Common Components

While it can be said that what makes CuneiFox an accounting system at all lies in the calculations and databases behind the curtains, end-users rarely interact with those elements directly. On the contrary, users deal with interface elements like forms, tables, and popup windows all the time. The ability to reuse and refine these common elements is an immense timesaver that allows developers to focus on other crucial parts of the software.

The inner working of these common elements can be highly interdependent, a delicate dance between frontend and backend scripting. Take a deep breath, these are the holiest (as well as the heaviest) reads in this entire shrine.

Elements of concern

Common components to be discussed can be categorized into 3 levels:

1. Backend Foundation
   • ThreadSafeDatabaseMetadata: Learn how CuneiFox picks and chooses different database files for different requests.
   • CuneiModel: Explore how data are structured and stored in a database file.
2. User Interface Components
   • CuneiForm / CuneiSubForm: See how CuneiFox renders data on a per-entry basis, how data is input and validated.
   • CuneiTable: Learn how CuneiFox displays data entries in a table format and how it achieves its own flavour of in-line data manipulation.
   • CuneiModal: Enable CuneiFox's search tables and expandable forms with pop-up windows.
3. Bringing It All Together
   • Page: Start simple with basic pages and their components.
   • Multi-component Page: Understand how to chain several forms, tables, and modals into a coherent workflow on a page. Find a few useful coding patterns for your future development.