DM Automation's Business Applications Architect

Key Areas of Database Functionality

Data access, presentation, update and validation are the key areas of database functionality claimed by end-users. Any data management solution should be evaluated from the perspective of data access functionality and transaction management in the representation layer. In addition to viewing, most DB applications also require delegating end-users with update rights, including insertions and deletions. However, end-user rights have the potential of introducing discordance into data relationships. In order to protect data against inadvertent changes and following the maxim "never trust user input", data validation should ensure data integrity, usability and security. It becomes the forth fundamental area of data management.

Easier Way to Create Database Application

Any presentation level application is, thus, developed with the view on the above mentioned functional areas. However, a fully-fledged database application with certain required maintenance capabilities would call for thorough code-writing. And in case of an event-driven application framework, it implies a deep study of data access semantics. However great the benefits of Object Oriented Programming might be, this is more than many of us can afford due to the overload of daily routine. Rather then spending time and efforts establishing interaction between your application and the data access level, one has a choice of using third party business components as a mid-tier between a custom GUI application and the data access layer. It can serve as a unified platform for all presentation level applications. Among potential benefits you get 100% format consistency across all tires of data management architecture and wider span for business logic implementation.

BA Architect is a solution that offers much more than a unified platform for your end-user database applications. It offers a set of RAD procedures to create a database application and data maintenance forms. By implementing Microsoft.NET technology it both makes individual applications programmable and enables creation of integrated GUI application in short time and without code writing. Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools provide the ability to develop and deploy applications quickly by automating much of the development process and eliminating repetitive tasks. Instead of manually writing create/read/update/delete code, BA Architect automatically generates complex business requests which are used to handle concurrency issues and introduce business logic into data maintenance. They better provide for data validation and help prevent integrity errors in data handled by your application. Flexibility of .NET technology leaves space for your custom event handlers and scripts. With Visual Studio. NET you can create plug-ins to extend functionality of your application.

Innovative Technologies in Your Application

With BA Architect your custom application acquires additional availability yet is flexible to provide new advanced features. Display forms and edit screens are created automatically in run time. New fields are automatically added to display and edit forms without reformatting. The settings of display and edit forms are customisable through BA Architect application repository. The solution combines the availability of simplified application development tools with the flexibility of fine-tuning custom applications and adding Visual Basic.NET scripts and event handlers. Built-in report designer allows you to create printable reports of any complexity and export them to any popular format (Excel, PDF, HTML, RTF, etc). The validator controls provide continuous validation. These controls are much cleaner, easier to implement, and easier to debug and maintain than writing custom scripting code at the client. Object oriented framework makes your application more source-independent. With BA Architect you can easily transfer application configuration between different data sources at any time. Because your application addresses data access level through BA Arcitect business components it can be used on any ADO- compatible source, be it MS Access, MS SQL Server, Oracle or any other.

By introducing BA Architect tier into your data management architecture you expand the accessibility of your application to different data sources, make your database and OLAP data warehouse available on real-time basis, provide for wider application of business logic to data update and ensure continuous validation of entries for better data integrity and usability. You speed up application development through the use of RAD technology and ensure data security through both OS embedded security controls and BA Architect authorization model. It results in more effective communication between the presentation layer and the data access layer in data management architecture.