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.Sax mPower is flexibleenough to let the programmer change from automatic to explicit field definition in the course of designing theire-form.Fully defining the structure of an item also provides an enhanced level of data integrity.If forms are added to thee-form application at a future date, they will not be able to break the item structure rules defined here.Defining Item Presentation and EditingThe lion’s share of work in defining an e-form (or item) goes into determining how the item should be presentedto the e-mail user for viewing and editing.With Sax mPower, an item is shown to the e-mail user through one ormore VB forms in the e-form application.Designing a form with Sax mPower is just like designing any other form in VB.The programmer can use any ofVB’s built-in controls, or 3rd party custom controls on a Sax mPower application form.The programmer writesstandard event-handling code to tie the controls together, validate user input, etc.One of the key roles that Sax mPower plays in enabling a VB form to act as an e-form is to facilitate themovement of data between the Exchange item and controls on the VB form.This process is referred to asBinding.For example, a text-box control on the form might be bound to the "Subject" field in a typical item.When the form is shown, the current Subject field value is moved from the item into the bound text-box control.If the user changes the text in the Subject text-box and invokes the Save command, the new Subject value iscopied from the text-box control back into the Subject field in the item.This is very similar to how data-bindingworks with VB’s data-bound DBMS controls.In fact, Sax mPower’ binding model works in conjunction withVB’s DBMS data-binding.For example, this would allow an e-form control value to be initialized from acorporate database and have that information automatically included in the resulting Exchange item.Sax mPower offers several different options for binding controls on a form to fields in an item.The AutomaticBinding option causes each editable control on the VB form to be bound to a field in the underlying item.WithManual Binding, the programmer explicitly specifies which controls on the form should be bound to which itemfields through a Sax mPower property page.Ultimate flexibility in binding can be accomplished throughProgrammatic Binding, where the programmer writes Basic code to handle Sax mPower events to move databetween controls on the form and fields in the associated Item.While a simple e-form might only require a single VB form for its user interface, a more complex e-form mightbenefit from using multiple VB forms together.For example, it might be appropriate to use one form forpreparing an expense report, and another for viewing and approving it.Or perhaps there would be a main formfor the expense report, and subsidiary forms to show more detailed information.Sax mPower allows theprogrammer to build up their e-form user interface out of any number of VB forms.Defining the Commands for an ItemBesides allowing the e-mail user to view and edit an item, the programmer will also want to decide whatcommands to let the user perform on the item as a whole.Command examples include sending an item toanother e-mail user, posting it to a shared folder or showing the "address book" of possible recipients to theuser.Sax mPower exposes a wide range of command possibilities for the VB programmer to choose from.Theprogrammer can expose these commands as they see fit, typically by putting command buttons, toolbars ormenu items on their form and tying them to the underlying Sax mPower control.Sax mPower Wizards provide an easy alternative for adding commands to a VB form.With just a fewmouse-clicks, a Wizard will create a complete menu structure and toolbar on a VB form that present commoncommands to the e-mail user.Sax mPower allows the VB programmer to selectively enable "stock" Exchange commands, such as printing anitem or creating a reply.It also allows for creation of new "custom" commands, which show up in Exchange’suser interface when that item is selected.Sax mPower: A Programmer’s ToolIn contrast with Microsoft’s Exchange Forms Designer, Sax mPower was designed from the start to be aprogrammer’s tool.By letting VB programmers work completely within the familiar VB environment, SaxmPower lets them take maximum advantage of their knowledge of VB as a language and as a high-productivitydevelopment tool.Sax mPower’ power is built into its controls, which hide the complexity of interfacing with Exchange from theVB programmer.This cuts down tremendously on the amount of code the VB programmer needs to write, orthat Wizards need to generate to create a working e-form application.This frees the VB programmer up tofocus their energies on the specific problem they are trying to solve.It also means e-form applications createdwith Sax mPower are significantly smaller and faster than those created with Exchange Forms Designer.While hiding needless complexity from the VB programmer, Sax mPower is also very flexible, and providesample opportunities to augment or replace default functionality to achieve highly customized e-form behaviors.Sax mPower works with both 16-bit and 32-bit VB, to allow for the creation of 16-bit and 32-bit EXEs fromthe same Sax mPower project.This is particularly important for corporations that are in the process of movingfrom 16-bit Windows to 32-bit Windows.With Sax mPower, an e-form application can be rolled out thatworks optimally for both 16-bit and 32-bit Windows users in the enterprise.By allowing multiple Item Types to be defined within a single e-form application, Sax mPower greatly simplifiesthe process of designing, debugging and deploying complex e-form applications.|||||© Sax Software Corp.• 950 Patterson St.• Eugene, OR 97401800-645-3729 • 541-344-2235 • FAX 541-344-2459e-mail info@saxsoft.com
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