ADDT includes vs WA includes

Which are the strong point of WA Includes respect to ADDT? Why I should use your extension instead of the ADDT's includes function?

and… why you have called your extension "PHP Framework" when has only includes function available?

Thanks

It has both includes (We call plugins to prevent confusion with standard includes), and Themes, which is a way of using dreamweaver templates dynamically. It also has the show if utility.

By combining plugins and themes it gives you a full framework with modular functionality and dynamic skins.

The advantage of plugins over ADDT includes are:
1) Streamlined code
2) Dreamweaver translation (so you see the contents in design view)
3) Advanced bindings for access to more parts of the page
4) Integration with dreamweaver templates (you can break your themes into editable regions and place them individually)
5) The entire Theme concept, which is unique to Framwork builder and rounds out the ability to truly skin and modularize a web page into building blocks.
6) CS5 support
7) Available to buy now (ADDT is not any more)

Ok thanks Ray, I think that WA did a good job with PHP Framework

However, I think that is necessary to open a new section in your website with more tutorials/video... for example, you told me that is possibile "Advanced bindings for access to more parts of the page" but if you give me an example or a video tutorial, it would be easier to understand what it means

Hi Ray,

On Framework Builder, I know it is new, but I have to agree that a lot more documentation and examples would help. I am looking at it and I at a bit of a loss on how it streamlines what I do already in the coding I do in my templates and using includes myself. I'm sure it is helpful, but I would find a kick start useful to determining how it can help me with my workflow.

On another note, maybe I missed something, but, while showing promise, it is not an ADDT replacement by a long shot. I have been using my own mod for sortable lists in DataAssist and I thought the framework was going to come out with more database management features like ADDT. Sortable lists is the big one and I am wondering if that is in the works? I would also love to figure out how I could work my sortable list mod into a plugin, but, since DA gives different names to datasets on the results page, I have no idea how to start with making that into a plugin.

It would be nice if there was an API that would let me pass information to a plugin. For example, to have a plugin work with DA, I would need to be able to write something generic that affects the WADA recordset of the DA page it is applied to. Any ideas on a good way to do that?

You can pass url parameters into the plugin page.

This is not meant to be a replacement for ADDT in its entirety. It is a replacement for their ADDT MX Includes feature, which is an often-requested feature of ADDT.

YES YES more documentation PLEASE

Originally Said By: neo314

  Hi Ray,

On Framework Builder, I know it is new, but I have to agree that a lot more documentation and examples would help. I am looking at it and I at a bit of a loss on how it streamlines what I do already in the coding I do in my templates and using includes myself. I'm sure it is helpful, but I would find a kick start useful to determining how it can help me with my workflow.

On another note, maybe I missed something, but, while showing promise, it is not an ADDT replacement by a long shot. I have been using my own mod for sortable lists in DataAssist and I thought the framework was going to come out with more database management features like ADDT. Sortable lists is the big one and I am wondering if that is in the works? I would also love to figure out how I could work my sortable list mod into a plugin, but, since DA gives different names to datasets on the results page, I have no idea how to start with making that into a plugin.

It would be nice if there was an API that would let me pass information to a plugin. For example, to have a plugin work with DA, I would need to be able to write something generic that affects the WADA recordset of the DA page it is applied to. Any ideas on a good way to do that?  

It's good to see the debate on the differences between ADDT and the WA extensions is still alive and that WA are open to the potential for integrating applicable ideas into future releases.

I for one have been a long time user and beta tester for many of the old InterAKT extensions, and still use MX Kollection and ADDT on various projects.

While I have had access to many of the WA extensions, and currently own most of their commercial extensions, I still rely on the older Interakt products, simply because they have so many features that I cannot live without for RAD.

As mentioned in an earlier message, there are various features that really need to be implemented to make the Framework and DA of a true use to many users.

Personally, I find the lack of sortable and movable data lists a large omission to the product line. Something I can imagine a large portion of web developers using the WA products also feel.

