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OlamideA edited this page Jun 17, 2016 · 7 revisions

What do you need to develop an app?

Note: If you want to take the quickforms course, these are the best instructions but If you are a developer who wants to set up their machine so they can work completely standalone, this would require you to install and manage sql server on your own please click [Advanced Getting Started] (AdvancedGettingStarted) for further instructions.

Tools

To develop apps, you will need the following tools. Click on their name to open the setup instructions page for that tool. Scroll down for the download links for these tools. ) page)

  • uOttawa VPN: Client software to allow your laptop to connect to the University network. Not needed if you are working from a lab computer. Only needed if you are using your personal laptop.
  • Notepad++: An advanced text editor that allows you to edit the HTML, JS (Javascipt) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for your app.
  • Java JRE: The runtime environment for Java applications. You need this for Apache Tomcat (below) which is a Java application.
  • Apache Tomcat: The "web container" in which your app will live and allows the app to communicate with the Quickforms Server.
  • QFDao.jar: An open source middleware, Quickforms Service-REST, simplifies the task of building such mobile apps and data marts in an integrated fashion.
  • quickforms.war: The Quickforms Service web application packaged as an archive. You need this to provide basic service for the Quickforms App you developed.
  • sampleapp.zip: A simple Quickforms App in a zip file that we will use to illustrate concepts and play around with.

You can also download SQL Server if you want to view and edit the data in the database that your apps connect to. However you do not need to download SQL server to get the sample app up and running, since there is already a database on the server, and you do not need to create one.

  • SQL Server Management Studio: A nice graphical user interface (GUI) application that allows you to connect to the database (that your app is reading from and writing to) and see the data.

Download Links

IMPORTANT NOTE: The following links are accessible only if you are connected to the University network, i.e. from a lab computer or from your personal laptop using the uOttawa VPN. If you are working on your laptop, and do not have the VPN client set up already, then you will need to download the appropriate client below from a lab computer and copy the setup file to your laptop using a CD or a USB flash drive. The files are also small enough to e-mail it to yourself as an attachment. Alternatively, you may get the VPN client from the uOttawa Support Site here

Needed to get sample app up and running:

Needed to create new apps from scratch (that is creating the database as well):

Skills

Quickforms applications are built using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Javascript (JS) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The following are links to W3C Schools tutorials on these technologies.

Continuing parts of this course assume basic knowledge of these technologies. For beginners, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to go through the above tutorials to gain a basic understanding.

Link to tutorial for making sample app yourself

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