Building applications

Within XsDesktop it is possible to build and run your own applications. Using Development Studio the applications can be build and tested, after that the application can be converted from project to runnable format. The runnable format can be run by XdaX Application Runner.

Development Studio

With Development Studio, you can create your own applications. By using the full clientside API of the XsDesktop framework, you have a powerfull way of building your own extensions to XsDesktop.

A project always consists of at least an Application class (part of project settings) en from there usualy a form is shown. When you start a new project, this principle is already templated for you and instantly runnable.

Namespaces and classes

Within the XsDesktop framework, all classes are in namespaces (like System for the framework) to avoid double definitions of classes. For your own projects use a root namespace that fits your company (for example: we use MarjotMultiSoft as root of all our namespaces outside the framework). Folders created in a project are considered namespaces and will be applied when you create new units.

There are several templates available for new units:

• Class: an empty class definition inheriting from System.Object;
• Form: a form definition as a special class definition, inheriting from System.Forms.Form;
• Enumeration: a definition of an emumeration like we used to write them within the XsDesktop framework;
• Empty unit: een unit without content.

Registration of namespaces in the XsDesktop environment are handled by the compiler. As developer you do not have to worry about it and use as many namespaces as you like, as long as the classes are defined in the way a new class is templated.
Beside that, the compiler also manages the inheritance of objects. In your code you can use the normal prototype principle, the compiler will solve the arrangement problems of the classes.

Renaming of classes (refactoring) within a project is easy. When you rename the unit that contains the class, Development Studio will ask if the code should also be processed. All units referencing the given class will be opened and altered.

Compiling and running

From Development Studio your applications can be run directly. The project will be compiled in memory and passed to XdaX application Runner (see below). XdaX Application Runner will run your application. If you rerun your application from Development Studio, the project will be recompiled and replaces the previous version in memory. So running from Development Studio always gives you the latest version of the project.

Running outside Development Studio requires an application to be compiled and saved as XdaX-file. During this compilation, the code will be compressed by removing all unnecessary comments, linebreaks and spaces/tabs. Private members (fields and methods, identified by starting with a lowercase character or underscore ('_')) will also be replaced by a generated short name.

Examples

Examples of projects will be available in the XsDesktop Repository (attachable to your account as storage). In these examples the usage of classes of the XsDesktop framework will be shown.

Third-party applications

In the future it will be possible to offer your applications to other users of XsDesktop. These applications will be reviewed by the XsDesktop team to avoid having malware (leaking privacy sensitive data) in the appstore. If you want to offer your application to other users of XsDesktop you have to send the sourcecode (the projectfile (*.xdaproj) with the necessary documentation) to the XsDesktop team for review. When approved, the XsDesktop team will compile your project in Development Studio and make is available for other users of XsDesktop.

XdaX Application Runner

An application which is developed in Development Studio should be compiled and saved before it can be run without Development Studio. Once saved, XdaX Application Runner can run the application outside the development environment. If you start XdaX Application Runner, you will asked to pick the application to be run. After starting the picked application, XdaX Application Runner will dissapear again.

If you run an application more than once, the code will be loaded into memory only once and executed multiple times (creating instances of the Application class).

Startmenu

To launch your application directly from the startmenu you can add XdaX Application Runner to the menu, change it's name and add the full path of your application's XdaX-file as parameter (named filename). Clicking this menuitem in the startmenu will then result in launching the XdaX Application Runner which immediately loads the given XdaX-file and starts your application instead of asking for a XdaX-file.