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TOPIC: Galena How to lean it.
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The Galena Framework is a unique development and runtime environment. It is not a replacement
for tools like Eclipse, it augments them. While Eclipse is the perfect Java development tool,
Galena is a framework for developing business applications. The Galena Admin tool is a thin client
application that can be used to rapidly generate and maintain forms, fields, business rules,
work assignments (work queues) etc. The GAdmin tool is built entirely in Java and it's
framework is pure Galena.
Shown above is highlevel view of how Galena and GAdmin tool work together to help to rapidly
assemble and maintain business applications. One key point to understand, while you can fully
embrase the Galena framework, you can also choose when to use it, and when not to. You are
not bound to an "all or nothing" model. You can pick and choose the parts you want to use
without compromising your development flexibility.
In the diagram you can see that Galena is simply a JAR file which is included with your
application. The GAdmin, thin client application, is only used when you wish to modify or
create new servlets (red arrow, and blue arrows). It can also be used to create rules, new
business lines, modify the workflow, etc. (blue arrows). The GAdmin is not required to run
your application.
The forms database contains the descriptions for your fields, literally most of the html supported attributes of form objects. By
keeping these separate from the screen, they can be manipulated in code or with rules. This opens the door to a highly dynamic
application. It also means you can change the look and feel, and even the behavior of a field without changing the underlying java code
or java script. You also get a pretty darn good data dictionary for your fields.
But wait! There is more; By default your rules are also stored or in the database (optionally you can use XML). This provides the clean
seperation between business rules and code. The database also maintains the relationships for users and roles, fields and forms, forms and
applications (yes you can combine applications, or use seperate forms DBs for each), user/role and tasks etc. But keep in mind, while the
forms database is very handy, you DO NOT NEED TO USE IT since there is a java code equivalant for populating these structures, you can
get or create any of these relationships yourself - you can add fields to forms, and set all the HTML Form attributes in code - if you so desire.
The GalenaAdmin and forms database make a fantastic pairing for rapid, dynamic development and maintenance of business applications, but the
key point we want to drive home is - Use what you want, ignore the rest.
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