B4J Question UI program: looking for hints

[udg]

Hi all,
so far I used my beloved B4J for non-UI apps only. Now, I'd like to write a simple master-detail like program using forms to input some data and tables to show filtered data from a MySQL DB.
It will be a very basic program, nothing fancy.

I'd like to read your comments on which approach shoud I prefer:
1) B4J + Internal Designer components + needed libraries
2) B4J + WebView + HTML + Javascript
3) B4J non-UI + HTML/CSS + Javascript
4) PHP + HTML + Javascript

As I see it, options 3 and 4 are essentially the same where the "glue logic" is programmed in B4J or PHP respectively. Option 2 sounds like a compromise, while option 1 should be the winner if I don't read comments from you about any important pitfall.

Any other hint is, as always, welcomed. Thank you.

 

[inakigarm]

One solution between 2 and 3 option is ABMaterial https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/abmaterial-framework-for-webapps.60072/

Not tested in deep but seems promising (B4j, webapp, html/css styling,MySQL ,etc..); as the core is B4J, I think you could add more functionalities to your application)

 

[Erel]

If this is a desktop app then option 1 will be the simplest.

 

[udg]

Yes, it will be a desktop app which will have a simplified B4A counterpart for a few on-the-field operations.
I read with great interest about the ABMaterial framework and I'm curious to know how much it adds in terms of final app bytes count (after all I'm from the old-days school where even a byte has its weight..).
Not that javascript+HTML come for free (in terms of space used), just to know how they compare.

Going the Internal Designer way will surely buy me a better and deeper knowledge about B4J, while ABMaterial framework will probably be of great help with more complex apps in the future.

Still not sure about the way to go. Any comments are welcomed. Thank you.

 

[Erel]

I think that you are confusing two different things. ABMaterial framework is a great framework for web applications.
If you want to build a web server then you should consider ABMaterial. If you want to create a standalone desktop app then you should create a UI app (and use the internal designer).

 

[udg]

Erel, you're right!
The sad truth is that I am still not convinced about the standalone desktop app the customer is asking for..

Going the standalone way, I should pack MySQL+JRE+B4J app in an easy to install item (I was considering a Virtualbox VM), limiting the B4A app to an in-office sync (they exclude to open ports in the router).
While the classic webapp solutions will let me set an always available server with data served by "its" MySQL DB and customer accessing it by desktop or mobile at any time. The problem will be data residing outside their office (something they're scared about).

About the end-user installation tool, I have got no experience with Innosetup and similar tools but I should devise a solution easy enough even for almost PC-illiterate people. What do you suggest? End users could use Windows, Mac, Linux and I can't know beforehand if they have Java (which version) and MySql (probably not) installed.

All that complexity for a very very basic program..incredible!

 

[Erel]

About the installer: UI apps packaging - self contained installers

I never tried to package MySQL. It will be much simpler to use SQLite.

 

[udg]

Thanks a lot. I'll do some preliminary testing with an "empty" app just to feel the whole project.