Introduction to Genero Studio

Genero Studio: Overview

Genero Studio provides a graphical integrated development environment dedicated to Genero users, with tools
designed to help you quickly and easily:

• design a user interface that interacts with a database

• create application forms based on database tables
• use the correct syntax in your application code
• organize projects
• compile, run, and debug Genero applications.

Genero Studio and File Menu:

© 2006 Four J’s Development Tools, Inc.

Genero Studio Configuration
Using Genero Studio, you can work locally or across remote resources, with multiple defined configurations.

Configure Genero Studio to match your work environment. You can define:

• Genero Desktop Client configurations, and specify which one is active

• Remote servers to access remote Genero
• Local and remote Genero Configurations, and specify which one is active

2
Overview of Studio Applications
Code Editor
A fundamental tool of Genero Studio, the Code Editor is a smart editor that recognizes the structure of the file
being processed (for .4gl files and for other types such as .xml) and highlights it based on the customizable
highlighting rules.

Code Editor parses your file and displays a list of errors while you are working on your code. It provides important
assistance with syntax (structure highlighting, code completion, and customizable templates). The folding feature
makes it easier to work with any text.

3
Graphical Debugger
The Graphical Debugger allows you to test and control the behavior of your application. You can navigate through
the functions, and create and manage breakpoints on functions and code lines.

You can choose and group together any variables you specifically want to watch. This gives you the ability to
follow a number of variables easily, and even to alter their values while the application is running, for testing
purposes.

4
Form Designer
The Form Designer provides a graphical interface to design and create forms. Widgets, containers, and objects
can be added to the forms and their properties can be specified. An interface with databases is provided, allowing
you to generate and manipulate form fields from a database schema.

A form created with Form Designer can be compiled into the .42f format, which is executable by your Genero
programs. Existing .per forms may be imported and then updated with Form Designer.

5
Database Browser
The Database Browser allows you to access the databases associated with your application. From Database
Browser you can add a connection to a new database, reload a database schema, or view the database structure.

Genero db, Informix and Informix SE, IBM DB2, MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server databases are currently
supported in Genero Studio.

6
File Browser
The File Browser manages files based on the kind of information that they contain (MIME type file management).
File Browser will launch the specific action / application defined as the default for each file type, or you may
choose between the actions available for that file type. For example, Code Editor opens for a .4gl file and Form
Designer for a .4fd file. Selection of multiple files allows you to add files into a bucket, even from different folders.

From File Browser you can Compile, Make, or Run an application, depending on the file selected. You can
choose between a simple Run, a Run in debug mode, or Profiling of your application. The Profiler is an analysis
tool that provides information to help you optimize your application.

7
Project Manager
The Project Manager allows you to organize projects into sub-projects, nodes, and files within a project
workspace. Source files are grouped in programs, library, or collection nodes, which are used when you build or
run applications.

From within Project Manager, you can create or import projects, open source files in Code Editor, open forms in
Form Designer, compile and execute programs, and launch Graphical Debugger. A Project Workspace file maps
the relationships between the nodes in a project. Creating a new Project Workspace file, or opening an existing
one, launches Project Manager.

8
Graphical Differential
The Graphical Differential provides a convenient way to display the differences between two files. Select two or
more files (which may be from the same or different folders) from the File Browser, and ask for the comparison.
The first two files selected will be compared. The two files are displayed in a split window, which makes it easy for
you to navigate from one difference to another.

If more than two files have been selected, the extra files are shown in the history list, ready to be used.

9
Customizing Studio Applications
Genero Studio lets you customize the default behavior and layout parameters of Studio applications to match the
way you usually work. You can customize parameters specific to each application, as well as general Genero
Studio features such as accelerators and menus. The changes can be applied and used immediately, and/or
saved as the new defaults.

10
Genero Studio Framework
Studio Launch
When Studio is launched, a dialog window gives you the option of selecting an existing project workspace file. A
project workspace file maps the relationships between the nodes in a Studio project.

An example project workspace file, HelloWorld.4pw, is provided with the software. It defines a simple project that
displays a Studio form.

If you select an existing project workspace file and click OK, Studio opens with the Studio Project Manager
application active, allowing you to define and manage projects, subprojects, and the source files that make up
your Genero applications.

If you click Cancel, Studio opens with the Main menu displayed, from which you can also launch Studio Project
Manager as well as the other Studio applications.

11
Opening Menu for the Studio Main Window

Actions depending on the context include:

New: File, Project, Database, Wizard

New/Open Project Workspace

Recent Project Workspaces

File
Open

Save actions

Print

Close actions

Actions depending on the context include:

Undo
Edit Redo
Cut
Copy
Paste

Actions depending on the context include:

Compile...

Compile File

Preview, Preview Form

Build Build actions

Clean ...

Set as Active Item

Execute
Debug

Common tools such as:

Database Browser

File Browser
Tools
Application Generator
Graphical Differential
Launch GDC ...

