Handling Text Form Files

The text form files can still be used, thus the import of the old projects will not cause any difficulties. However, text form files can be easily converted to the graphical format to use all the advantages of the graphical form editor even when working with the imported projects. 

Editing Graphical Forms

When a graphical form file is opened, the IDE window is changed and two new views are added to provide the developer with the tools used to populate and edit the form. One of them is used to add new form widgets and another to modify the widget and form properties. 

You do not need to use the source code to add a form widget or change its properties. The properties are changed with the help of a set of tools and panels within the Properties view. This view contains all the properties for the selected widget and it is modified depending on the type of the selected widget. The properties are modified in a very visual way, you can see the result right away in most cases.

The new widgets are added to the form with the help of the Palette view. You just click on the widget you want and then click on the form where you want to place it. You can drag and resize your widgets with the help of the mouse cursor. 

MVVM (Model View ViewModel)

LyciaFormDesigner follows the 'Model View ViewModel' (MVVM), an architectural pattern used in software engineering as a specialization of the Presentation Model design pattern introduced by Martin Fowler. Largely based on the model–view–controller pattern (MVC), MVVM is targeted at modern UI development platforms such as HTML5 and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) in which there is a user experience developer who has requirements different from those of a more “traditional” developer (e.g. oriented toward business logic and back end development). This View-Model is responsible for exposing the data objects from the Model in such a way that those objects are easily managed and consumed. In this respect, the View-Model is more Model than View, and handles most if not all of the View’s display logic.
 
It makes the use of specific functions in HTML5 and WPF to better facilitate the separation of View layer development from the rest of the pattern by removing virtually all “code-behind” from the View layer. Instead of requiring Interactive Designers to write forms in form of View code i.e. PER, they can use the LyciaFormDesigner to create bindings to the ViewModel, which is written and maintained by application developers. This separation of roles allows Interactive Designers to focus on UX needs rather than programming or business logic, allowing for the layers of an application to be developed in multiple work streams.