The VDoc graphical interface is based on a dynamic interface production mechanism.
It is based on a combination of HTML templates components and server components (Java). It is executed on the server side to generate HTML that displayed on various browsers of the market such as Firefox and Internet Explorer. The page is actually built from a unique HTML template which completes itself while navigating.
The principle is based on the "post-back" mechanism. It implies that on the server side, all Java classes representing each part of the page are available. Each Java object can be located on the server thanks to its identifier generated once within the page. These IDs, associated to server Java objects, are written into the HTML document tags.
When a user clicks on a page element (ex: a button), the HTML form is submitted on the server. The navigation system browses the whole sent IDs and activates the Java objects present in the user HTTP session. Other parameters are also passed that let you find the clicked element, the triggered event (onclick, onchange, etc…) and the page context.
The diagram below displays, in four steps, what happens when the user performs an action on the document:
1. The user fills in some fields then clicks the action button;
2. The form is sent to the server;
3. The system finds over all the Java objects which match the posted IDs from the HTML page. It updates each object and fires the requested events.
4. The system sends the new page back.
The following points are addressed here :