Tips and tutorials

Automatically calculated fields


Note: This tutorial applies to AppGini versions prior to 4.50. For similar modifications applicable to AppGini 4.50 and higher, please use hooks. Please see the documentation and examples of the tablename_before_insert and tablename_before_update hooks.


Which data type to choose for your fields?


Designing databases: Picking The Right Data Types is an article by Brandon Savage that provides useful tips on choosing the correct data types for your fields. A quote from the article:

Increasing the width of the rich (HTML) area


Q: How do I re-size the Rich(HTML)area in the detail view? It would be great if it could be large for easier editing.

Linking to a specific record


Q: How do I link to a specific record in one of the AppGini-generated tables?

Sometime, I want to send someone a link to one of the records in a table. I don't want him to have to view all records first and then select one of them. I just want him to view the record in the detail view once he click the link.

Working with filters programatically

This is a multi-part tutorial on how to use filters in AppGini. Filters are a powerful means of searching tables. This tutorial explains how they work, and shows how they can be controlled programatically. In part 1, we'll understand how to apply a default filter to a table.

Sending an email notification when a record is changed

If you are using AppGini 4.50 or higher, you can use hooks instead of the method described below here. Please see the documentation and example for the tablename_after_insert() hook.
In some scenarios, you might wish to send an email notification to one or more recipients when a user adds a new record or modifies an existing one. Although I plan to add this feature to AppGini, I'd still like to share with you how to do it manually in the generated code.

Powerful CRUD scaffolding for MySQL/MariaDB

The term CRUD refers to the major functions needed in any database application to allow basic functionality [1]: create, edit, delete and view records. CRUD scaffolding is where you use a program to describe your database (tables and fields) and then the program generates the necessary CRUD pages [2].

Displaying 2 tables in one page

The generated applications created by AppGini display the records of each table in a separate page. But sometimes, you might want to see two tables side-by-side in the same page.

For example, the following screenshots from the Northwind application show the suppliers table and the shippers table, each on a separate page. You have to switch between tabs or browser windows if you are working with both tables.

Video tour: Downloading table data as a CSV file

This is a video tour that will show you how to save the data for any table in the AppGini web application in a CSV file; that can be opened by Microsoft Excel or any other editor.

Performing advanced search queries in AppGini using filters

The filters feature helps retrieving very specific data by configuring up to 12 conditions divided into 3 filter groups.

Syndicate content