once:radix Overview
"[once:]radix isn't just a replacement for Filemaker and [Microsoft] Access. It's better. While you can create simple one-form applications with it like Filemaker, it also comes with serious web application authentication, permissions, and application management tools."
Josh Berkus
PostgreSQL
Core Team Member
Comparing web technologies
The once:radix system (which is the powerhouse of developer applications) is similar in operation to conventional computer programs. Users interact with the database using programmed functions such as complex searching, data entry and editing, based on tools that support the system's business rules.
This environment comes with a new set of rules that apply when operating within a browser. Once you have mastered a few small differences in the way you interact with your browser, you will find applications built using once:radix to be powerful, easy to learn and convenient.
Conventional Internet Applications
Conventional software applications reside directly within the computer's operating system. Applications built on the once:radix platform are different. Based on a new breed of software called Rich Internet Applications, they have the features and functionality of traditional desktop applications, but operate entirely within a browser environment. This offers many more features than conventional internet applications.
| In most browser applications, the web server merges fixed text and images with database records to create static HTML pages. |  |
| These pages, when rendered by the browser, can perform limited operations such as submit data and link to other pages. Websites built using the once:webAPI Application Programming Interface are good examples of this type of application. | |
Rich Internet Applications
While conventional internet applications can deliver simple tables of information, they lack the flexibility to provide the scope of Rich Internet Applications, as are created using once:radix.
once:radix is similar to a client-server environment. The key difference is that the user experience occurs entirely withing a web browser. once:secureserver (oSS) includes an industry-standard SQL database, an application server and report generator. It hosts the application you create as sets of XML block files, images and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
The first time a screen layout is requested after the server has been restarted, there is a short delay while the server transforms the XML block into XHTML and Javascript, then caches it for faster response on subsequent requests for that layout. The XHTML, Javascript and CSS are downloaded, stored then rendered by the once:client application (oCLI) on the screen.
oCLI also manages the transfer of data between your application's screen layouts and the server's database.
The application is created using another browser-resident application – the once:editor (oED). once:radix is the first system of its kind to incorporate all of these functions in a single, integrated environment.
If once:radix only combined integrated server, editor and client in a single browser-based application that would be impressive enough. But the story doesn't end there. It includes other functions that allow you to create and deliver a rich internet experience to users of enterprise applications.
once:help (oHELP) delivers context-sensitive help pages that can be linked to your application pages, simply by assigning the pages a name that matches the Block name. oHELP employs Apache Lucene to provide fast search functions when users need to locate information within the help pages.
Logging on is a sophisticated process that supports multiple Owner Organizations sharing the same server. But as a developer, this is all done for you. once:logon (oLOGON) supports public user creation, secure logon, management of user preferences and more.