EQUIP2 WebApp Standard Dataspace Web Interface

Chris Greenhalgh, 2007-01-30

Introduction

Through a combination of reflection, heuristics and further declarative configuration, EQUIP2 provides a standard set of web pages for administering and debugging and potentially also authoring data in an EQUIP2-based web application.

Capabilities

The main capabilities are:

• Browser forms-based interface to the underlying dataspace, including:
  
• list all classes - http://.../db/class_index.htm
• list all instances of a class, e.g. Players - http://.../db/view_list.htm?class=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player
• view a single object, e.g. Player P1 - http://.../db/view_object.htm?class=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player&ID=P1
• edit a single object, e.g. Player P1 - http://.../db/edit_object.htm?class=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player&ID=P1
• delete a single object
• Dump and upload database contents in EQUIP2 XML encoding or Hessian binary encoding
  
• dump whole database, http://.../db/dump.xml?allclasses=true or http://.../db/dump_hessian.hessian?allclasses=true
  
• dump one class, e.g. Player, http://.../db/dump.xml?classes=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player or http://.../db/dump_hessian.hessian?classes=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player
• upload an XML dump, either leaving existing object unchanged, or replacing them, http://.../db/upload_form.htmhttp://.../db/upload_form.htm
• upload Hessian binary dump, either leaving existing object unchanged, or replacing them, http://.../db/upload_hessian_form.htm
• Dump and upload individual classes as CSV files (column per property)
• dump one class, e.g. Player http://.../db/dump_csv.txt?class=equip2.webapptutorial.db.Player
• upload on CSV file (= one class), http://...l/db/upload_csv_form.htm
• Perform general queries of the dataspace using an EQUIP2 XML query object, http://.../db/test_query_form.htm (Note: does not currently support properties types other than strings)
• Check the status of the underlying EQUIP2 dataspace, http://.../db/status_equip.htm
• Host other (application-specific) readonly views, http://.../db/view/index.htm
  

Comments and suggestions

The XML dumps are useful for debugging and for initial authoring and testing as they can be viewed by many applications and can be hand-edited/authoring if necessary.

The Hessian dumps are generally smaller and faster to process and so are preferred for working backups of running systems.

XML or Hessian dumps can be transferred between installations of the same application (provided care has been taken that the same IDs are not independently allocated by each one and to consider other possible concurrent changes). For example, this was used in Day of the Figurines to transfer authored content from an authoring server to the game server. These dumps can also be read by other (non-J2EE) EQUIP2 applications, e.g. thick clients or phone-based applications.

The forms interface can be used for low-level data entry and primitive authoring of content, as well as for debugging and monitoring.

General monitoring is best performed with additional application-specific view pages, normally written using JSP and the EQUIP2 taglib (no controller).

Changes

• Placeholder create
• initial version