Mobile US directory is a mobile application showing how Convertigo can port an existing Web application to smartphones and enhance it with additionnal features. The goal of Mobile US directory application is to perform a US Directory research and then locate the found addresses on a map.

This mobile application is developped through a Convertigo Mobile project, based on the Convertigo Templating Framework (CTF), jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap/Cordova.   It demonstrates several features of Convertigo Mobility Platform:

• HTML connector is used to access the US Directory website, program the search functionality and extract data from its pages,
• Convertigo Templating Framework (CTF) creates the dynamic mobile application user interface with few lines of code,
• Convertigo Local Cache stores locally on the device the Server responses.

 

Deep dive into the details

The Convertigo project uses the HTML connector to perform the search into the US Directory website and extract the responses as XML data. The mobile-dedicated API is built on these HTML transactions.   The the mobile application is developed using jQuery Mobile framework to display touch based user interface. The application UI proposes a company search form including the following criteria: company name, city and state. When the form is validated, the CTF is used to easily program the request to Convertigo server and manage responses to display data as a list.   Also, a map can be activated when clicking on a response from the list, displaying the selected item’s address. It is done using Google Maps JavaScript library.   Finally, PhoneGap turns this HTML5 coded application to a full native “appstorable” mobile application.  

Convertigo Templating Framework

Convertigo Templating Framework (CTF) is an HTML/JavaScript library helping developers to:

• program interactions between the client mobile application and the Sequences running on Convertigo Server. This is done using Convertigo dedicated attributes in the HTML code, and using a Convertigo JavaScript API when necessary.
• automate screen transitions when receiving data from the server. This is done using the Routing Table, a JavaScript object structure describing all transitions, depending on conditions, data received, etc.

 

Client Caching

The client Local Cache is activated through the mobile application code. After one execution, it stores the response data locally on the device. When the same request is issued by the application in the next hour, on the same device, the response is retreived directly from the local memory of the device. This functionality saves network traffic between the device and the server, needing only one connection by hour for a set of search criteria when calling the search transaction. The application is then able to display data when the device is not connected to the network.