What is Axiell Designer
Contents
The Axiell Designer toolkit is meant for creating and adapting Axiell Collections applications and databases. These applications and databases could previously be run by Adlib for Windows but the latter is now deprecated and no longer in development. Axiell Designer 7.6.19234.1 is the last version which can safely be applied to applications used in Adlib for Windows, provided you use the latest version of Adlib for Windows. After your application has been changed with Axiell Designer 7.6 you can only use Adlib Software 7.6 or current Collections versions. Later versions of Designer have options which are not supported by Adlib: in the Designer Help it is usually noted if an option is only supported by Axiell Collections but for safety just assume that you cannot use a current version of Designer to adapt an application for use by Adlib for Windows.
Although Adlib for Windows is deprecated, you may still find references to Adlib in file names and/or in this documentation, but that's simply because Adlib has a long legacy which isn't eradicated overnight.
Within Designer there are a number of tools available. These tools are listed in the Tools and View menu but may also be opened from the main toolbar. Note that besides Designer, quite a number of separate tools for all kinds of purposes are available too, so if something can't be done in Designer, the solution may lie in a different tool.
There is no general way of working with Axiell Designer. Some tasks have one specific tool, like managing record locks, while for others, like editing a database definition or an application definition, you have to open the Application browser tool and search for the objects* that you want to edit.
* Collections objects are the interchangeable elements that, together, make up a Collections application: most of the nodes in the Application browser are objects, including folders. All objects have properties or attributes. So for instance: a field is an object, and its name and length are properties of that object. (Some properties are read-only.)
Select a working folder
To ease working with the several tools, you may select your working folder in the main Designer window first. Select for instance the (copy of the) Collections application folder you want to work in. Also, Axiell Designer remembers your current general working folder and the working folders selected for the individual tools (which you sometimes have to select separately) the next time you start the program, so you don't have to select them again. The selected work folder is displayed in the status bar of tools windows.
Interface and application language
Via the Application language menu, select the language in which you want to view the objects which comprise your application, in list views and in the Screen editor in Axiell Designer: data sources, access points, field names, labels and output formats and such, will then be displayed in this language (if label texts in that language are available of course). Regardless of the application language you choose, you'll be able to view and edit all translations of fixed texts where applicable: to set the application language to your own language just eases your work in Axiell Designer.
Underneath the Options menu you can set the language for the user interface of Designer (its menus and property labels). It may be convenient to set this option to your own language, but note that the Designer Help you are currently reading, is only available in English currently.
Available tools
The currently available tools are the following:
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Application browser: with the Application browser you can browse your application similar to browsing folders and files on your computer with Windows Explorer. But in the application/object browser you'll only see folders and Collections objects, like screens and application definitions and database structures. From here, you can add new objects too, to the folders of your choice. And when possible, you'll find the properties of a selected object in the right pane of the application browser, where you may edit them. Introductory Help topics: |
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Screens manager and Screen editor: these tools allow you to manage and edit all your application screen files or create new ones. (But use the Application browser to link screen files to an application.) Introductory Help topic: |
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Import- and Export job manager and editor: manage, create, edit and execute import or export jobs from their respective tools. Introductory Help topic: |
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Translations manager: the Translations manager is for viewing, editing and/or translating all texts in your Collections system in one overview (except for the Help files, at the moment). In the overview you can easily find any text in any file, all at once: just sort on a column of your choice and scroll to the texts you are searching for. Introductory Help topic: |
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Recovery tool: this tool is deprecated and cannot be used for Axiell Collections. |
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Object searcher: use the Object searcher tool to search your application for names of objects in your definition files, that appear in any of four possible file types. With the search result as reference, you can edit the application (in the Application browser) without the risk of overlooking any reference. Full Help topic: |
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Application tester: check your application for configuration errors. Full Help topic: |
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Record lock manager: with this tool, you may keep real-time track of locks applied to records when they are edited. Erroneous locks can be deleted. Full Help topic: |
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Application character set conversion tool: you can change the encoding of database structures (.inf files), application structures (.pbk files) and screens (.fmt files) simultaneously, with the Application character set conversion tool. Full Help topic: |
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Change your application colours tool: not applicable to Axiell Collections. You can only customize the foreground (text) colour of field labels on screens, via the label properties. |
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Batch job manager: create, manage and execute import or export job batches. Full Help topic: |
Some options from the Application browser pop-up menu
Amongst other, more common options, the pop-up menu which opens after right-clicking a folder node in the tree view of the Application browser contains the Open in file explorer option. Select it if you'd like to open the relevant folder in a Windows Explorer window so you can access the files in the relevant folder outside of Designer.
Another handy pop-up menu option is Collapse items. This option is active in the right-click pop-up menu for any node in the Application browser tree view which has been expanded.
The main Axiell Designer window
The output of many tools in Designer is directed towards the document space in the main Axiell Designer window. When you have just started Designer, this document is empty. What the output consist of, depends on the tool: sometimes it may be a search result, but mostly it will be a report about an executed process (including any errors that may have occurred). All output will be inserted beneath the previous output, unless you empty the resulting document by clicking the Clear messages from log window button:
You can edit the output in the resulting document by typing or deleting text in it. You may even paste copied images or text from other Windows programs into this document. You can save the document at any time by choosing File > Save result window as, or by clicking the Save log file as icon:
In the main Axiell Designer window choose Edit > Find (Ctrl+F) to search for a term in the resulting document.
Type any term or part thereof you want to search in all of the text displayed in the main Designer window.
If the term you type is only part of a word or words you look for, then deselect the Match words option.
Leave the Match case option unmarked if upper and lower case are not important while searching.
Click OK to start the search. A found term is highlighted. To search a next appearance of the searched term, each time press F3.
Important!
To ensure the safety of your current application and data, always make a copy of your application and maybe of your data too (the latter only if no-one will be working on it while you edit the application), and only edit that copy. When you are certain your edited copy is working okay, you can replace the original with it. Also make regular backups of your original Axiell software folder, so you can always go back to a previous state of the application.
Also note that when you make changes to your application or database definition files (.pbk, .fmt's, .inf's etc.) using Designer, you'll have to recycle the IIS application pool(s) in which Collections is running (when no-one is working in the application): this will reload all application definition files in cache for Collections to use. If you don't recycle the application after a change, Collections will keep using the definition files already cached but may also generate an error if it encounters a mismatch between the cached files and a possibly altered database structure. Then still recycle the relevant application pool(s) as soon as possible.
If users are still editing records while you recycle the application pool, they will be logged out and a record lock on the edited record will remain.