Re: stacked canvases vs multiple forms

Timbo wrote:

> I'm a beginner, so I very well may be missing something obvious here.
> What are advantages/disadvantages of using stacked canvases vs multiple
> forms to navigate an application?
>
> I've coded active web pages using jsp, php, asp for form data entry and
> for the most part I would have a form page, "call itself" to do field
> validation checking and to write the data to the db. Then if I had to
> do more or different processing, I would direct to another active page.
>
> What is the best way to do that using forms? With 9i, forms are
> essentially turned into jsp anyway, but this stacked canvas thing has me
> wondering.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim

Stacked canvases are a very fast way to change the view of the application seen by the end-use without having to load anything additional into memory.

The reason I would use them rather than multiple forms is performance and maintainability. Every form in any application requires overhead code such as WHEN-NEW-FORM-INSTANCE and ON-ERROR triggers. Why write and maintain them in multiple places multiple times when you can do it once? Why take the time to load two forms from disk when you can load one that is only slightly larger? Why pass parameters back and forth when you can store them in global variables within the single form?

The best way to use forms is to think of it as an object oriented development environment. Create a master form with object masters whose properties are controlled via visual attributes and property classes. Then subclass them into the actual application forms. Put as much code as possible into the back-end database to keep the front-end lean and fast.

Daniel Morgan Received on Wed Oct 16 2002 - 17:31:05 CEST