Glossary of terms
This glossary lists terms that are specific to the Arcos system or which have a special meaning when used with Arcos.
- autotemplate
- See under template.
- base URL
- This is the location of the project. It is specified during the installation of the project. For example, if you are user "dave" at web-site-address.com with a project called "myproject", then the base URL will be http://www.web-site-address.com/~dave/myproject/html/
- built-in tag
- This is a class of tags that is used in the XML specification to define the overall structure of the web site, the pages, tables, recordsets and so on.
See also KTAG.
- component
- A component is a piece of PHP code that generates further code to form a specific task, such as validating a text field to check whether the user has typed a valid number. Once a component has been written, it can be re-used. Kusala provides a set of pre-defined components. You can also write your own components (although most developers will not need to do this).
See also core_component, fragment.
- configuration file(s)
- This is the XML file (or set of files) that defines the web site that you are developing. There is always one configuration file called
configuration.1.xml
. This must reside in the basedir/config
directory (basedir is the directory that corresponds to the base URL. To avoid having one unduly large configuration file, it is good practice to use subsidiary configuration files. These are referenced from the main configuration file using the FileInclude tag.
- core component
- A component that is mandatory. Arcos does not work without all the core components.
- datasource
- A datasource is a special type of component. It is a recordset that is loaded with records for a database according to some criteria that are defined by another component.
- dispatch.php
- An Arcos file that handles page requests.
- end button
- An end button is a button that is initially not associated with any specific record (unlike a row button). Potentially, it can act on any records (or no records) when the user clicks it. The records can be specified in various ways. For example, a user might select various check boxes.
- fragment
- A fragment is a piece of XML code that is defined on one place. It can be re-used elsewhere.
See also component
- KTAG
- A class of tags in HTML. A KTAG indicates to Arcos how to manipulate data.
See also built-in tag.
- layout
- A layout is similar to a template, in that it acts as a template for the generated web page. Layouts are more powerful than templates. Layouts can be nested (templates cannot be nested).
- page
- This is used with the normal meaning of a single web page.
- project
- A copy of all the Arcos source files, plus the code that you write plus any existing web pages that will be incorporated into the web site.
- recordset
- A recordset is a set of records. For example, the result of joining two or more tables or a subset of fields from a single table.
- row button
- A row button is associated with a specific row (or record in SQL terms). When the user clicks it, the data in the record becomes available to Arcos (the data is available to the code within the SYS_Button Name component).
See also end button.
- section
- A section is a division of a page. Arcos uses sections to determine the order in which code should run. Every component runs in a default section, but you can specify a different section to force the component to run at a different time.
- session
- A session variable is a variable that is persistent in memory. Once it has been set, it is available to any page until it is explicitly un-set. The session applies to a specific user with a specific browser instantiation.
See also state.
- state
- A state variable is a available to the next page only. After being used it is deleted. It is equivalent to using POST and GET in HTML.
See also session.
- template
- A template is the HTML code that acts as a template for the final generated web page. The HTML code typically contains KTAGs that are used to include dynamic content from the database. Arcos (usually) automatically creates a template (known as an autotemplate) for each web page in the
config/template/auto
directory, unless a template of the same name already exists in the config/template
directory.
See also layout.