Evolutility-Models ·

Evolutility models are DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) descriptions of applications. These models contain all the metadata necessary to describe the backend (database tables and columns, validation...) and the UI (views, fields, validation...).

Contents

Metamodel

• Objects
• Fields
• Field Groups
• Nested Collections

Models

• Demo Apps
• Designer
• Test

Scripts

• Generate SQL script for Database
• Models

License

Cool things to do with Evolutility models:

• Create a database - generate SQL for Postgres.

• Automatically provide REST or GraphQL endpoints using Evolutility-Server-Node or Hasura.

• Run a Web UI with Evolutility-UI-React or Evolutility-UI-jQuery.

Metamodel

The metamodel is the structure of the model (the model of models). I think about it as the vocabulary for making models.

• Objects
• Fields
• Field Groups
• Nested Collections

Models describe objects with fields, Field groups, and collections (nested lists of objects).

For any object, all UI views (List, Cards, Edit, Charts...) share the same model. All Fields are present in the Edit and Browse views. Fields can be flagged as "inMany" to be included in List, Cards, and Charts views.

module.exports = {
    id: "todo",
    label: "To-Do List",
    name: "task",
    namePlural: "tasks",
    icon: "todo.png",
    titleField: "title",
    table: "task",
    fields: [
        {
            id: "title",
            label: "Title",
            type: "text",
            width: 100,
            required: true,
            inMany: true,
            inSearch: true,
            column: "title",
            maxLength: 255
        },
        {
            id: "duedate",
            type: "date",
            label: "Due Date",
            width: 38,
            inMany: true,
            column: "due_date"
        },
        ...
    ]
}

Object

X: Indicate if the property is used in UI/DB models.

Field

For the backend, fields are columns in a database table. For the frontend, fields are textboxes, checkboxes, datepickers... in Edit view, and they are columns in List view.

UI: The field will only be present in the UI model. DB: The field will only be present in the DB model.

Field Group

Field Groups are used to visually group fields on the page for browsing or editing.

Field Groups are only used in UI models and are optional. By default a single group holds all fields.

Collection

Multiple Master-Details can be specified with collections.

Sample models

Demo Apps

Models are description of objects and their properties/fields, field groups, and sometimes nested-collections.

Organizer

• To-do list
• Address book
• Restaurants list
• Graphic novels
• Wine cellar

Music

• Artists
• Albums
• Tracks

Designer (Models of models)

With models of models, we can store models in the database (instead of JSON files) and have an app to build other apps.

• Objects
• Fields
• Field Groups
• Nested Collections

Test

• Test model with fields of all possible types.

Scripts

Database

Generate SQL script to create a Postgres DB with tables for all models.

In the command line type the following:

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create SQL for sample database w/ demo tables
npm run db

Note: The database creation and population scripts are logged in the files "/dist/sql/evol-db-schema-{datetime}.sql" and "/dist/sql/evol-db-data-{datetime}.sql".

Models

This project provides scripts to make UI-models for Evolutility-UI-React and DB-models for Evolutility-Server-Node from models.

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Generate DB and UI models
npm run models

## Generate UI models
npm run models_ui

## Generate DB models
npm run models_db

Generated models are saved in the directories "/dist/models-ui" and "/dist/models-db". The list of "full" models to generate from is specified in "/models/all_models.js".

Note: The full models can be used as they are by both UI and back-end (which ignore what they do not need in the models).

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Olivier Giulieri.

Evolutility-Models is released under the MIT license.