Lastest News (9th Feb 2001)

PLEASE NOTE:

• Previous instructions for starting SATGUITOOL using source code under Unix are incorrect (Latest).
• TCL is not required when using the Linux executables.

• SATGUI Alpha3 released. Adds: Menubar support.
• Source code for all SAT components now available.
• SATGUI client/server Linux executables.

Coming soon...

• SATGUI: Graphic buttons/Toolbar support.
• SATGUISVR: On-line updating of users and groups.

• What is the Small Application Toolkit (SAT)
• System Requirements
• SAT Components
• Copyright/Licence
• Download
• Demo Application
• Contact

What is the Small Application Toolkit (SAT)

The Small Application Toolkit (SAT) is a collection of utilities intended to simplify the development of small, multi-user, GUI based applications in a (Microsoft -or- X) Windows Client / Unix Server environment.

There are many existing methods for creating this type of application; Oracle/Forms, Ingres/OpenRoad, VisualBasic/ODBC, HTML/CGI etc, all of which have their place, but for many small applications these can be expensive/bloated/complex.

With this in mind SAT was developed using the following guidelines:-

• Small (single file) client.
• All Application code on server.
• Simple window layout language.
• Low network bandwidth requirements.
• Print "word processor" quality letters/reports.
• Schedule batch job sequences.

No (Microsoft -or- X) Windows development skills are required. Any programmer with a reasonable grasp of Unix shell script can produce useful applications with the minimum of fuss. Take a look at the demo application to see just how easy SAT is.

SAT applications can be written in most Unix character based languages; C, Shell script, Perl etc. To produce SQL based database applications the SAT package includes a filter to simplify interfacing SAT with the MySQL database system.

Although the SAT components are designed to work together, most of them can be used stand-alone or incorporated into other applications.

All Unix components are implemented as scripts for easy portability.

System Requirements

GUI Client
The client executables have been tested under Windows 98, NT4 and Linux. The client source (which requires TCL/TK 8.3 or greater) has been tested under Windows 98, NT4, Solaris and AIX.

Server Components
All server components are implemented as scripts. However, the GUI server source code requires TCL 8.0 or greater. TCL information and download can be found at Tcl Developer Xchange.

NOTE: TCL is not required when using the Linux executables.

SAT Components

SATGUI	Framework in which the on-line (interactive) parts of SAT applications are developed. The GUI has two components; (Microsoft -or- X) Windows Client and Unix Server.
SATFORM	Forms processor to generate "word processor" quality output by merging application data with templates. The templates use an HTML style mark-up system (SAT/ML) to define the page layout and text attributes. Printers must be compatible with HP LaserJet III or later.
SATFILTER	Filter supporting a sub-set of SAT/ML to process pre-formatted output where data merging is not required. Printers must be compatible with HP LaserJet III or later.
SATJOB	Batch job sequencer. Jobs to run are automatically selected using a combination of rules and calendars. Supports job dependencies. (Not yet available)
SATMYSQL	Filter to simplify interface with the MySQL database system. Provides interfaces with SATGUI and SATFORM (SATMYSQL is not required to interface with SATREPORT).
SATREPORT	Basic tabular report layout tool. Formats lines of data containing tab delimited columns. Generates output in the format suitable for SATFILTER.