Let's create a new workspace for the Greeting Web Service.
A DataFlex Workspace is a physical and logical container for your projects, with a well-defined structure. A Workspace can contain multiple projects, typically related in some logical manner, such as a Windows application and a Web application that access the same database. A workspace contains everything necessary to build and run a DataFlex project.
A DataFlex Studio Project is a collection of components and other items of interest to the Studio that compiles into a target program.
Each of a Workspace’s sub-folders contain files indicated by the folder name (e.g. bitmap files used in the application are in ..\Contact\Bitmaps, data is in ..\Contact\Data, application source is in ..\Contact\DDSrc, etc.)
For this tutorial, we will limit the scope of a workspace to a single set of folders and subfolders that contain the various files that make up a project. In practice, the workspace structure can refer to a local set as in this example or it can refer to a set of folders that are located across a network and that are not necessarily physically co-located as they are in this example.
Open the DataFlex Studio.
Select New
Workspace... from the Studio’s File
menu.
Click Next
on the wizard's Welcome page. Enter GreetingWebService
as the name, Greeting Web Service
as the description. The default location should be the drive letter
to which DataFlex was installed, followed by \DataFlex
Projects\GreetingWebService. If you have previously create
a workspace in another location, the "Workspace Root Directory"
will default to that location. Click Next.
If you want to see what the specifics of the workspace structure are, check the 'Edit Workspace Paths' checkbox before you click Next. This will bring up 2 additional wizard pages that allow you to view and customize the details. Doing so is an advanced skill that we would not recommend doing during the tutorial, although it can be useful to view these pages to see what the Studio does under the hood.
A workspace with a standard workspace structure has a main folder with sub-folders that contain files indicated by the folder name. The standard workspace structure includes sub-folders AppHtml for web pages, AppSrc for application source code, Bitmaps for image files, Data for database files, DDSrc for Data Dictionary files, Help for application-related help files and Programs for compiled programs.
On
the Database Connection wizard
page, you can configure Managed
Connections for databases to be used in this workspace. For this
tutorial, skip doing so, since this tutorial project doesn't use any
databases.
DataFlex workspaces can support multiple databases. For example, you can use Microsoft SQL, Pervasive.SQL and embedded database tables in the same workspace and even sharing the same views and reports. To configure these for a workspace at any time, select SQL Connection Manager from the Database menu.
On the last wizard page,
click Finish.
You have now created a DataFlex workspace. You should now be back in
the Studio, and the Studio has the new workspace loaded. You can verify
this by looking for (GreetingWebService)
on the Studio's caption bar.
Click on the Workspace
Dashboard tab. If the Workspace Dashboard tab is not open,
click on the Workspace Dashboard
toolbar button.
The Workspace Dashboard is designed to point new developers in the right direction when learning to use the Studio and to provide experienced developers with a quick way to gain insight into a workspace and its projects. For example, in the screenshot above, you can see that the Dashboard shows that this workspace contains no projects and allows you to click it to create one.
As you carry out work in a workspace and on individual projects, the Dashboard will track your progress, filling in section details like adding pieces to a puzzle. At any point along the way, you can use the Dashboard to guide you. For example, as you add tables, DataDictionaries, views and other project components, the Dashboard will automatically track these for you. In addition to this automated tracking, you can take the initiative via To Do items to have the Dashboard guide you towards more personalized goals.
Read more about the Workspace Dashboard here.
Creating a Web Service Application