Evaluate rendering limitations when migrating from GDC

An application can display on different display sizes and devices, but an exact pixel-by-pixel match with GDC cannot be expected.

For applications rendering in the GDC, you may have sized your application forms to fit in a sized area of a monitor. There is no guarantee that the application will render inside a browser tab at the exact same size. To ensure that your application works for your target devices, review your application forms.

Pop-up windows

The GBC is a Web client and not a fully-implemented windows manager. It displays a maximum of two windows at one time. It always displays the topmost normal (non-modal) window; if a modal window is opened, it is displayed over the non-modal window. This is the equivalent of running the GDC with every non-modal window maximized.

Note:

You do have access to stacked windows in the GBC through the sidebar, but only non-modal windows are accessible.

If window B is opened on top of window A, and window A has useful information, consider opening window B as modal. This can be accomplished by referencing the default.4st window style and setting the attribute STYLE="dialog" in the Genero BDL code:

OPEN window msg WITH FORM "MyWindowB" ATTRIBUTES (STYLE="dialog") 

Window B then displays as a pop-up window.

An alternative is to consolidate window A and window B together as one window.

If you already have pop-up windows in your GDC application, and you want to have consistency between windows in GDC and GBC, set the windowType style attribute to modal in the Genero style for Window.dialog (in the default.4st).

Note:

Any presentation style (4st) element bound to a window may contain the windowType attribute.

Excerpt from $FGLDIR/lib/default.4st:

<Style name="Window.dialog">
  <StyleAttribute name="windowType" value="modal" />
  <StyleAttribute name="sizable" value="no" />
  <StyleAttribute name="position" value="center" />
  <StyleAttribute name="actionPanelPosition" value="bottom" />
  <StyleAttribute name="ringMenuPosition" value="bottom" />
  <StyleAttribute name="toolBarPosition" value="none" />
  <StyleAttribute name="statusBarType" value="none" />
  <StyleAttribute name="errorMessagePosition" value="popup" />
</Style>

Multiple Document Interface

Multiple Document Interface (MDI) is not applicable for Web applications.

Customization

It is likely you will want to apply some corporate styling to your user interface. For example, you may want to use your corporate colors or add your company logo.

Before you migrate your application, try out some of the customization exercises in Customization. For example, change the favicon image or add header text.