Uniface (programming Language) - Uniface Applications

Uniface Applications

Uniface applications are component-based, infrastructure-independent software programs that can create or use data stored in one or more databases or file-systems. They can be composite applications that include non-Uniface components created using other development tools, and they can be deployed in distributed client/server and web environments, as mobile applications or web services, and in mainframe environments.

Uniface has a variety of component types that are intended for use in different layers of a multi-tier application architecture.

Components for the presentation tier are responsible for the user interface, and include:

• Forms—interactive screens for displaying and updating data in a client/server environment.
• Server Pages—interactive pages for displaying and updating data in a web environment.
• Reports—layouts for presenting data in a printed output.

Components for the business logic tier handle business rules and task-specific behavior and have no user interface:

• Services—provide processing and business logic functionality when called by other components, either locally or remotely.
• Session Services—centralize complex business rules affecting multiple data entities, such as task-specific behavior, transactions, and referential integrity.
• Entity Services—centralize simple business rules for single data entities.

The data access tier contains physical database structures captured in the Uniface application model. Uniface ensures physical data access by encapsulating SQL in its DBMS connectors. Network and middleware access are encapsulated by the middleware drivers and the Uniface Router.

The runtime engine executes the application components. It displays presentation components using the appropriate user interface connector (either GUI or character-based), and sends and receives data via a DBMS connector.