The first application. A Hello World with Radzen and Northwind.

 

   Now that we have our Radzen environment setup we can move on to bigger and better things, our first application (If you do not have your Radzen environment setup please see this article, First things First - Getting Started with Radzen). I consider myself a SQL database admin. I do not claim to be the world's best developer or coder. I am a very good business analyst and problem solver. That is what you need to be successful with Radzen, problem solving skills and understanding what the goal is for your application. Before you jump in and begin on your own custom app it's a good idea to become familiar with the Radzen environment, how it works, and the capabilities it offers. That being said, Radzen needs a database in which to work from so without taking the time to create one from scratch, we can use one provided by Microsoft. We can download a copy of that database script here at this link. This is from the Github repo from the Radzen team.

• The Northwind database has been used for years in application samples, training materials, and 3rd party use cases.  
• Several Radzen examples they provide on their github repo use the Northwind database. 
• You can become familiar with the database, browse through real code, and create some of your own all in one shot.

Let's get started. Now that we have the database script file downloaded, open the folder where you downloaded it to.

   Extract or UnZip the Northwind.zip file. You should end up with a Northwind.sql file.

Now double click the file. It may ask you how you would like to open the file. You should be able to select SSMS or SQL Server Management Studio.

   Once the file is open you can simply click Execute. This will create your Database and all of the sample data.

Now we have our database ready we can open Radzen and create a new application. 

Now fill out the application details.

1. Make sure to use the Empty application setting as we do not want a sample application built for us. 
2. Choose a name for your application, I chose "FunTimes".
3. Now set a location to store the data on your computer.
4. Keep Angular selected for the Framework type
5. Check the box to enable server-side code (.Net Core) and leave the rest of the defaults.
6. Click Create

Now we need to attach the Northwind database that we created earlier. To do that select Data on the top of our application window.

Now select New on the data sources window.

Fill out the form for the data source.

1. Select MS SQL Server as the source
2. Give your Connection a name
3. Fill out the server name or IP address (Make sure to use the instance name in SQL if you specified one other than default such as "ServerNameOrIP \ InstanceName"
4. Specify Northwind as the database
5. For authentication you can use Windows or SQL depending on what you have enabled on your server. I am using Windows authentication so I do not need to specify a username or password as it will use my current user credentials. 
6. If you use SQL Authentication specify a user account and password.
7. Click the Infer Schema Button

You will see one more dialog. We want to check the box to Generate pages for CRUD operations. Then click Finish. Now click the X in the top right corner to close the data source setting window.

We have now generated a Radzen application from a database. You can Click Run at the top to test it out. Give it a few seconds to compile and start the web services for the first time.

First things First - Getting Started with Radzen

    So before you can begin your first application it's a good idea to have your environment, that is all the software you need, installed and configured. This post will help walk you through the basic items, and a few optional ones you need so you can begin your first project.

  Software Needed 

• Radzen (Obviously) -  Download -
• Microsoft SQL Server - You can use the free version of SQL Express here
• SQL Server Reporting Services - This is now seperate from the SQL install. Download here.
• SSMS for SQL Server 2017 - This is used to manage your SQL databases. Download here.
• SSDT for VS2017 - This is what you use to create and publish SSRS reports. Download here.
• Visual Studio Code (optional) - This is a great quick editor for your code but you can use                   Visual Studio Express or Community if you prefer. Download here.

   Installation Guides

   I'm a big advocate of reusing code and not re-inventing the wheel, much like how RAD development helps us not have to code every little thing in our applications. To that end I will post links to already relevant articles for the installation of the software you need.

• Radzen -  Installation Instructions here
• Installing SQL Server Express 2017 - Great article from mssqltips.com by Daniel Farina. If you are new to databases or need help this site can be a great resource. Link
• Installing SSRS - This is only a few clicks to actual install it. See this link for Microsoft's guide. Once it is installed you do need to run  "Reporting Services Configuration Manager" There are a few things to do here - First launch and connect to your SSRS instance.
  

             Next select Database on the left hand side.

                Next Choose Change Database to setup the Report Server database.

         

               Now we get a wizard to walk us through setting up the database. Keep the first option selected and select next.

               Enter your server information from setting up your SQL instance. If you added your local windows account or domain user and are using that account here for install you can continue on, otherwise use a SQL account. If you decide to use a SQL account I would recommend not using SA and instead creating a specific SSRS specific account to use. 

              You can keep the default database name and click next.

                For credentials you can again move forward if using Windows otherwise enter the SQL account information.

               Now review the Summary and complete the task. It should only take a few moments and your database will be configured and ready to go.

                The database is done and now we need to setup the Web Service URL and site. Select the "Web Service URL" on the left and you can leave the defaults. Simply click the Apply button at the bottom and give it a few seconds to complete.

                We need to do the same for the "Web Portal URL" Click on it and click apply at the bottom. 

                  Now you should be able to start the SSRS Services and you are done. Navigate to the top level on the left and you can click start to start the services.

• Installing SSMS - This is the tool you use to create your databases, table views, triggers and everything else database related. This link from C-SharpCorner.com is a nice walkthrough by Vignesh Mani will walk you through the process of getting it installed. Note: On step 2 of the article it shows version 17.8.1 which was current as of the writing. Currently 17.9.1 is the most recent version - Direct link to the download here.
• Installing SSDT - This software is where you create reports for SSRS and the tool you use to publish those to the report server. The software installs in a few clicks and there isn't much to this one. Here is the link to the installer of the standalone version of the installer. You can install support directly during installation of visual studio as well if you are installing it from scratch. 

In a future article I will cover setting up TFS support for Visual Studio as the means to provide code backup, versioning. branching etc. for all of your Radzen needs.

A Little Love for Radzen and a Welcome

 

     Welcome to my Blog on Radzen. Radzen is a tool for developing real world applications for businesses quickly. It is a Rapid Application Development tool, meaning it does a lot of the tedious common work for you. This lets you get to a usable application faster and with less errors than would be normally possible using a traditional development practice. Radzen does not lock you into using their software forever. You can take the generated code and go on you way if that is your wish. This is a refreshing change from most other tools available today. The software lets you build applications that work on a traditional computer as well as tablets and phones all in one shot. The support is amazing, unlike nearly anything I've experienced before. They even offer a Community edition of the software so you can get started and experience the product for FREE. The cost is reasonable, even for the smallest of companies, for the purchased version with guaranteed SLA support. In the days and weeks to come I will be posting my experiences with the tool, tips and guides to help any of those I can come to use this product to a better end. If you want to know more about me and my experience with Radzen there is a more detailed history on the about page.