OpenXava 6.6 released

In OpenXava 6.6 all visited modules are remembered with tabs on top of the page, we have improved the UI behavior on scrolling and resizing, you can associate a custom editor to any annotation so now you can use annotations as alternative to stereotypes, we have improved the editor for uploading files, and you can use maps in your application by means of the new @Coordinates annotation, etc. Read below, to know more about these and many other things included in this latest version.

We invite you to download it and upgrade your OpenXava applications. Look at the migration instructions.

Tabs for already visited modules

When the user goes to a new module a new tab is opened on top of the page for it, remaining the tabs for the already opened modules, so the user can come back to a previous module just with a click. Like shown in the next screenshot:



This was a feature of OpenXava 5 that we dropped in version 6, since then you have asked many times to put it back. You said that is a very practical way of working, while practically there are no business applications that work in that way. So it conferes a competitive advantage to your OpenXava applications.
By default, the visited modules are remembered among sessions for each user, although you can disable it adding the next entry to naviox.properties:

rememberVisitedModules=false 

fixModulesOnTopMenu=Invoice, Order

Better behavior on scroll

Top button bar with actions is fixed on top of the page when the user scrolls the detail or list view. Like this:



Note as the action buttons are always visible even after scrolling. Also, note as the left menu with modules is fixed, when you scroll the main view, the left menu doesn't move. Now the scrolling of the left modules menu and the main view are independent.

Responsive button bar

When you narrow your browser, the labels of the actions in button bar are hidden, so they fit well in a narrow window:



Also we have improved the tooltip for actions, including the action name. 

Java annotations instead of stereotypes

Don't worry, stereotypes are still supported, but you can use annotation instead, if you prefer. Annotations have three advantages over stereotypes. First, the compiler assures that you have written it well, second, the IDE auto completes the annotation while you write and third, the annotation can have attributes, so we can modify the way it behaves.
Now you can attach an editor to a Java annotation, so when a property is annotated with that annotation the corresponding editor is used. For example, you can define an annotation like this one:

package com.mycompany.myapp.annotations;

import java.lang.annotation.*;

@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target({ ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.METHOD })
public @interface Colorful {

    String color() default "black";

}

@Column(length=40) @Required
@Colorful(color = "green") 
String name;

<editor name="Colorful" url="colorfulEditor.jsp">
  <for-annotation 
    annotation="com.mycompany.myapp.annotations.Colorful"/>
</editor>

@File and @Files

Now you can use @File instead of @Stereotype("FILE") and @Files instead of @Stereotype("FILES"). They are 100% compatible even at database level, you can change it in your code with no problem. Moreover, we have improved the editor for @File and @Files to display a preview if the uploaded file is an image, in this way:



It allows you to use @File as a replacement for @Stereotype("PHOTO") and @Files for @Stereotype("IMAGES_GALLERY"), though in this case they are not compatible at database level, so use it for new code only. @File is more performant than PHOTO and @File/@Files allows you to save on database, filesystem or define your own storage system.
When you use @File or @Files you can define attributes like acceptFileTypes or maxFileSizeInKb to restrict the files the user can upload. For example, with this code:

@File(acceptFileTypes="image/*", maxFileSizeInKb=90)
@Column(length=32)
private String photo;

Moreover, we have done these other improvements related to upload files editor:

• @File/FILE displays a small preview image in list mode if the file is of image type.
• FILES stereotype is shown inside a frame by default.
• Property maxFileSizeInKb in editors.xml definition to restrict the size of files to upload.
• Property acceptFileTypes in editors.xml definition to restrict the type of files to upload.        
• New @FileItemUpload annotation to configure properties of FileItem type.
• PHOTO/IMAGE and IMAGES_GALLERY stereotypes only allow uploading images.
• Import data in list mode only allows uploading CSV, XLS and XLSX files.

@Coordinates

@Coordinates @Column(length=50)
private String location;

Other improvements

We have done a lot of improvements in other areas:

• PDF reports show the filter name in the header for saved filters.
• When a row in any collection is checked the delete action of the module is hidden. 
• InvoiceDemo includes examples of @Coordinates, @Files and @File.        
• Dropped support for Internet Explorer.
• Startup time for application in development (embedded Tomcat) improved (x2).
• Lesson 2 and 4 of course divided into several smaller lessons.        
• Automated testing content of the course moved to appendix D.
• Last lesson of course, about references and collections, upgraded to the latest OpenXava version.
• Lessons 2, 3 and 4 of course include video.
• New isImage() method in org.openxava.util.Files utility class.    
• New moveRow() methods in ModuleTestBase to test moving rows in @OrderColumn collections.             
• Top bar button and left menu adapted to look better in iPad.    
• Some new common use labels to be used in applications.
• Labels and messages for Serbian upgraded.

Bug fixes

Though this is not a maintenance version we have done some fixes:

• Fix: IP stereotype not linked to its corresponding validator, so no validation was done for IPs.
• Fix: @OrderColumn collection order altered when a collection element is modified from its module.
• Fix: Broken links in Customizing chapter of Reference Guide.
• Fix: Minor errors in Spanish course version.