Abstract: Architecture that allows a developer to create an application quicker by providing an engine that automatically creates pieces of an application user interface (UI). The engine can take as input an instance of an entity or any entity type, and create as an output a user interface (UI) that allows the application users to view and modify the entity. The architecture also facilitates the association of metadata with the source entity to guide the engine decisions; decisions such as which UI controls the engine chooses to represent the entity properties, how much “real estate” (UI space) the entity is provided, and how the entity properties are to be laid out. Additionally, applications allow the user to interact with known entity types, but also with types that were unknown at the time of the application conception. In other words, applications (e.g., line-of-business) are able to handle random entities that are dynamically generated.

Abstract: A DataGrid user interface (UI) control is presented that is configured to display a table that includes columns corresponding to fields in a data source and rows corresponding to records in the data source. The DataGrid UI control is also configured to display a details section associated with each row in the table. One or all of the details sections can be displayed or hidden based upon properties specified by a developer or input made by a user. A property may also be set to cause the details section for a row to be displayed only when a user interface cursor is hovering over the row associated with the details section. A property may also be set to cause a details section for a row to be displayed only when the associated row is selected.

Abstract: Architecture that facilitates the recycling of view components (e.g., item controls, visual containers, etc.) in a user interface rather than recreating the view components when needed again in response to a view change such as a scrolling operation or other user navigation operation such as a paging control. In the context of a datagrid, the datagrid can now be more performant when scrolling through a large number of rows. The architecture includes a recycling component that recycles the visual containers by collecting the visual containers when rows are scrolled off the view, and reusing the visual containers with different data when rows are scrolled back into the view. Thus, all the containers stay the same—new data is simply applied to the recycled container.

Abstract: Architecture that allows a developer to create an application quicker by providing an engine that automatically creates pieces of an application user interface (UI). The engine can take as input an instance of an entity or any entity type, and create as an output a user interface (UI) that allows the application users view and modify the entity. The architecture also facilitates the association of metadata with the source entity to guide the engine decisions; decisions such as which UI controls the engine chooses to represent the entity properties, how much “real estate” (UI space) the entity is provided, and how the entity properties are to be laid out. Additionally, applications allow the user to interact with known entity types, but also with types that were unknown at the time of the application conception. In other words, applications (e.g., line-of-business) are able to handle random entities that are dynamically generated.

Abstract: A DataGrid user interface (UI) control is presented that is configured to display a table that includes columns corresponding to fields in a data source and rows corresponding to records in the data source. The DataGrid UI control is also configured to display a details section associated with each row in the table. One or all of the details sections can be displayed or hidden based upon properties specified by a developer or input made by a user. A property may also be set to cause the details section for a row to be displayed only when a user interface cursor is hovering over the row associated with the details section. A property may also be set to cause a details section for a row to be displayed only when the associated row is selected.

Abstract: A system retrieves a first template associated with data identified in a data request. A second template is generated using the first template and a device description, which is associated with a device generating the data request. The first template is device independent and the second template is associated with the specific device generating the data request as well as the first template. The second template defines a data presentation format for displaying the requested data on the type of device that generated the data request. The second template is stored in a cache, which allows the second template to be used with multiple sets of data without regenerating the template. The requested data is retrieved from a data source and formatted based on the second template. The formatted data is then transmitted to the device generating the data request.

Abstract: A system retrieves a first template associated with data identified in a data request. A second template is generated using the first template and a device description, which is associated with a device generating the data request. The first template is device independent and the second template is associated with the specific device generating the data request as well as the first template. The second template defines a data presentation format for displaying the requested data on the type of device that generated the data request. The second template is stored in a cache, which allows the second template to be used with multiple sets of data without regenerating the template. The requested data is retrieved from a data source and formatted based on the second template. The formatted data is then transmitted to the device generating the data request.