genformcode

Code generation tool for commhub applications messaging and I/O.

Synopsis

genformcode html|css|io|msg|h|cpp|autocpp uifile [srcfile]

Description

genformcode was originally designed to generate source code for user interfaces, but it necessarily has knowledge of the commhub messaging system, so genformcode is also useful for generating documentation of that messaging system.

In the commhub ecosystem, usergw serves up user interface (HTML) content, including blocks from /usr/mae/html/record which often contain I/O controls such as buttons, text entry, etc. Those I/O messages are forwarded to guibroker to handle, which usually sends a message to relevant app as processed in the ioApp.cpp file. When an app receives a message, it is processed in the msgChannel.cpp file, which in turns calls the appropriate application method inside a datatypeApp class. To simply add one button to an HTML block requires each of these files to be updated. Genformcode can perform all of those updates automatically; the first parameter on the command line tells genformcode which file you would like to change using the content of the uifile:

Options

Command	Action
html	Convert the uifile into HTML content. Output is sent to stdout or srcfile if specified.
css	Based upon the I/O controls present in the uifile, produce CSS template text for the app’s .css file.
io	Based upon the I/O controls present in the uifile, update the guibroker io <app >.cpp file to process and forward the I/O control, e.g. notify of a button press
msg	Based upon the I/O controls and messages present in the uifile, update the msg <channel >.cpp file to catch the message and call the specified application method. Comments are automatically added to provide context.
h	Based upon the I/O controls and messages present in the uifile, update the <datatype >App.h (or srcfile if specified) file to ensure all specified application methods are declared.
cpp	Based upon the I/O controls and messages present in the uifile, update the <datatype >App.cpp (or srcfile if specified) file to ensure all specified application methods are declared and initially commented with basic comments.
autocpp	Based upon the directives present in the uifile, update appropriate source file to ensure all specified application methods are declared and initially commented with basic comments.
wikimsg	Generate documentaiton of messages, output in wiki format (see wiki2doc)

Syntax of uifile

A uifile typically has the file suffix of .ui.

The uifile has two major parts - the upper part and the lower part. The syntax of the upper part is modified HTML - all text is presumed to be HTML except the text inside square brackets; genformcode commands appear inside square brackets. The syntax of the lower part is INI formatted. A line with just "[genformcode]" delineates the upper half from the lower half. The lower half is optional.

Syntax of genformcode Commands

A genformcode command is a series of terms separated by arrows, e.g. "- >". A genformcode command may be one of the following:

Directive

[$directive- >param1- >param2- > ]

$appfile -

$menu - Specifies a menu option; param1 is the menu title; param2 is the menu item.

$key - Specifies a keystroke option; param1 is the keystroke name.

Clickable Text

["text"[:htmlid] [- >(channel)]- >command- >method]

I/O Control

[control[:htmlid][- >(channel)]- >command- >method]

A control can be:

button - UI button that triggers an action

text - text entry box that sends an input response from user

textarea - a large text entry area that sends an input response from user

checkbox - a checkbox that the user can check

selector - a pull-down menu that triggers a fixed input response from user. Note that it is followed by two parameters, e.g. selector:command:htmlid. When a selector lacks a command and method parameter, a placeholder selector is generated in HTML.

[menu- >command- >method]

In conjunction with the $menu directive, specifies an inbound command that should call the method. Note: this generates no HTML output.

Key

[key- >command- >method]

In conjunction with the $key directive, specifies an inbound command that should call the method. Note: this generates no HTML output.

API

[api- >command- >method]

This specifies a message (likey triggered by CBapi keyword processed by genmanualui) that typically comes in from an API call, not necessarily a user input.

GenAutoUI Commands

For specifying a command/callback:

[[- >(channel)]- >command- >method]

For specifying an input response:

[? [- >(channel)]- >command- >method]

Command Parameters

channel - this is a keyword that specifies the message channel used by the app that should receive this message, e.g. userman

command - this is the message request sent to the app

method - this is the method to invoke when the command is received by the app. The full method can be: [appclass::][instance.]method([params]). However, the appclass and instance can be specified in the INI section. For I/O controls that return responses, the params must contain a response type, e.g. string, int, float, bool. For example: UserManApp::UserCache[ui].userSettings() or simply userSettings()

Key-Value Pairs for INI Part

[genformcode]

channel=

appclass=

appclassfile=

appcache=

cacheref=

dupmethodwarning=false

[html]

# Html-specific key-values, e.g. filename=

[css]

[io]

[msg]

[h]

[cpp]