Frequently Asked Questions (qstudio + WCL)
What is qstudio?
qstudio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that allows you to develop PHP web applications quickly and easily. It's both a source code editor and visual designer, so you don't need separate tools to develop web interfaces and underlying code. The generated applications use the WCL (Web Class Library) to quickly and easily define complex functionality that might otherwise be repetitive and time-consuming.
What is WCL?
The Web Class Library (WCL) is a PHP 5 class library with many useful components, both visual and non-visual, for developing web applications.
Can I use the WCL without using qstudio?
Yes, you can, but because the WCL is integrated into qstudio, it is quicker and easier to use, and you will ultimately write less code.
How much does qstudio cost?
Nothing, it's a free tool.
How much does it cost the WCL?
Nothing. The WCL is Open Source, licensed under the LGPL license. That means you can use it for both Open Source and commercial applications at no cost.
What is qstudio's license?
qstudio is freeware. That means you can copy it without any restriction and use it on as many computers as you want, for educational, personal, commercial, or any other purpose. Of course, you cannot sell it, nor can you distribute modified versions of the software or change the copyrights.
So how do you plan to make money off of this?
We are a software development company, and the main goal of developing qstudio and the WCL was to allow us develop better and faster applications. We will provide a set of extra services for the developer community, for example, developer support, extra components, frequent service releases, etc. To receive these services, you will need to pay an annual fee. You won't have to pay anything to use qstudio or the WCL, and you will only need to pay us if you need our services.
I have seen the sample movie , and I don't know where the layout is stored or how it's created. Can you tell me more?
The IDE stores the visual layout in a different file, in xml format, and it's loaded through PHP in this line:
//Read from resource file
$TestHelloWorld->loadResource(__FILE__);
The format of the file is very simple. For example, this is the code for the button from the movie:
<object class="Button" name="btnClickme" >
<property name="Caption">Click me!</property>
<property name="Font">
<property name="Align">taNone</property>
<property name="Family">Verdana</property>
<property name="LineHeight"></property>
<property name="Size">10px</property>
</property>
<property name="Height">25</property>
<property name="Left">245</property>
<property name="Name">btnClickme</property>
<property name="Top">100</property>
<property name="Width">75</property>
<property name="OnClick">btnClickmeClick</property>
</object>
The WCL reads that format and creates all required components and sets specific properties so that you can get straight to coding.
I have seen the sample movie and I don't like to develop web sites that way. I want PURE HTML!
Don't worry, there is support for third party templates, and Smarty support is included. You can keep designing your templates with your favorite HTML tool and then integrate it visually on the IDE by setting a page property. You can include placeholders in your template to dump the WCL components so that you get the best of your HTML artistry and the best of web application development.
What's the roadmap for this tool? Is there a planned release date?
We don't want to project exactly when our software is going to be released, but this is the plan we have right now and some estimated dates:
-Screen shots (1 September)
-More video samples (1 November)
-Release Candidate 1 (1 December)
The release candidate will be feature-complete - that is, we won't add more features to the software and we will only fix bugs. We plan to have up to five release candidates before releasing the final version.
What are your development plans for this system?
Well, with the annual subscription to our services, you will also get 1 vote, that vote will be useful for:
- Make improvement requests or change requests for future releases
- Vote which requests will be added on the next product release
That is, with your services account, you will be able to post your feature requests on the forum and let others discuss about it, of course, you also will be able to discuss any feature requests sent by any user. Once the feature request it's clear enough, it will be included on a feature requests list and that list will be voted, you will be able to select up to 20 feature requests, giving points to each one.
When the voting it's closed, that will be the feature list we will implement for the next release, so you will be a fundamental part on the direction of the development, that way we will get the tool we, as developers, need.
What kind of services will you provide with the annual subscription?
There is not an exact list because we won't have a closed list of services. We will be adding services as long as we work on the tool. The purpose is to create a friendly community of users with common interests. An initial list of included services could be:
- Hot patches:
We will provide frequent service releases only to subscribers.
- Community support:
All subscribers will have a forum and a mailing list in which we will actively participate.
- Discounts on custom support:
If you want us to get our hands on your project and help you with the code, you will get discounts on the additional support fee.
- Extra components:
We will release new components from time to time, and subscribers will be the first to receive them.
- White papers, samples, and additional documentation:
We will also release white papers about using our tools, more samples, and extra documentation.
- Voting
Each subscriber will have a vote to decide which features are added to the system next.
How much will you charge for an annual subscription?
It's too early to set a fixed price, but it will probably be between 100 EUR and 150 EUR. We may open a pre-order period after the video samples release. Pre-orders would receive a discount to the standard fee.
Will you forbid the creation of other user communities?
No. As we stated before, we only want you to pay us if you want something from us, and we won't forbid any fair use of our products.
If you have any questions not answered here or you want more information, send an e-mail to support@qadram.com .