Server Mobile Application
With HTML5 Builder and the RPCL library, you can create full-featured web-based mobile applications.
Unlike RPCL applications, mobile applications are not meant to be (just) deployed to a web server, and be accessed with a web browser. Instead, they are converted into stand-alone applications for mobile devices, and optionally a server version can be generated to enable server-side programming using AJAX. Of course, you can also use a mobile project to develop common web applications to be access through the internet, targetting mobile devices.
You can create a new mobile application from Home > New > HTML5 Builder Projects > Server Mobile Application, or you can add a new form to an existing application from Home > New > HTML5 Builder Projects > Files > Server Mobile Page.
Tip: You might want to get familiarized with RPCL applications before you start a mobile project.
Contents
Workflow
When developing mobile applications, each page is defined in a PHP script. The workflow is rather simple:
- Create a subclass of the MPage container.
- Add components to it. There are general-purpose components and hardware components designed to be used on mobile pages.
- Use the properties, methods and events of both the MPage and its components to define the logic of your application, server-side and client-side.
If this is the first time you develop a mobile application with HTML5 Builder, you should start with the Hello World.
Server-side and Client-side
The development of the logic of mobile applications with HTML5 Builder can be divided in two parts:
- Server-side Development
- The part responsible for generating the pages of your mobile application when deploying it to mobile devices. If used with AJAX, it can also be used to write logic for your mobile application that is meant to be processed in a web server called from the stand-alone version of your application, running on a mobile device connected to the internet.
- Client-side Development
- The part responsible for the logic that is processed in the stand-alone version of your application, the one deployed to mobile devices. This logic will not require a working internet connection on the device running the application.
Help Resources
Tutorials
- Hello World, create your first server page.
- The Shopping List, development of a server mobile application to keep a list in sync with a MySQL database, with the ability to add, modify and delete items.
- Where It Was, development of a server mobile application to keep a list of locations, and display them on a map when requested.