The appGenerator is an all-in-one web/database software development and information management system.
You can rapidly create web-based event registration systems, calendars, project & task management systems, web surveys, Authorize.net payment forms, intranet applications and more.
If you need to collect and/or manage information from your customers, or partners, and/or publish information via the Internet, the appGenerator can help save time by creating the forms, database tables, permissions, security, input validation, queries and everything in between. You don't have to be a programmer or web-expert to use the appGenerator, but if you are, you can tweak the code that it generates and customize it to fit your needs. You can install the system on your own server, or we can host it for you. You can also integrate your designs and branding into the system and the applications it creates. Our unique evaluation model allows you to create an application at no cost, but once it contains more than ten records, the system disables the application until you decide to pay for it or remove some of the data. This enables you to create demos and prototypes at no risk, and only pay for the app if you decide to use it. Please take two minutes to watch this video to see how easy it is to create a contacts database/application. The FDL, or Form Definition Language, code used in the video is listed below. first_name | text | First Name | yes | 15 | 255 | show last_name | text | Last Name | yes | 15 | 255 | show email_address | email | Email Address | no | 15 | 255 | hide street_address | text | Street Address | no | 15 | 255 | hide mailing_address | text | Mailing Address | no | 15 | 255 | hide city | text | City | no | 15 | 200 | hide state | select | State | no | List: US and Canada | 1 | show postal code | text | Postal Code | no | 9 | 9 | show home_phone | text | Home Telephone | no | 15 | 15 | hide mobile_phone | text | Mobile Telephone | no | 15 | 15 | hide work_phone | text | Work Telephone | no | 15 | 15 | hide birth_date | date | Birth Date | no | hide notes | textarea | Notes | no | hide relationship_type | checkbox | Type of Relationship | no | Business,, Personal,, Family | vertical | show |
The Problem:
Collecting, publishing and managing information can be challenging.
Many people turn to spreadsheets or word-processor documents to create lists and store information because they are so easy to create. But just like 'fast food', the benefits of being able to set up a spreadsheet quickly (to store data) are eventually outweighed by the problems that arise over time. Common problems include:
- distribution - how do you get the document to all of the people who need it?
- concurrency - spreadsheets can't be used by more than one person at a time
- version control - if you try to share a spreadsheet via email, then you have to worry about who has the most recent copy, and does it contain all changes from all users?
- audit trail - there is no record of who did what
- access control - there is no way to control who views, edits or deletes a specific row or column
- redundancy - it is very difficult (or impossible) to re-use lists in different spreadsheets, which results in multiple (and therefore inaccurate) versions of the data
- control - once you release a spreadsheet, you have lost control over it (and can't retract it). For instance, see this story: Verizon Wireless accidentally released customer data through a spreadsheet. If they had been using appGenerator to manage that information, they could protect the data with a variety of security measures, and also disable the query (the view of the data) at any time. They would also have a record of who viewed the data and when.
The Solution:
The appGenerator™ makes it easy to build web applications, and predict how much they will cost before they are created. The appGenerator automates the process of writing the application interfaces and data structures, freeing up an experienced programmer to focus on more difficult tasks. It also makes it possible for a novice to build a working prototype in just minutes; no programming required.
And on top of all that, you can actually build an application and have 10 records (entries) without having to pay for it. It's our way of letting you evaluate your custom software with zero risk.
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Current Features: Application Generator (build complex apps in minutes) Advanced Security: unrecognized network/ISP authorizations or warnings input validation (reduces form-spam and prevents SQL Injection attacks) multi-user permissions: control who sees what all transactions are logged for auditing / review Filtering (quickly find what you're looking for) Export to Quickbooks, spreadsheet (tabbed-delimited file) or XML Record Paging (splits data into pages) Add and modify forms Internal Messaging System Summary modes to quickly view your data Multi-Application Integration Wizard Import data from Spreadsheet Statistical Analyis Tools Authorize.net credit card processing / payment integration Email Tools - send form-letter emails from the system generated code is PHP, SQL and JavaScript Input Validation (improves data quality and blocks spammers) record_id and nsrid (non-sequential record_id) for tracking and control |
Coming Soon: Auto-Save (as you tab to the next field) Growable Forms (add new fields dynamically) Ajax Search (search as you type) and Filters Enhanced Query Builder Email2App (converts incoming emails into records in a web app) Windows compatibility Desktop Client/Version Enhanced Toggle functionality (dynamic show/hide) |
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Field Types: timestamp text credit_card date textarea hidden radio select lists checkbox matrix integer decimal math percent file upload autoid blank (labels) subform (forms within forms) guid query (embed a query into an app) image image2 (automatic thumbnail creation) text2 (search as you type, using Ajax) jsarray (client side arrays) |
We consider security to be one of the most important aspects of the appGenerator. Speed, convenience, reliability are all very important, but without security, they mean nothing. While we cannot say that appGenerator is unbreakable, we can say that every facet of appGenerator is periodically reviewed and braced for potential security threats.
Much of web application security has nothing to do with the web application, but with how the server is configured. An improperly configured server can weaken even the srongest web application.
In addition to staying on top of current security news and the OWASP Top 10 here are some of the books that our developers have read while creating the appGenerator:
- Practical UNIX and Internet Security, Third Edition
- Web Hacking: Attacks and Defense
- Web Applications (Hacking Exposed)
- Hacking Linux Exposed, Second Edition
Unlike competing technologies, appGenerator provides a comprehensive array of security features, from multi-user logins, application and system-level safeguards and warning systems. appGenerator's audit-trail keeps track of all important database transactions, giving you the ability to know who viewed, deleted, modified, or added a record, and when. The system also has an optional feature which protects against unauthorized access by requiring approval when a user attempts to login from an unrecognized network location (ISP) - a potential sign of unauthorized access.
