Visual WebGui is a platform for rapid development, quality & secure deployment and easy legacy application migration & abilities to the web. It is incorporated with an SDK which is integrative to Microsoft Visual Studio, enabling the most productive, secure and responsive desktop-like RIAs (Rich Internet Applications).
Server centric architecture
Visual WebGui executes the business logic on the server and virtualizes the UI to its clients (plain browsers). In addition it introduces a unique approach for decoupling the application and the logics from the presentation layer. The unique separation between the application and the UI rendering enables simultaneous support for multiple presentation layers with the same source code (currently available presentation layers are plain browser DHTML, Silverlight and smart client WinForms; in the near future mobile technologies WPF and Flash will be supported as well).
The following diagram illustrates a Client/Server application – focusing on the layers that make an application run, end-to-end:
Components:
- Application code – the code based on the underlying framework in #2.
- Framework - such as .NET, Win32, Java Smart Client, Visual Basic runtime etc.
- Operating system – enables communication with I/O devices.
- I/O devices – such as display (output), mouse and keyboard (input)
Visual WebGui preserved this structure enabling the same methodology of work by optimizing the message queue over the web:
Components:
- Application Code – the same code as in Client/Server above.
- Visual WebGui framework – emulating desktop environment over a web server in #2
- Web Server – responsible to manage the connection and the conversation with the remote client.
- Browser or any device – which has a display (output) and some input capabilities.
Standard development tool
Visual WebGui is coded using standard .NET languages (C#.NET/VB.NET) and utilizes the productive proven Windows Forms development paradigm to develop generic ASP.NET based Web/Cloud applications including a WYSIWYG forms designer.
Empty Client
Visual WebGui implements a unique “Empty Client” approach which is a paradigm shift that provides the following benefits:
- Military grade security.
- No code generation; nor at coding time neither at runtime.
- Smallest footprint on the client (~200kb).
- No installation on the client.
- Accessible from any plain browser.
ASP.NET Web based technology
Visual WebGui replaces the pipeline protocol and creates a new pipeline which is purely based on the standard ASP.NET technology. Visual WebGui uses ASP.NET including its base objects (Server, Session, Application, Request and Response), deployed on standard IIS (no server installation required) and the code is parsed by the standard .NET CLR.
This fact constitutes the following benefits:
- Interactive with any ASP.NET application (including mutual containment)
- Wrap in any ASP.NET control in a click of a button
- Interact with any other web technology
- Reduce risks in terms of infrastructures and use known and proven MS underlying technologies.
- Deployment is as simple as copy & paste
Open RAD
Utilizing .NET Window Forms as application development paradigm, positions Visual WebGui as a RAD. However, due to the internal structure of Visual WebGui it enables to extend the library by adding new controls, edit the look & feel of the UI through the themes mechanism and customize the existing set of controls utilizing OOP inheritance.
Basing on plain web principles and no proprietary client components, Visual WebGui provides the freedom to extend the library by utilizing web development skills. In the near future, a rapid control designer will be shipped as an integral part of the development tools enabling visualize customization and adjustments.
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