Developing codeless applications

Benefits of codeless bundles

The benefits of codeless bundles are:

• Develop applications and libraries without having to know or learn a programming language.
• Eliminate the dependency on a procode developer to build an application or library.
• Minimize the complexity of initially setting up an environment to build applications and libraries because a codeless bundle does not require setting up a full Integrated Development Environment (IDE), build tools, and source control system. 
  For instance, you can export and save copies of your bundle to a file system that is backed up regularly. You can also leverage a source control system to upload versions of your bundle.
• Construct applications quickly by using drag-and-drop visual designers to define the structure of your application.
• Easily maintain and modify your applications and libraries because the structure of your application is visually represented by the visual designers. 

Custom codeless applications contain a universal entry point that is shared by all applications and includes an index.html file. You need not include the framework functionality that maintains a custom entry point in their coded applications.

The universal entry URL is in the following format:

http://<host>:<port>/helix/index.html#/<applicationId> 

If you are using the old URL of BMC Helix Innovation Studio, you are redirected to the new URL via a redirect page that displays the following message:

To create a codeless application bundle

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and click the Workspace tab.
2. From the New menu, select Application.

3. In the New Application dialog box, specify the following information: 

   Field name	Description
   Application name	Enter a name for your application. For example: Work Order.
   Application short name	Enter a short name for your application. The short name is prefixed with a Developer ID to create the Application ID. For example: workorder. Important: Do not use any special characters or spaces in the short name.
   Group ID	Enter your organization's domain name in reverse format. For example: com.calbro. Important: After setting the Group ID, you cannot change it. Warning: The com.bmc.* namespace is reserved for lines of business and BMC-specific bundles. Do not use this namespace in your Group ID because it might lead to performance issues. If you create your application by using com.bmc.* as Group ID, the following warning message is displayed: Creating a non-BMC application or library with a com.bmc.* group ID might result in performance, upgrade, and server availability issues.
   Application ID	Confirm that the Application ID, which is the short name prefixed with a Group ID, is created.

4. Click Create.

A new application called Work Order, with a default version of 1.0.0, is created in BMC Helix Innovation Studio and is displayed in the Workspace tab as shown in the following image:

If your application is not created, see Troubleshooting-application-deployment-issues.

To create a codeless library bundle

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and click the Workspace tab.
2. From the New menu, select Library.

3. In the New Library dialog box, specify the following information: 

   Field name	Description
   Library name	Enter a name for your library. For example: Work Order Library.
   Library short name	Enter a name for your application. The short name is prefixed with a Developer ID to create the Application ID. For example, workorder-lib. Important: Do not use any special characters or spaces in the short name.
   Group ID	Enter your organization's domain name in reverse format. For example: com.calbro. Important: After setting the Group ID, you cannot change it. Warning: The com.bmc.* namespace is reserved for lines of business and BMC-specific bundles. Do not use this namespace in your Group ID because it might lead to performance issues. If you create your library by using com.bmc.* as Group ID, the following warning message is displayed: Creating a non-BMC application or library with a com.bmc.* group ID might result in performance, upgrade, and server availability issues.
   Library ID	Confirm that the Library ID, which is the short name prefixed with a Group ID, is created.

4. Click Create.

A new library called Work Order Library, with a default version of 1.0.0, is created in BMC Helix Innovation Studio and is displayed in the Workspace tab. 

If your library isn't created, see Troubleshooting-application-deployment-issues.

Methods for extending codeless applications with custom-coded components

When the out-of-the-box components aren't enough to build your codeless application in the way you want, you can extend your application with custom-coded components. The following methods are available to extend your application:

Method 1: Build the custom-coded components in a separate coded library

1. Create a new coded library to build the custom-coded components.
   For more information, see Developing-and-deploying-code-based-applications.  
2. Add the custom-coded component from your new coded library to your codeless application.
   For example, if the custom-coded component is a Process Action, it will appear in the Process designer palette. You can drag and drop the Process Action into your process in your codeless application.

Method 2: Convert your codeless bundle to a coded bundle

1. If you created your codeless bundle in your Tailoring environment, move your bundle to your Developer Sandbox:
   1. Create an install package for your codeless bundle in your Tailoring environment.
   2. Install the newly created package in your Developer Sandbox.

2. Create a new project using Maven in your Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
   If you haven't set up your IDE, follow the instructions to set up your IDE. When using Maven to create the project, set the property values (groupID, artifactID, version, name) in Maven to match the property values of the codeless bundle. 

   Important

   • Do not run the Maven command: mvn clean install -Pdeploy because this action could impact your codeless definitions in the Developer Sandbox.
   • Configure your pom.xml file in your project folder to point to your Developer Sandbox server with your developer credentials.

3. In your project directory, run the Maven command to export the definitions of your bundle from your Developer Sandbox and store them in the project repository in your IDE.

   mvn install -Pexport
4. Add the custom-coded components to your application.
5. After developing the code, to promote the new custom-coded bundle to QA and Production environments, create a deployment package and deploy the custom code-based application to your QA and Production environments in BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

Where to go from here