Creating Apps With Flex

4 minutes to read

This guide is a basic roadmap for creating your application with Flex.

1. Prepare Your Data Structure

Data structure refers to your tables, views, and relationships between the tables. If you have existing data that you would like to import into Caspio, it could also include data.

Before creating user interfaces, make sure you have your data structure in order. You have the following options:

Create tables and views from scratch and define their relationships. You can use our AI assistant to help with tables.
If you have existing data in the right structure, you can Import them into Caspio. Once the tables and their data are imported, you may still need to create additional tables and views, and define relationships.
If you already have some applications in your Caspio account and if your new application uses some of your existing tables, you may either be done with this step or only have to build any remaining data objects.

2. Create Roles And Apply Permissions To Users

At your account level, outside your current application, you must have or create one or more directories. Directories are turnkey user management objects, where you can define your users and when ready, invite them to start using the finished applications to which they have access. For example, you may have two directories in your account, one for your company’s employees, and the other for your customers.

At the application level, you will be creating roles based on directories. Each role can be based on a single directory. The users assigned to that role could be all or some of the users within that directory. For example, from your employees directory, you could create a roles for Sales and Marketing. Through creating a role, you can assign specific interfaces and CRUD operations to each user group. CRUD refers to Create, Read, Update, and Delete at any table level.

When a role is defined in an app, a segment is automatically created for that role in the app designer. The segment allows you to create the user interfaces of that role within it. Later, you will be able to deploy the segment as an application for that group of users. Learn more.

3. Create User Interfaces

In Flex, an application is built in one or more segments. Each segment is associated with a user role. For example, one segment is for a sales team, and another could be for the marketing team. Within each segment, you create AppPages, each representing a page of your app. Each AppPage can contain one or more DataParts. DataParts are database driven components such as Reports, Forms, or Charts.

Forms

Submission Forms give your app users the ability to submit records. Learn more.
Details/Update Forms are used to display, edit, or delete one record at a time from a data source. Learn more.
Search Forms enable app users to filter records displayed in the reports and Details/Update Forms. Learn more.
A Sign-Up Form enables app-users to self-register for your app. Learn more.

Reports

Tabular Reports organize and present data in a table format. Learn more.
Card Reports present records in a grid of cards with multiple rows and columns. Learn more.
Pivot Reports summarize your data and present it in table format. Learn more.

Charts

Charts are used to visualize complex data in graphical form. Learn more.

HTML

Text/HTML DataParts are used to add static text, links, and images within your AppPages. Learn more.

4. Deploy Application

Once your AppPages are created and a segment is completed, you will need to deploy them to make them accessible to your users. Learn more.