How to improve the user interface of eGW?

[qualinnove_extension]

Hello,

I am currently working on a project which aims at improve the ergonomics of Qualinnove modules for eGroupWare, available here.

This project is supported by the Research Center Henri Tudor in Luxembourg.

After we have studied the development technology of Rich Internet Application. We offer a quick summary of our research.

Ajax: framework + basic graphics library (eg JQuery UI)

• Doesn’t require major changes in the existing code
• Many rich components available
• JavaScript is supported by all browsers
• Typically the projects are licensed under open source and has a large community of developers

• Difficulties to produce a quality code with JavaScript (maintainable, testable, …)
• Low performance
• The cross-browser portability is not guaranteed
• Lack of documentation for some projects
• Limitation of the JavaScript runtime (vs Flash player for example)

Flex 3:

• It’s an open-source framework(MPL) supported by Adobe and with a great community
• Lots of documentation and tutorials to develop applications easily
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Flash Player is present on approximately 95% of PCs in the world
• Good library of rich components
• Easy integration of Flash into an HTML file
• There are possibilities for optimized the communication between Flex and PHP
• Best look and feel experience for the user

• Flex Builder IDE is not free
• It’s necessary to develop a Web Services architecture for the client - server communication. It exists partially at the moment with the module (deprecated?) XML-RPC

These two technologies seems to be the only viable solutions for this project. However, we have investigated other technologies

Google Web Toolkit:

Attractive but not suitable for integration with PHP

OpenLaszlo:

Lack of maturity for professional use.

JavaFx:

Too recent technologie and not really suitable for integration with PhP

We think the technology choosed must keep the capabilities of the etemplate module, either with an adaptation or with a redevelopment of etemplate.

This technology must guarantee a backward compatibility with existing datas.
We 'd like to choose a technology that the community would use of course.

According to you, what is the best choice ?

We welcome your views and comments forward

KAFFEL Mehdi

[Ralf_Becker_6]

Hi Mehdi,

I made some research last year looking for means to change eTemplate to
use more Ajax and “nicer” Widgets.

As you already wrote, there are lot’s of nice JavaScript GUI Framework,
like eg. ExtJS, to render really awesome widgets (eye candy).
Unfortunately they require to code large parts of the application in
JavaScript AND would require to rewrite large parts of EGroupware to use
them.

One of the PHP Frameworks I looked at was QCodo (www.qcodo.com). They
have some tutorial videos. The most interesting one was:
http://qcodo.com/demos/beta_2/demo_b_qforms/demo_b_qforms.html

The have a signal mechanism similar to Qt. They connect an action of a
widget (eg. button clicked) with an action on the server. The server
actions are coded in php and run on the webserver via regular form posts
OR Ajax requests. In this actions you can manipulate the widgets of the
(already rendered) form with php code.

They have there own way of templating and also require all widgets of a
form to be explicitly declared in the controler, but I think that can be
replaced by the eTemplates we already have.

So I’m not necessarily want to use QCodo, but this signal mechanism they
borrowed from Qt and a set of PHP methods to manipulate the (already
rendered) widgets from PHP code running as action on the webserver.

Unfortunately I have only this long term plan / goal, but no time or
ressources to realise it in the next few month

Ralf

qualinnove extensions schrieb:

Hello,

I am currently working on a project which aims at improve the ergonomics of
Qualinnove modules for eGroupWare, available http://qualinnove.tudor.lu
here .

This project is supported by the Research Center Henri Tudor in Luxembourg.

After we have studied the development technology of Rich Internet
Application. We offer a quick summary of our research.

