The Hybrid Web Container is the runtime on the device within which Mobile Workflows are executed.
The Hybrid Web Container is a native application that embeds a browser control supplied by the device OS, which allows you to build applications with simplicity of Web development but utilize the power of native device services. The Hybrid Web Container enables the rapid development of mobile workflows, in which you can extend existing enterprise business processes, to a mobile device so that business process decisions can be made on a mobile device.
Mobile Workflow Forms Editor
The Mobile Workflow Forms editor uses the Hybrid Web Container as the runtime for Mobile Workflow packages. The Mobile Workflow Forms Editor included with Sybase Unwired Platform is a tool that helps you design the user interface and test the flow of the business process for a mobile workflow application. Using the Mobile Workflow Forms Editor allows you to develop mobile workflow screens that can call on the create, update, and delete operations, as well as object queries, of a mobile business object.
Mobile Workflow package files are generated using the Mobile Workflow Package generation wizard in the Mobile Workflow Forms editor. The generated Mobile Workflow package contains files that reference a mobile business object (MBO) package, an MBO in that package, and the operation or object query to call along with a mapping of which key values map to parameter values. The generated Mobile Workflow package's output is translated to HTML\CSS\Javascript. The logic for accessing the data and navigating between screens is exposed as a JavaScript API.
Mobile Workflow packages can be deployed to Unwired Server and assigned to users using the Mobile Workflow Forms Editor in Eclipse.
Customization
You can modify certain files in the generated Mobile Workflow package to customize application behavior.
The Hybrid Web Container uses HTML, JavaScript, and CSS Web technologies, which allow you to customize the generated files with JavaScript code.
- HTML – HTML files are generated in the Mobile Workflow Forms editor. The files that are generated depend on the device platform. You can open these files with a third-party Web-development tool and modify them, but they are overwritten if generated from the Mobile Workflow deployment tool. The Mobile Workflow Forms editor also includes a HTMLView user interface element that can be placed on a screen, and in which custom HTML code can be inserted, which will be published in-line when the file is re-generated.
- JavaScript – the JavaScript API exposes customization points for navigation events, and allows access to data-access functions for requests and cached values. Customization of the HTML page should be executed using the embedded jQuery in these customization points. For example, execute jQuery logic to modify the toolbar in customBeforeWorkflowLoad(). Additional custom JavaScript files can be added to the Mobile Workflow package in the Eclipse WorkSpace.
- CSS – the Hybrid Web Container uses a 3rd-party CSS library, which enables you to modify the look-and-feel of the HTML page. The jQueryMobile CSS file is embedded as the default look-and-feel, which allows you to select from the variety of themes within the jQueryMobile framework, or use your own CSS rules for skinning pages and screen elements. These can be device operating system-specific. You can also leverage existing CSS style rules from your own organization's Web standards.
The generated files are documented in the Reference section of this guide.
Management
You can deploy Mobile Workflow Packages in Eclipse and manage them through the Sybase Control Center console. No device interaction is required from the administrator. Once a Mobile Workflow package is deployed into an existing installation, the administrator can configure the Mobile Workflow package and assign it to any active user in the system.
Offline Capabilities
Server-initiated notifications extract data from the backend and Unwired Platform sends them to the client device. The client device does not need to be online at the time the notification is sent—the message is received as soon as the client device comes online. Submit Workflow actions on the client can also be sent while the device is offline. They will be sent to the server as soon as the device comes online.
Online Request actions only work when the device is online. The results of object queries run by these types of actions can be cached on the client so that the next time the same query is invoked with the same parameters it is able to get those results from the client-side cache without needing to go to the server. This is achieved by specifying a non-zero cache timeout for the action.