I also agree that the transaction engine was a very good system for making more complicated actions much quicker to implement into a web site.

Finally, the way that DA creates multiple pages for each of the stages certainly adds to the bulk of the site, and also makes integrating them in to your design a more time consuming process. ADDT's method of one page with multiple actions was certainly quicker and easier to work with, as was the ability to go back in and edit your existing code.

If some of these features could be integrated into future WA products, then I think there would be a lot of happy developers out there.

Regards

Paul

Originally Said By: paul307749

  Finally, the way that DA creates multiple pages for each of the stages certainly adds to the bulk of the site, and also makes integrating them in to your design a more time consuming process. ADDT's method of one page with multiple actions was certainly quicker and easier to work with, as was the ability to go back in and edit your existing code.  

Just to say that using WA DataAssist one form that does everything is extremely easy to implement. I was part of Team Interakt and I certainly know theres a fair few features that are missed (sortable lists for one) but the mutiple action form is very simple using DA. I do agree on the reentrance so you can edit easily the form would be useful but again this is stil really simple wth DA. I have asaid before I thought if only DA could do this and that like ADDT but once you look at it from a slightly different angle you will appreicate the benefits of the WA DA way especially for efficiancy of code ADDT was huge on installing lots of files and directories for simple tasks.

Mike

I agree with you both, and more features will mean more code weight, but I believe Paul hit the nail on the head. RAD. I have to spend too much time customizing page after page for the same things to use the extensions efficiently and get what I need for a DB/CMS management system that gives my clients what they want. Much more so than with ADDT.

Sortable lists, recordset as well as table management, and customizable transactions (like custom triggers) would take us a lot further forward.

This has been the most interesting debate on this forum I have read, I still haven’t got the WA includes, but will get it any time soon, I’m still to dependant on ADDT, one of the mayor lacks on addt dynamic table includes, was the lack to set dynamic titles and meta tags which I had to work around manually, example on a product page it could not grab the name of the product directly for the meta title, I hope this feature comes with the WA framework.

On the discussion about the trigger function I found that really easy to use and time saving hope WA team thinks on developing something similar.

On time consuming I still see more benefits using addt when I have many projects at the same time, specially on the multiple insert, edit, delete, and sorting list, the forms are easy to modify unless you customize them to change a lot the look and feel, which on data assist combined with css form builder it’s been a nightmare due to the complex code css form builder adds to each page, which for any change I would need to do it manually or redo the page, the Pro of using data assist with the css form builder are the nice validations but when it comes to modify an existing form o my god, and to build a CMS or store I still go and use ADDT cause it takes me 5 times less time than when using Data assist with css form builder, now these 2 products need to be integrated and need a more easy panel to modify a form, if you missed to add something on it or need to change some of the fields, cause the client called a week later to tell you that he also needs X or Y fields to be inserted in the database.

Now using WA products I notice that my websites load much faster and don’t have to give a client excuses that the server is slow sometimes, I also agree webassist products make the code much less complicated to alter if you know a bit of php.

Also I agree with neo314 about using more jquery than spry, jquery is much easier to understand and modify.

The pro of WA for me is the easy code alter and the fast loading, the Const comparing to ADDT is the time consuming of WA products cause you need to do a lot of things on your own.

Some one mention about email sending i like more the universal emailer than the one integrated with ADDT thats a pro for WA.

Also the CSS maker of webassist is the top notch of thier products that is one of the products i have felt more time saving to build the structure of the design really quick.

Also the search from data assist is pretty nice i love it, and it just needs a twick if you guys ever plan to make the dynamic list with the sort function already implemented the result page needs an easy to use filter thing like the ones on Nextensio List.

When WA gets many of those ADDT (Nextensio) features into their products I can bet we won’t ever talk again about ADDT, in the mean time I have both products and I will keep updating my WA extensions just hoping you guys can beat Interkat on time consumption for us developers/designers, so we can depend entirely on WA.

Sorry my very poor english grammer!

Sades