Frameworks
A Framework is a collection of controls. These controls appear in the ToolBox, organized by Framework.
- Usually developed by a company or organization.
- Designed to have a similar look and feel.
- May be open source or commercial.
- Each has its own set of js and css files.
- AppStudio automatically builds the files into the app.
- Using more than one framework bloats apps
- Frameworks may interfere with each other.
Common Controls
- These are simple controls which can be used with any Framework.
- Provide basic functionality
- Includes Grid, Image, Label, Line, Orientation, PictureBox, ProgressBar and many more.
- Advanced ones include Date, DateTime, Month, Time, Audio, HTMLview, Image, Video, Adsense, Facebook, PayPal and Twitter.
Bootstrap
- One of the most popular
- Originally developed by Twitter
- Bootstrap 3 and Bootstrap 4 supported
- MIT licence (one of the best open source licenses)
- AppStudio includes 30 (or more!) Bootstrap controls.
- New controls being added.
- Actively being developed.
jqWidgets
- Contains some rich and powerful controls.
- Commercial, so it is not free for all apps.
- No charge for use in non-profit organizations.
- AppStudio includes 29 jqWidgets controls: jqxButton, Calendar, Chart, CheckBox, ColorPicker, DragDrop, Grid, Input, ListBox, Menu, PhotoGallery, RadialGauge, Rating, SwitchButton, Tabs and Tree.
- Actively being developed.
jQuery Mobile
- Developed by same group as the popular jQuery library.
- MIT licence (one of the best open source licenses)
- AppStudio includes 14 jQuery Mobile controls: Button, Checkbox, FlipToggle, Footerbar, HeaderBar, List, Popup, RadioButton, Select, Slider, TextArea, TextBox, ToolTip
- No longer being actively being developed by its originators. Do not use for new projects.
Other Frameworks
- Wikipedia lists more than 100!
- New frameworks are being announced regularly on the net
- To add them to AppStudio, ToolBox Files need to be created.
- Doing so requires skills not covered in this training.