Tivoli Service Desk 6.0 Developer's Toolkit Tools and Utilities Guide
The Developer's Toolkit Integrated Development Environment, or IDE, is an integrated work space for writing Developer's Toolkit applications. The IDE is designed to enable users to build applications by selecting options in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment rather than working from the command prompt. You can use the IDE to organize Developer's Toolkit applications and access the tools you need to build them.
Within the IDE, all Developer's Toolkit applications are organized in a hierarchical structure within a project file. In the IDE, each project is a file made up of one or more windows called targets. Targets contain components called items that are used to build the application.
To build applications, your workflow typically follows the sequence of this hierarchy. The following steps summarize the process for building a Developer's Toolkit application project using a hierarchical approach.
A project is the highest level in the IDE's hierarchical file structure. A project is a window that shows a list of targets. A project can have one target or many, depending on the complexity of the application you're building and how you choose to organize it.
A target is a window that is linked to a project. The target window shows a list of items associated with the project. One target can hold all the items for a project, or the items can be grouped into multiple targets, depending on how you want to organize your Developer's Toolkit application.
An item is the lowest level in the IDE's hierarchical file structure. An item is a window that is linked to a target. The item window shows the name of one item associated with a target. One item or multiple items can make up a target.
Item names are the full path, including file name, of source files used to build an application. Because files are referenced by path name rather than being physically copied into the IDE, they do not have to be created within the IDE to be included in your project. You can define any file as part of the project in the IDE.
There are two edit programs: a default text editor and the Interface Designer. The default text editor is used to edit ASCII text files. A default text editor has already been defined for your operating system, however you can change it to a different editor. For more information, see the section Editing Items with a Text Editor later in this chapter.
The Interface Designer is used to edit .df files. For more information on using the Interface Designer, see the Tivoli Service Desk 6.0 Developer's Toolkit Interface Designer Guide.
There are two build programs that convert files from a source format to an object format. During the build process, the build program creates a new file with an extension that is derived from the original file extension.
The build program converts the file to machine code and adds a "c" to the file extension. A build for a .kb (knowledgebase) file creates a file with a .kbc extension.
The following example shows the build programs and the type of files each converts.
Build Program | Converts |
Interface Generator | .df to .dfc |
TSD Script Parser | .kb to .kbc |
The run process runs or displays files, and in doing so, designates the program that runs the selected file. For example, the Interface Viewer can be used to view .df files.
This section covers the following topics:
When you create a new project file, it is recommended that you create a new, separate directory for your file(s).
To create a new project file:
Use this procedure to open an existing project file.
To open an existing project file:
When you name a project file, the default extension is .ide. You may specify any extension, however.
To save a project file with the original file name:
To save a project file to a different name:
Once you open or create a project file, you can add targets to it. You can create as many targets in a project file as you want, but there must be at least one. You can add any number of items to a target. However, as an organizational tool, each target should hold only items that are part of a logical group of information or files.
This section covers the following topics:
Each target holds items that are part of a related group of data used to build an
application. Use the following
procedure to add a target to a project file.
Note: This is required. If you do not supply a title, an error message appears stating that a value must be supplied before the target is accepted.
Editing a target allows you to change the target name.
To edit a target:
Clearing a target removes all items from it, although the source files are not affected by the clear process.
Caution: You cannot undo the clear process. Once you clear items from a target, the only way to restore them is to either close the project file without saving it or to manually add each item back in to the target.
To clear items from a target, use the following procedure.
If you... | then... |
want to clear the target | choose Yes |
do not want to clear the target | choose No |
If you delete a target from a project file, all items on that target are also removed from the project file. The source files are not affected by the deletion.
If you... | then... |
want to delete the target | choose Yes. |
do not want to delete the target | choose No. |
A target item is a reference to a source file, and can be added to or deleted from its target at any time.
This section covers the following topics:
Before you add items to the targets in a project file, consider the information that follows:
To add an item to a target:
As you build project files, you may want to add placeholders for source files that have not yet been created. Placeholders are empty files that allow you to form the structure of your application though you may not have source material. For example, you may want to create files that will eventually become help files for your application, even though you have not created the help text yet.
To create a placeholder:
You may choose to remove an item either because you don't want it associated with a particular target anymore, or because you need to move it to another target. The only way to move an item is to remove it from its current target and add it to another target.
To remove an item from a target:
If you... | then... |
want to delete the item | choose Yes. |
do not want to delete the item | choose No. |
Editing items in a target allows you to make changes when you build an application. Items can be associated with different text editors, depending on the type of item. For instance, a module of code can be associated with a text editor, while a dialog box file is associated with the Interface Designer.
This section covers the following topics:
Each item in a project file is automatically associated with a text editor that can be used to modify its contents.
To open a text editor:
Note: You can also open a text editor by double-clicking the item you want to edit.
To close a text editor:
There may be occasions when you want to change the default text editor. For example, if you have a text editor that you use regularly, you may prefer to continue to use it rather than the default text editor provided with the IDE.
To change the default text editor:
The IDE provides several options for building and updating object code for an item. This section covers the following topics:
The difference between a build and an update is that when you build items, all specified items are rebuilt unconditionally. For more information on building your application, see The TSD Script Parser.
When you update items, only those items that have source code that is newer than the object code are rebuilt. For more information, see Updating Your Project section.
Note: If there is no object code for an item that is selected for an update, it is built.
When the IDE executes the build program, it passes the name of the item(s) to build as command line arguments. When you build or update multiple files, a message appears confirming a successful build or update.
If a build program is specified as a command line for an item, substitutions are performed in the application. If no command line is defined, the name of the selected item is used. If no build program is specified for the selected item, a warning message appears.
To build an item in a target:
To build all the items on a target:
To build all the items in a project:
You can update just the targets in your application or the entire project file, including associated targets and items.
This section covers the following topics:
To update all the items on a target:
To update all the items in a project file:
Knowledgebases are built and updated in the same manner that items are built and updated. That is, for an update, the TSD Script Parser parses all .kb files in the project whose time stamp is newer than its .kbc file, or if no .kbc file exists, one is created.
Rebuilding a .kb file allows the TSD Script Parser to parse all .kb files in the project regardless of their modification times.
This section covers the following topics:
To build a knowledgebase:
To update a knowledgebase:
The IDE can run any executable file. This section covers the following topics:
To run a file:
~ From the Item menu, choose Run.
or
~ Click the Run toolbar button.
To set the working directory to run Developer's Toolkit programs:
Tivoli Service Desk 6.0 Developer's Toolkit Tools and Utilities Guide