GWT-PF
GWT Pleso Framework is a high-level framework based on Google Web Toolkit (GWT) for creating visual AJAX database front-end user interfaces. It's some a kind of more complex CRUD framework.
GWT Pleso Framework enables you to create automatically generated user interface based on business-logic classes.
It provides control panel solutions for:
- database enterprise projects;
- other relation-based projects.
- web-site management;
It has a set of components for manipulating user data such as DataGrid, DataTextBox, DataComboBox etc.
Project highlights
- clear, Java interfaces based model
- customizable automatically generated user forms
- user-input validation system
- flexible support for related data (child forms)
- authentication, authorization system
- error handling
- replaceable windows manager
- localization system
- paged data view
- text, numeric, date, time, enumeration, selection data controls
Screenshots
Screen from demo app - validation in add form, more - in gallery:
Overview of GWT application architecture based on GWT-PF
Typical example of GWT application architecture
One of the classical approaches in the software design is a three-level architecture, where higher levels depend on lower:
- presentation layer - user interface (UI);
- business logic layer (BL);
- data access layer (DAL).
In GWT application those layers can be shared between client and server as follows:
- On client-side:
- presentation layer
- business logic layer
- data access interfaces (GWT-RPC Client), data classes
- On server-server:
- data access layer implementation (GWT-RPC server)
- database
The scheme below clearly shows the dependence between packages of each layer on client and server sides.
Component scheme of GWT application architecture based on GWT-PF. Source code allocation example (click on scheme to view full size image). 
GWT-PF role in GWT application
A typical requirement for information systems is the development of a large number of similar reference books and forms for data manipulation. These elements are presentation layer components. There are two general approaches to develop them:
- Creating of separate classes which represents visual component for each form.
- Creating universal visual components that can represent any form of the system.
The obvious is the fact that the first variant more labor for a large system.
gwt-pf-ui package is a set of universal visual components, which can be used to display almost any reference books and forms. So when building a system it is possible to use those components, significantly reducing the resources for the development of a presentation layer.
Visual components in gwt-pf-ui works with the business logic via interfaces of gwt-pf-core package. The implementation of business logic and data access layer of the application ill be presented by set of classes implementing interfaces from gwt-pf-core.
Rapid development with GWT-PF
It is obvious that gwt-pf-ui is profitable in terms of code reuse and mostly implemented presentation layer. Moreover the existence of business logic interface with gwt-pf-core applies tested business logic development methodology.