Genero Studio Preferences

12
 (customization)

Application Preferences

Configurations

Navigation Cycle through the applications and windows

Display /hide panels

Window
Window organization (cascade, tile)

Help Access the embedded help documentation

Genero Studio Main Window

When a Genero Studio application is launched, the Main Window is displayed. All other windows, and the menus,
toolbars, and icons used by Genero Studio, are contained within this Main Window. The name of the current
application appears in the Main Window title.

Main Window with Code Editor opened:

13
Central Work Area

The Central Work Area is used for application dialogs and layout. It may contain as many windows as needed.
The windows can be minimized or maximized, and resized (using the sizing handle at the bottom right). When
the Central Work Area is maximized, a tab displays at the bottom of the Work Area for each active window. Click
the tab to move to the associated window.

Browser panel

The Brower panel allows you to browse through the structure of files and databases used by the Studio
applications. Each application can open one or more tabs in the browser panel. This panel may be docked or
undocked. The synchronization between the current tab in the browser panel and the top window in the Central
Work Area is application-dependent.

When you quit a tab, all corresponding components and tabs are removed from Main Window.

Output panel

This panel is used by any application to display its output (messages, errors, results of commands…). Each
application may open one or more tabs. This panel may be docked or undocked.

Listbox in status bar

Genero - the default configuration. Click the button at the right to display the configuration details.

Menus and Toolbars

Menus and Toolbars are constructed dynamically depending on the context and the currently active application.
Toolbars can be docked or undocked. All the menus, sub-menus and entries are customizable in Preferences.
Icons and toolbars have a default setting which may be modified in Preferences.

Contextual menus

Right-click a filename, or in a panel of the Main Window, to display the menu of actions that are available at that
particular point in a Studio application. For example, if you right-click an executable filename in File Browser, the
menu of actions includes Run and Debug.

Navigation
The name of the top application - the application having the focus - is displayed in the main caption. Clicking a
browser tab, output tab, or main window of one application brings it to the top.

Accelerators are provided to cycle easily, in both directions, from one open application to another, or from one
window to another:

• cycle through applications: Alt + right or left arrow

• cycle through the windows of the current application: Alt + up or down arrow
• cycle through all windows (all opened applications): Alt + Shift + up or down arrow

14
Getting Started
Launching Studio Applications
• File Browser - from the menu: Tools->File Browser, or the toolbar icon
• Form Designer - by opening a new or existing Genero form from the File menu; by opening a Genero
form file in File Browser or Project Manager
• Code Editor - by opening a new or existing text file from the File menu; by opening a text file in File
Browser or Project Manager
• Graphical Debugger - from the Project Manager Run and Build menus or the contextual menu; from the
File Browser contextual menu; from the toolbar icon
• Project Manager - from the menu: File->New/Open Project Workspace; automatically launched if you
select a project workspace when Studio opens
• Database Browser - from the menu: Tools->Database Browser, or the toolbar icon
• Graphical Differential - from the menu: Tools->Graphical Differential, or the toolbar icon
• Configuration management - from the menu Tools->Configurations

File->Open, File->New
These menu options open a window displaying file-type icons. When you select a file type, the corresponding
Studio application is automatically invoked.
Using File->New:

• Under the File tab you can choose the type of file you wish to create

15
 • The Project tab allows you to create a new Project, Application, Library, or Collection (a miscellaneous
group of files). This tab displays when a Project Workspace is open.
• The Database tab allows you to add connections to a database and extract schemas.
• A Wizard can guide you through the creation of a new Project, Application, or a Form from a Database
Table.

File>Open

This option displays a dialog window allowing you to browse for a file. If a Project Workspace is open, the dialog
window allows you to browse the project structure or the file system for the file. If no Project Workspace is open,
the dialog window allows you to browse the file system.

File->New/Open Project Workspace

From the File menu you can open an existing Project Workspace, or create a new Project Workspace. This
workspace is a file that contains a map of the structure of your project, defining the relationship between the
various project nodes. The file extension is .4pw.

Opening a new or existing Project Workspace launches the Project Manager application.

16
.

Help
Online help text is available from the menu system, the icon toolbar, and shortcut keys:

Help - F1

Invoke Contextual help from the menu, toolbar, or shortcut key to display the documentation
related to the specific Studio application and area in which you are working. The document pages
display in the Central Work Area. Toolbar icons allow you to navigate the pages of a book, or to
search for specific text on a page.

You can also browse through the complete Studio documentation, which is listed as a set of
books in the browser panel, under the Books Tab. The Genero BDL documentation is also
included in the book set.

What’s This? - Shift F1

Invoke What's this from the menu, toolbar, or shortcut key, and the cursor becomes a question
mark (?). Then, click a button, field, or other window item to display a short description of the
item.

User Notes

You may add your own notes to the documentation pages. Click the User annotations toolbar icon to display
notes that have been added, or to add a new note. By default the user notes on a page are not shown until you
click the toolbar icon. You can change this setting through Tools-> Studio Preferences.

17
The Search tab in the Browser Panel allows you to search for text within a single book or the entire
documentation set:

18