Ajax: framework + basic graphics library (eg JQuery UI)

• Doesn’t require major changes in the existing code
• Many rich components available
• JavaScript is supported by all browsers
• Typically the projects are licensed under open source and has a large
  community of developers

• Difficulties to produce a quality code with JavaScript (maintainable,
  testable, …)
• Low performance
• The cross-browser portability is not guaranteed
• Lack of documentation for some projects
• Limitation of the JavaScript runtime (vs Flash player for example)

Flex 3:

• It’s an open-source framework(MPL) supported by Adobe and with a great
  community
• Lots of documentation and tutorials to develop applications easily
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Flash Player is present on approximately 95% of PCs in the world
• Good library of rich components
• Easy integration of Flash into an HTML file
• There are possibilities for optimized the communication between Flex and
  PHP
• Best look and feel experience for the user

• Flex Builder IDE is not free
• It’s necessary to develop a Web Services architecture for the client -
  server communication. It exists partially at the moment with the module
  (deprecated?) XML-RPC

These two technologies seems to be the only viable solutions for this
project. However, we have investigated other technologies

Google Web Toolkit:

Attractive but not suitable for integration with PHP

OpenLaszlo:

Lack of maturity for professional use.

JavaFx:

Too recent technologie and not really suitable for integration with PhP

We think the technology choosed must keep the capabilities of the etemplate
module, either with an adaptation or with a redevelopment of etemplate.

This technology must guarantee a backward compatibility with existing datas.
We 'd like to choose a technology that the community would use of course.

According to you, what is the best choice ?

We welcome your views and comments forward

KAFFEL Mehdi

---

Qualinnove Extensions Team
http://qualinnove.tudor.lu/ www.qualinnove.lu
Skype : qualinnove.extensions.team

–
Ralf Becker
Director Software Development

Stylite GmbH
[open style of IT]

Morschheimer Strasse 15
67292 Kirchheimbolanden

fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0
fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30
mailto: rb@stylite.de

www.stylite.de
www.egroupware.org

---

Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Nigel John Vickers,
Gudrun K. Müller und Ralf Becker
Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 12087

---

Apps built with the Adobe® Flex® framework and Flex Builder™ are
powering Web 2.0 with engaging, cross-platform capabilities. Quickly and
easily build your RIAs with Flex Builder, the Eclipse™based development
software that enables intelligent coding and step-through debugging.
Download the free 60 day trial. http://p.sf.net/sfu/www-adobe-com

---

eGroupWare-developers mailing list
eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers

[kiang]

If Qcodo is an option, maybe could have a look at QCubed (
http://qcu.be/ ). Because Qcodo had stopped for a while.

I’m preferring RoR style development like CakePHP( http://cakephp.org/
) or Yii ( http://www.yiiframework.com/ ). And lived with CakePHP in
more than one year really saved large part of my life.

–
Finjon Kiang

Hi Mehdi,

I made some research last year looking for means to change eTemplate to
use more Ajax and “nicer” Widgets.

As you already wrote, there are lot’s of nice JavaScript GUI Framework,
like eg. ExtJS, to render really awesome widgets (eye candy).
Unfortunately they require to code large parts of the application in
JavaScript AND would require to rewrite large parts of EGroupware to use
them.

One of the PHP Frameworks I looked at was QCodo (www.qcodo.com). They
have some tutorial videos. The most interesting one was:
http://qcodo.com/demos/beta_2/demo_b_qforms/demo_b_qforms.html

The have a signal mechanism similar to Qt. They connect an action of a
widget (eg. button clicked) with an action on the server. The server
actions are coded in php and run on the webserver via regular form posts
OR Ajax requests. In this actions you can manipulate the widgets of the
(already rendered) form with php code.

They have there own way of templating and also require all widgets of a
form to be explicitly declared in the controler, but I think that can be
replaced by the eTemplates we already have.

So I’m not necessarily want to use QCodo, but this signal mechanism they
borrowed from Qt and a set of PHP methods to manipulate the (already
rendered) widgets from PHP code running as action on the webserver.

Unfortunately I have only this long term plan / goal, but no time or
ressources to realise it in the next few month

Ralf

qualinnove extensions schrieb:

Hello,

I am currently working on a project which aims at improve the ergonomics of
Qualinnove modules for eGroupWare, available http://qualinnove.tudor.lu
here .

