Configure GDC applications

What do you need to configure a Genero Desktop Client (GDC) application?

To add an application for GDC, you need to specify:

  • An application Id (a unique name for this APPLICATION element)
    Note: Applications defined in the GAS configuration file require an Id attribute. For external configuration files, the Id attribute is ignored.
  • The parent application from which to inherit configuration details ("defaultgdc" in this example)
  • The path to the compiled application files
  • The name of the application to launch
  • For information on running applications via the GDC monitor see URI examples Running desktop applications .

These examples show well-formed application configuration for the sample Genero BDL demo application.

Example: simple configuration for GDC application

In the following example the configuration is for a GDC application defined in the GAS configuration file.
  1. The application inherits the configuration settings of its parent ("defaultgdc" in this example).
  2. The path used in this example is a RESOURCE defined in the as.xcf; you could also use the absolute path to your application files.
  3. The MODULE contains the name of the application to launch.
<APPLICATION Id="my-app" Parent="defaultgdc">
  <EXECUTION>
    <PATH>$(res.path.fgldir.demo)</PATH>
    <MODULE>demo</MODULE>
  </EXECUTION>
</APPLICATION>
Important: When you add an application to the GAS configuration file, you must restart the GAS for the application to be recognized.
You can use this kind of URL to launch your application via the GDC monitor:

http://appserver:6394/da/r/my-app.

Example: gdc-demo-external.xcf

This external configuration file would accomplish the same task as the Example: simple configuration for GDC application that is defined in the GAS configuration file. The only differences are the lack of the Id attribute and the addition of the reference to the XML schema. 

<APPLICATION Parent="defaultgdc"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.4js.com/ns/gas/3.20/cfextwa.xsd">
  <EXECUTION>
    <PATH>$(res.path.fgldir.demo)</PATH>
    <MODULE>demo</MODULE>
  </EXECUTION>
</APPLICATION>

After configuring your application, you can test it to see if it is configured correctly by saving the xcf file in your $(res.appdata.path)/app directory and running it on the GAS.

You can use this kind of URL to launch your application via the GDC monitor:

http://appserver:6394/da/r/gdc-demo-external