 5.0.
- During the JS2E Runtime Environment 5.0 installation, when prompted for Browser Registration, install browser support; this ensures that the client runs on the web browsers installed on the system.
+
Installing Apache Ant

Install Apache Ant (1.6.1 or greater) to use the build system.

To install Apache Ant: +
- Download and install from ant.apache.org.
- Follow instructions for installing Apache Ant available in the manual.
+
Installing a Web Server
+
Follow your Web server's instructions to perform a typical installation of the Web server on your local system.
+
Installing Perl (optional: for generating the documentation)

http://activeperl.com/

+ Downloading the Source

Obtain the XAP source from the XAP subversion repository.

+

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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + \ No newline at end of file Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1064.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:eol-style = native Propchange: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1064.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ svn:executable = * Added: incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1065&lang=html4strict&source_code=..%2Fdemo%2FxapDemos%2Fexamples%2FhelloWorld%2Findex.html URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/incubator/xap/site/index.php%40cid%3D1065%26lang%3Dhtml4strict%26source_code%3D..%252Fdemo%252FxapDemos%252Fexamples%252FhelloWorld%252Findex.html?rev=415473&view=auto ============================================================================== --- incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1065&lang=html4strict&source_code=..%2Fdemo%2FxapDemos%2Fexamples%2FhelloWorld%2Findex.html (added) +++ incubator/xap/site/index.php@cid=1065&lang=html4strict&source_code=..%2Fdemo%2FxapDemos%2Fexamples%2FhelloWorld%2Findex.html Mon Jun 19 18:06:37 2006 @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ + + + +XAP: Hello World + + + + + + + + + +

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