This project is supported by the Research Center Henri Tudor in Luxembourg.

After we have studied the development technology of Rich Internet
Application. We offer a quick summary of our research.

Ajax: framework + basic graphics library (eg JQuery UI)

• Doesn’t require major changes in the existing code
• Many rich components available
• JavaScript is supported by all browsers
• Typically the projects are licensed under open source and has a large
  community of developers

• Difficulties to produce a quality code with JavaScript (maintainable,
  testable, …)
• Low performance
• The cross-browser portability is not guaranteed
• Lack of documentation for some projects
• Limitation of the JavaScript runtime (vs Flash player for example)

Flex 3:

• It’s an open-source framework(MPL) supported by Adobe and with a great
  community
• Lots of documentation and tutorials to develop applications easily
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Flash Player is present on approximately 95% of PCs in the world
• Good library of rich components
• Easy integration of Flash into an HTML file
• There are possibilities for optimized the communication between Flex and
  PHP
• Best look and feel experience for the user

• Flex Builder IDE is not free
• It’s necessary to develop a Web Services architecture for the client -
  server communication. It exists partially at the moment with the module
  (deprecated?) XML-RPC

These two technologies seems to be the only viable solutions for this
project. However, we have investigated other technologies

Google Web Toolkit:

Attractive but not suitable for integration with PHP

OpenLaszlo:

Lack of maturity for professional use.

JavaFx:

Too recent technologie and not really suitable for integration with PhP

We think the technology choosed must keep the capabilities of the etemplate
module, either with an adaptation or with a redevelopment of etemplate.

This technology must guarantee a backward compatibility with existing datas.
We 'd like to choose a technology that the community would use of course.

According to you, what is the best choice ?

We welcome your views and comments forward

KAFFEL Mehdi

---

Qualinnove Extensions Team
http://qualinnove.tudor.lu/ www.qualinnove.lu
Skype : qualinnove.extensions.team

–
Ralf Becker
Director Software Development

---

Apps built with the Adobe® Flex® framework and Flex Builder™ are
powering Web 2.0 with engaging, cross-platform capabilities. Quickly and
easily build your RIAs with Flex Builder, the Eclipse™based development
software that enables intelligent coding and step-through debugging.
Download the free 60 day trial. http://p.sf.net/sfu/www-adobe-com

---

eGroupWare-developers mailing list
eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers

[qualinnove_extension]

Hi Ralf,

We think using a framework would be very positive for eGroupWare. What do you think about the Framework Zend ?

However, we believe the use of Ajax components isn’t the best solution to improve the user interface of eGroupWare (JavaScript limitation, problems with cross-browser compatibility, integration would be not easy), at least for the current time.

Our idea would be to developed an user interface with Flex (Flash interface) and it will use data from eGroupWare by its BO methods accessible remotely via XML-RPC.

It will be very easy to integrate these Flash elements in the body of an HTML eGroupWare page. The user will can then access to the modules developed with Flex or in classic HTML (eTemplate) with the navigation bar (the same as actual).

One of the advantage is only minimal change is required at the eGroupWare source code.

In a second step, the development of an SDK Flex for eGroupWare is envisaged. The objective is to provide a tool similar to eTemplate which will allow everyone to design easily modules with Flex.

We believe that this solution represents the best alternative to significantly improve the user interface in eGroupWare and to attract new users through a more intuitive use of applications.

What is your position regarding FLEX as presented above (against JavaScript library like Ext-JS)?

Mehdi

Hi Mehdi,

I made some research last year looking for means to change eTemplate to
use more Ajax and “nicer” Widgets.

As you already wrote, there are lot’s of nice JavaScript GUI Framework,
like eg. ExtJS, to render really awesome widgets (eye candy).
Unfortunately they require to code large parts of the application in
JavaScript AND would require to rewrite large parts of EGroupware to use
them.

