GBC 6.00.03 new features and upgrade notes

Vite-based build process

The Genero Browser Client is transitioning from its legacy gbc build system to a vite-based build process, with the goal of improving performance, maintainability, and alignment with modern web tooling.

Starting with GBC 6.00.03, the same gbc build commands now delegate the heavy lifting to vite when you pass --vite as a parameter. The overall workflow and command-line interface (CLI) remain familiar, but the underlying engine is vite.

Vite will become the default build method in a future release; at that time, the --vite flag will no longer be needed. You are encouraged to try it now to familiarize yourself with the new tooling and identify any issues early.

To learn more about vite, visit https://vite.dev.

To see where these commands are used, go to Set up your GBC build environment or Create a customization project.

Enabling AI in the GBC

AI features are disabled by default; they must be enabled using the theme variable gbc-ai-enabled. To activate AI features, set the theme variable to true. To set theme variables, you must create or edit a GBC customization project.

Configuring AI

Connect to your AI provider in the AI section of the GBC Settings dialog.

For more information on completing the AI section of the Settings dialog, refer to GBC Settings.

Add an AI provider

By default, a GBC project includes six default AI providers; GBC allows adding new AI providers through customization.

You implement a custom provider with a JavaScript module that extends the base class: AIProviderBase. Once you register the provider, it becomes available in the AI section of the Settings dialog.

The GBC project package includes a customizaton named custo_ai that serves as an example of how to add a custom provider.

AI Rewrite for TextEdit widgets

GBC integrates AI capabilities to assist users when writing content. The AI Rewrite feature is available for TextEdit components with a toolbar.

In the toolbar:

• A magic wand icon triggers the rewrite action.
• A dropdown chevron provides additional actions.

Available actions include:

• Rewrite text
• Make tone more professional
• Make tone more casual
• Make the text longer
• Make the text shorter

If the user selects a portion of the text, only the selected part will be rewritten; if no text is selected, the rewrite applies to the entire content.

When a rewrite is triggered:

1. A floating banner appears indicating that the context is being analyzed. The AI collects relevant information from the current form context, including values from other widgets.
2. A second banner then appears and displays the rewritten version of the text in an editable field.

The user can then use the icons in the toolbar to:

• Apply — Replace the original text with the improved version
• Refresh — Generate a new rewrite
• Cancel — Close the rewrite interface

The GBC project package includes the sample textEditAIRewriter, located in the directory tests\genero_samples\public. This sample shows a form with a TextEdit widget set up to use the AI Rewrite feature, once AI is enabled for the GBC. For more information, go to Enabling AI in the GBC.

...
ATTRIBUTES
  EDIT order_number = FORMONLY.order_number,
    DEFAULT = "123456789",
    COMMENT = "Unique number that identifies the order";
  EDIT customer = FORMONLY.customer,
    DEFAULT = "YesCompany",
    COMMENT = "Name of the customer who placed the order";
  TEXTEDIT textedit_ai = FORMONLY.textedit_ai, STYLE="textFormat_html", STRETCH=both;
END
...

AI Core theme variables

The AI core theme variables apply to all AI providers.

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AI Provider-Specific Overrides theme variables

Each AI provider can override the default rewrite prompts and templates.

AI User Interface (UI) Color theme variables

FloatingBanner theme variable

The FloatingBanner is not a Genero BDL widget. It is an internal GBC component used by features such as AI Rewrite and Offline Mode.

AI Rewrite Presentation Style

Use the aiWritingAssistant presentation style to enable or disable the AI Rewrite feature for a specific TextEdit field.

• When set to yes, the AI Rewrite feature is enabled for the TextEdit field where this presentation style attribute is applied, but only if the GBC has the theme variable gbc-ai-enabled set to true.
• When set to no, the AI Rewrite feature is disabled for the TextEdit field where this presentation style attribute is applied.

For more information on the aiWritingAssistant presentation style and how to use it, refer to the Genero Business Development Language User Guide.

ComboBox simple construct presentation style

<StyleAttribute name="customWidget" value="comboBoxSimpleConstruct"/>

For more information, go to ComboBox style attributes in the Genero Business Development Language User Guide.

TabbedContainer applications display in ChromeBar

While tabbedContainer applications have been deprecated since Genero BDL 4.00, the use of tabbedContainer=yes continued to embed each application in a tabbed container with several specific behaviors.

Accessibility improvements for button-related widgets

Four Js is working on better accessibility standard compliance which may impact customization migrations. Specifically with GBC 6.00.03, accessibility improvements have been completed with regard to button-related widgets.

To complete these improvements, some widget templates and CSS have been updated; the changes, however, are minor.