A server and sample application that illustrates the strengths of Classic Blend-Next Generation are  included on this CD. This application, designed for selecting music CDs and ordering, demonstrates how an Internet-based can have a more compelling, dynamic interface than the commonly used HTML solutions.

To install  the software:

Microsoft Windows:
You must have a functioning Java environment on your computer; it must be in your path.  If you do not, you will be unable to install the software or run the demo.

Double-click the file "cbInstall.exe" in Windows Explorer.  You will be prompted through the neccesary steps to install the software.  After you have done this, an entry for "AppliedReasoning" should appear on your start menu.  Select AppliedReasoning/CB-NG/Guided Tour to get started!

UNIX:
You must have a functioning Java environment equivilant to jdk1.1.6 or higher on your computer; it must be in your path.  If you do not, you will be unable to install the software or run the demo.

Open a terminal and cd into the directory containing the distribution
(Solaris install located on this CD: /products/Software/AppliedReasoning/_install/cbInstall.bin).

type:
sh cbInstall.bin
You will be prompted through the steps neccesary to install the software.  Obviously, you must have permission to write in the directory you choose to install the software.  After you have done this, use a browser to open the file [install directory]/demo/index.html to get started.  NOTE:  The demo instructions were written with the assumption that the user was using some flavor of Microsoft Windows, but since the application is written in Java you will have no problem running the application, either.

About the demo

We hope that you find the demo enjoyable and informative.  It is ment to underscore the advantages to web enabling an application using Classic Blend as opposed to HTML form based solutions:  faster response, more dynamic interface,centranized application logic.  Please see Applied Reasoning's Web Site for the most recent code, errata, and infomation.  Feel free to contact Applied Reasoning if you have any questions or concerns.  You also might be interested in the Classic Blend - Next Generation Beta newsgroup:
trans.appliedreasoning.com/appliedreasoning.products.beta.cbng

Easy to Use, Classic Blend-Next Generation Integrates with Your Tools

Use Your Favorite IDE

To use Classic Blend you simply use your favorite bean-builder or integrated development environment (IDE) to build your GUIs.

You drop the Classic Blend bean into the IDE and wire-up your events to our bean, which represents your application code on the server. Your application code is written with your existing tool-set and interacts with the widgets/beans as they normally would. Developers can use their favorite IDE to construct interfaces, whether it is a sophisticated tool like Symantec™ VisualCafé™, VisualAge® for Java or simply a text editor such as emacs.

When someone surfs to your applet or invokes your application the GUI interface you built earlier is requested from the server. The GUI interface is downloaded to the server, proxies are created for each of the widgets and connected to the corresponding proxy on the server. Your application code on the server talks to the proxies as if they were real widgets.

Classic Blend û Next Generation Supports Multiple Client Platforms

Classic BlendÆs universal client is written in Java and can be run on any Java-enabled platform, version 1.1 and higher. This allows deployment to the latest versions of the major browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.), major operating systems (Windows, Macintosh, Solaris, etc.); in addition, older browser clients can be leveraged using Java Plug-in technology.

In addition, the memory requirements of Classic BlendÆs Java client are relatively small. The Java client of Classic Blend is about 250 KB. A running application will vary in its memory requirement as windows are opened and closed and various system resources are required, but a typical application will require less than 2 MB from the client machine for the Classic Blend client.