One of the PHP Frameworks I looked at was QCodo (www.qcodo.com). They
have some tutorial videos. The most interesting one was:
http://qcodo.com/demos/beta_2/demo_b_qforms/demo_b_qforms.html

The have a signal mechanism similar to Qt. They connect an action of a
widget (eg. button clicked) with an action on the server. The server
actions are coded in php and run on the webserver via regular form posts
OR Ajax requests. In this actions you can manipulate the widgets of the
(already rendered) form with php code.

They have there own way of templating and also require all widgets of a
form to be explicitly declared in the controler, but I think that can be
replaced by the eTemplates we already have.

So I’m not necessarily want to use QCodo, but this signal mechanism they
borrowed from Qt and a set of PHP methods to manipulate the (already
rendered) widgets from PHP code running as action on the webserver.

Unfortunately I have only this long term plan / goal, but no time or
ressources to realise it in the next few month

Ralf

qualinnove extensions schrieb:

Hello,

I am currently working on a project which aims at improve the ergonomics of
Qualinnove modules for eGroupWare, available http://qualinnove.tudor.lu
here .

This project is supported by the Research Center Henri Tudor in Luxembourg.

After we have studied the development technology of Rich Internet
Application. We offer a quick summary of our research.

Ajax: framework + basic graphics library (eg JQuery UI)

• Doesn’t require major changes in the existing code
• Many rich components available
• JavaScript is supported by all browsers
• Typically the projects are licensed under open source and has a large
  community of developers

• Difficulties to produce a quality code with JavaScript (maintainable,
  testable, …)
• Low performance
• The cross-browser portability is not guaranteed
• Lack of documentation for some projects
• Limitation of the JavaScript runtime (vs Flash player for example)

Flex 3:

• It’s an open-source framework(MPL) supported by Adobe and with a great
  community
• Lots of documentation and tutorials to develop applications easily
• Cross-browser compatibility
• Flash Player is present on approximately 95% of PCs in the world
• Good library of rich components
• Easy integration of Flash into an HTML file
• There are possibilities for optimized the communication between Flex and
  PHP
• Best look and feel experience for the user

• Flex Builder IDE is not free
• It’s necessary to develop a Web Services architecture for the client -
  server communication. It exists partially at the moment with the module
  (deprecated?) XML-RPC

These two technologies seems to be the only viable solutions for this
project. However, we have investigated other technologies

Google Web Toolkit:

Attractive but not suitable for integration with PHP

OpenLaszlo:

Lack of maturity for professional use.

JavaFx:

Too recent technologie and not really suitable for integration with PhP

We think the technology choosed must keep the capabilities of the etemplate
module, either with an adaptation or with a redevelopment of etemplate.

This technology must guarantee a backward compatibility with existing datas.
We 'd like to choose a technology that the community would use of course.

According to you, what is the best choice ?

We welcome your views and comments forward

KAFFEL Mehdi

---

Qualinnove Extensions Team
http://qualinnove.tudor.lu/ www.qualinnove.lu
Skype : qualinnove.extensions.team

–
Ralf Becker
Director Software Development

Stylite GmbH
[open style of IT]

Morschheimer Strasse 15
67292 Kirchheimbolanden

fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0
fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30
mailto: rb@stylite.de

www.stylite.de
www.egroupware.org

---

Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Nigel John Vickers,
Gudrun K. Müller und Ralf Becker
Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 12087

---

Apps built with the Adobe® Flex® framework and Flex Builder™ are
powering Web 2.0 with engaging, cross-platform capabilities. Quickly and
easily build your RIAs with Flex Builder, the Eclipse™based development
software that enables intelligent coding and step-through debugging.
Download the free 60 day trial. http://p.sf.net/sfu/www-adobe-com

---

eGroupWare-developers mailing list
eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers