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New Features Summary
This updated version of the IBM Forms Application Experience Designer Beta contains a number of new and powerful features that expand your ability to use the simple Web-based user interface to quickly create rich and powerful Web applications to capture data, orchestrate application flow, notifications, and approvals using a simple integrated work flow. Data captured in your applications can be easily integrated into existing line-of-business systems using the powerful graphical web service mapping interface. Many of the feature improvements are a direct result of feedback from the many consumers of the first version of the AED beta.
The new features include:
- SOA Integration
- Rich text content
- Security and ACL management
- Dynamic work flow approvals and notifications
- Quality and performance improvements
Click here to review the new features.
Installation and Configuration
This document outlines the steps required to install and configure the Lotus Forms Application
Experience Designer Beta (Application Designer) and includes:
- System requirements
- Installing
- Verifying the installation
- Configuration
- Email notification
- Database
- WebSphere Application Server
- User accounts
- Uninstalling
- Troubleshooting
Click here to review the installation and configuration document.
Migration
This document describes the steps required to upgrade from beta version 0.2 to 0.3.
Click here to review the migration document.
Integrating with Services Overview
This document provides an overview of the Application Experience Designer's Service Oriented Architecture and contains references to the various documents and samples that step through how to expose a Service to the Designer. Once a service has been exposed to the Application Experience Designer, the Designer's graphical interface makes it easy to configure your application to call the service at run time.
Click here to review the services overview.
Understanding the HTTP Service Transport
The HTTP Service Transport provides a mechanism to communicate with HTTP servers. The transport allows configuration of the URL to request, HTTP method to use, query parameters, and request headers. When combined with the Application Experience Designer's service mapping engine the HTTP Service Transport can extract data from an HTTP response and make it available to your application. The HTTP Service Transport can be used to communicate with any standard HTTP server. While there are some limits on what the HTTP Service Transport is capable of, in most cases it is all that should be needed to communicate with a basic HTTP server or RESTful service.
Click here to review the HTTP Service Transport.
Creating and Deploying Service Descriptions
The Service Description provides an interface to the Designer's Mapping UX and an interface to a Service Transport. This document contains instruction on creating and deploying a service description.
Click here to learn how to create and deploy service descriptions.
Exposing a RESTful Service - From Start to Finish
The Location Lookup Service Sample is provided to demonstrate the steps required to expose an HTTP Service to the Designer's mapping interface via the supplied HTTP Service Transport.
Click here to review the Location Lookup Service sample.
Understanding the available LDAP Transport
The LDAP Service Transport provides a mechanism to search an existing LDAP server for a list of results. The LDAP Service Transport supports searches that return multiple results, result attribute filtering and result count limits. Simple LDAP security is also supported.
Click here to review the LDAP Service Transport.
Sample LDAP Service Description
This sample can be used to help understand how to expose an LDAP Service to the Application Experience Designer, if you have an LDAP service available at your site.
Click here to download the sample.
Creating a Custom Theme
You can add your own custom CSS themes to the Application Experience Designer (Application Designer) to give your own look and feel to your running applications. This document describes how to add style sheets to the Application Designer and what CSS rules are recommended to be specified in these style sheets. This document assumes that you have an adequate working knowledge of CSS.
Click here to learn how to create your own custom theme.
JavaScript API
This document describes the IBM Lotus Forms Application Experience Designer Beta JavaScript API.
Click here to review the Application Experience Designer JavaScript API.
Application Security Overview
IBM Forms Application Experience Designer allows application designers to compose applications that combine user interfaces; data records, and a stages-based life cycle. To address the security concerns associated with these applications, AED provides a practical yet powerful security model. This document will describes the AED security concepts and show you how to use them when designing and maintaining applications.
Click here to learn about application security.