Web Relational Blocks Software, Personal Edition
A visual editor and run-time environment for rapid, all-visual assembly of Web applications; no imperative code is required. (This is the downloadable version of the online alphaWorks service WebRB.)
Date Posted: September 13, 2007
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What is Web Relational Blocks?
IBM® Web Relational Blocks Software, Personal Edition (WebRB-PE) is a downloadable version of Web Relational Blocks, an alphaWorks® service. This technology is a browser-based visual editor and run-time environment that enables developers to visually assemble Web applications without adding any imperative code. WebRB-PE is made for developers of "enterprise" Web applications: multi-page applications, containing non-trivial GUI (graphical user interface) and business logic, whose data reside in relational databases. WebRB-PE page designs are executed in a standard Web browser, running as standard Web applications.
WebRB increases Web developer productivity in the following ways:
- The application's GUI is developed visually (no imperative code) by dragging HTML widgets off a palette. The entire application is assembled in the visual editor.
- All the application's components ("blocks") use the same API and have the same visual representation. Because blocks have a common interface, they are easily combined to produce the desired effect. In contrast with languages such as HTML and PHP, developers use a single API for all parts of the application and assemble the application at a higher level of abstraction.
- The "code, test, and debug" development cycle is improved because applications are directly executed from the visual editor. Incremental construction is encouraged because only a small set of blocks is required in order to "bootstrap" a working application. Blocks may be added, removed, or rewired at any time, and the application can be immediately validated and re-executed.
How does it work? The WebRB-PE code is installed on a Web server: It stores page designs and application data in a relational database and serves the PHP and JavaScript comprising the WebRB-PE visual editor to standard Firefox 1.5 or 2.0 Web browsers. The Web server also hosts the PHP run-time environment that assembles page designs into Web applications that are executed in JavaScript™-enabled browsers.
Please see the slides of this technology (PDF format).
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| | About the technology author(s):
 Avraham Leff is a research staff member in the e-Business Frameworks department. He joined IBM in 1991. Dr. Leff's research interests include distributed components and distributed application development. He received a B.A. in computer science and mathematical statistics from Columbia University in 1984 and an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from Columbia University in 1985 and 1992, respectively. Dr. Leff has been issued six patents and has eight patents pending.
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 James Rayfield is a research staff member in the e-Business Frameworks department. He joined IBM in 1989. Dr. Rayfield's research interests include transaction-processing systems and database systems. He received an Sc.B. in 1983, an Sc.M. in 1985, and a Ph.D. in 1988, all in electrical engineering from Brown University. Dr. Rayfield has seven patents issued and eight patents pending.
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