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Using GFR to Support User Interface Development

 G2 Foundation Resources (GFR) is a utility that provides tools for implementing multiple-module KBs. By using GFR, the modules and applications you develop gain several advantages:

While GFR does not represent a comprehensive solution to all issues in modular KB development, GFR covers many basic module integration issues. We recommend that all G2 KBs include GFR as a required module and that users adopt the GFR standards into their own development practices.

The user interface features of GFR include:

For information on the module initialization and version control features of GFR, including module management, see Managing Multi-Module Applications.

Communications and Error Handling

One of the most important shareable resource in a multiple-module KB is the user interface. If every module uses the interface as it sees fits, the end result can be chaotic. The GFR communications and error handling model provides a way to "soft-code" the handling of user communications such as error messages, alerts, and confirm dialogs, so that the end user can control and customize the user interface according to his or her needs. As a developer, if you structure all user communications according to this model, you greatly enhance the flexibility and utility of your application.

Localization

GFR provides the basic tools for engineering KBs so that you can easily translate the user interface into other languages, which is called localization. While G2 provides the capability of translating the texts appearing on its menus, it does not provide a structured approach for translating free texts and messages that appear in an application's user interface.

GFR provides classes for storing and organizing language-specific texts, a simple application programmers interface (API) to retrieve language-specific text, and classes of localizable messages. GFR's text substitution facility provides a convenient way to implement localizable messages that contain substrings whose values are determined at run time.

Palette Management

GFR provides a convenient approach for implementing palettes, which are workspaces with click-to-clone objects. Palettes are a convenient way to create instances of the objects.

GFR palettes optionally provide pop-up "bubble help" that describe the object under the mouse. You can also make GFR palettes proprietary to prevent the end user from making unauthorized changes.

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