How does appGenerator compare to the alternatives in terms of security?
| appGenerator | spreadsheets | documents | ||
| 1) ability to track/log user access | ||||
| 2) application-level access controls | ||||
| 3) record-level controls | ||||
| 4) ability to retract user access | ||||
| 5) allow/restrict access from specific networks |
This screenshot shows the "Favorites" tab, and the selected favorite input form.
The following screenshot shows the "Applications" tab, which lists all available apps by folder.
Creating a new application is very simple, and can be done in just a few minutes.
The first step is to define the name for the app:
The second step defines security and configuration variables:
The third step involves a few formatting decisions, and is where you define the structure of your application. One line of code per field is all it takes to create your system.
After your app is built, it will appear in the list of applications, highlighted in yellow:
To view the input form, click the 'add' link:
You can reach us at (360) 631-6681 or
To get a list of remaining field credits, please enter your email address:
Short Version:
Any typical VPS (Virtual Private Server) or dedicated server where you have root access (Linux/Unix/BSD/OSX) should work.
We have read good things about SliceHost, and their pricing starts at $20/month
Long Version:
Technical requirements include:
· Linux, Unix, BSD or OSX (with libcurl)
· 2 MySQL databases (v.3.23, v.4 or v.5)
· Apache (v.1.x or v.2.x)
· PHP (v.4 or v.5)
· The "apache" user must be able to write/edit files in the main website folder (htdocs, www, web, etc...)
· The system requires rsync to copy files from the primary codebase.
Notes:
- Important: PHP safe-mode, register_globals and magic_quotes must be turned off
- Apache 2.0 may require the following .htaccess modification ("AcceptPathInfo On") to enable the AcceptPathInfo directive.
- The appGenerator will not run on any version of Microsoft Windows at this time.
Clients
Here are how some of our clients are using the appGenerator:
Fox Web Company has been using appGenerator to create database apps on the web longer than any other client.
They use the system to create task/project management systems, inventory tracking systems, accounting and financial management apps, sports tracking systems, and much more.
They also provide appGenerator consulting, so if you're looking for someone to help you build a custom application, contact Andy Chapman, located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Reformed Theological Seminary - Orlando (RTS) used the appGenerator to develop a web-based financial aid form which has
eliminated the redundancies, inefficiencies, and expense of the previous system.
They also use the appGenerator to develop web-based surveys used to gain insights into student perspectives.
Lagniappe Church uses the appGenerator to schedule hundreds of volunteers per week in the restoration of the Gulf Coast
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Town of Darrington and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency use the appGenerator as an intranet system to manage the Wood Stove Changeout Program.
DarringtonWa.org
www.darringtonwa.org is a great example of how the appGenerator can be used to receive, publish and manage information.
It has an Event Calendar, Organization Directory, Announcements, Picture Gallery, Trail/Hiking Database, and has been used to conduct community-wide surveys in the past. The appGenerator was used to create the forms to collect the information, then the query-builder was used to create the self-updating calendar, random directory listing and photo on the homepage, and the list of the announcements. The trail database allows you to filter and sort the results to find the types of trails that are best suited for your interests.
Camp-Agape.org
Camp Agape is a summer camp for kids with cancer (and their families). The camp is free for the campers and families, and after ten years of camp, they have quite a library of photographs and memories. To catalog, organize and display that information, we used the appGenerator to build a photo database management system, and other systems to manage the site. One of the joys of working with the appGenerator is that we can now build sites like this in just a few hours, whereas this would have taken weeks by hand.
Here are how some of our clients are using the appGenerator:
Fox Web Company has been using appGenerator to create database apps on the web longer than any other client.
They use the system to create task/project management systems, inventory tracking systems, accounting and financial management apps, sports tracking systems, and much more.
They also provide appGenerator consulting, so if you're looking for someone to help you build a custom application, contact Andy Chapman, located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Reformed Theological Seminary - Orlando (RTS) used the appGenerator to develop a web-based financial aid form which has
eliminated the redundancies, inefficiencies, and expense of the previous system.
They also use the appGenerator to develop web-based surveys used to gain insights into student perspectives.
Lagniappe Church uses the appGenerator to schedule hundreds of volunteers per week in the restoration of the Gulf Coast
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Town of Darrington and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency use the appGenerator as an intranet system to manage the Wood Stove Changeout Program.
DarringtonWa.org
www.darringtonwa.org is a great example of how the appGenerator can be used to receive, publish and manage information.
It has an Event Calendar, Organization Directory, Announcements, Picture Gallery, Trail/Hiking Database, and has been used to conduct community-wide surveys in the past. The appGenerator was used to create the forms to collect the information, then the query-builder was used to create the self-updating calendar, random directory listing and photo on the homepage, and the list of the announcements. The trail database allows you to filter and sort the results to find the types of trails that are best suited for your interests.
Camp-Agape.org
Camp Agape is a summer camp for kids with cancer (and their families). The camp is free for the campers and families, and after ten years of camp, they have quite a library of photographs and memories. To catalog, organize and display that information, we used the appGenerator to build a photo database management system, and other systems to manage the site. One of the joys of working with the appGenerator is that we can now build sites like this in just a few hours, whereas this would have taken weeks by hand.
appGenerator development started in 2002 as the flagship product of Cascade Data Systems (based in Darrington, Washington - near Seattle).
You can reach us at 360-631-6681 or .
You can reach support via 360-631-6681 or .