Application Forms is a framework for developing clients in C# using Microsoft Visual Studio. Application Forms also provide a runtime framework that enable Application Forms clients to run within the IFS Enterprise Explorer. The Application Forms development tools needed to write Application Forms clients are integrated in Visual Studio.
In principle, Application Forms uses a reimplementation of the Centura framework which the IFS Windows Client was implemented in. This framework is called the PPJ framework, and is provided by a company named IceTeaGroup. The PPJ framework is written in C# and is emulating the same functionality that was provided in the Centura Team Developer. Most forms of the IFS Windows Client has been ported from Centura to Application Forms.
For over a decade IFS Applications used the IFS Windows Client framework. It had its virtues, especially when considering uniformity. Learning to operate one form could be applied to operate most other forms. Since the underlying technology of the IFS Windows Client was not being actively developed, eventually a modern framework was needed in order to stay competitive, both from technology and usability perspectives.
A new client development framework, RWC, developed in C# and .NET technologies was developed at IFS. New forms natively developed for this framework were called Features. Features had to be developed specifically for RWC. In order to leverage the investment made in the IFS Windows Client, it was necessary to port the existing forms to the new framework. In order to achieve this, a tool for porting Centura based applications to C# was used. The ported clients uses a runtime library called PPJ which emulates the functionality provided by the Centura Team Developer and Centura runtime, which the IFS Windows Client was implemented in.
The new client framework is called Application Forms. Application Forms clients can be run within IFS Enterprise Explorer. Most forms in core IFS Applications built in the IFS Windows Clients framework have been converted into IFS Enterprise Explorer Application Forms, but the business functionality remains the same.
Figure: An Application Forms window within the IFS Enterprise Explorer.