SOClass™ CONCEPTS
SOClass
is designed to offer solutions on an n-tier model. An
n-tier application program is distributed among three
or more separate computers or logical layers in a distributed
network environment. The most common form of n-tier
(meaning ‘some number of tiers’) is the
3-tier application, in which user interface application
resides on the end-users’ computers, business
logic resides on a centralized computer, and data requirements
are handled by another computer managing a database.
In addition to their induced orderliness of programming,
n-tier applications have the obvious advantage that
any one tier can run on a most appropriate processor
or operating system, conferring great scalability and
capacity of evolution.
As
a data-centric object, the e-document revolves around
the data and logic it embeds. The SOClass data model
is a hierarchical representation of the data contained
in the e-document. Data can be viewed as a tree made
of branches and data leaves – or data elements.
This hierarchical representation proves natural and
facilitates the analysis of the functional requirements.
In addition, it eases the coding of the business logic
through rules attached as adequate to tree nodes or
leaves.
Another advantage to the tree structure
of data is that it complies with XML basic structure
requirements. SOClass includes XML parser technology
to export and import XML documents to and from external
systems.
The Graphic User Interface (GUI) tier
can be specific to each application, and each document,
or harmonized around SOClass standard design. SOClass
visual tools and examples allows beginners to quickly
develop great document visual interfaces – or
document skins – but also render possible for
advanced programmers to plug-in more complex proprietary
ones. The standard SOClass visual representation of
a document comprises one or more forms, each comprising
one or more pages.
SOClass integrates a number of specific
technologies; an impressive one is certainly the Fault
Tolerant Network Protocol (FTNetP). This technology
significantly enhances the Java Remote Method Invocation
(RMI) system, bringing major benefits:
It copes with network communication
failures between server and clients, which are frequent
in many regions of the world. FTNetP also addresses
RMI shortcomings in live industrial environments.
It provides a practical solution to operational environments
where the use of firewalls, proxies and routers renders
standard RMI implementations impracticable as such.
It paves the way towards dynamic upgrade of server application
software with no interruption of service for clients.
It opens the possibility for clients to use simultaneous
various proprietary secure communication protocols.
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