openXMA
openXMA
introduction
why using openXMA?
getting started
history
license

source & maven repo
svn source repository
maven2 repository
snapshot m2 repository

downloads
Bootruntime Installer
XMA plugin update site
XMA plugin download
XMAdsl plugin update (nightly)
XMA example appl

snapshot downloads

documentation
whitepaper
core manual HTML
core manual PDF
dsl manual HTML
dsl manual PDF
javaDocs
FAQs
HowTos
JavaDeus presentation

XProperties
enhanced properties
XProperties HTML
XProperties PDF

resources
mailing lists
bug tracking (JIRA)
wiki (Confluence)
codehaus site
consulting/partner

notifications

new version 3.5.1.1 is now available.

new openXMA features was presented on the Eclipse DemoCamp November 2009 in Vienna

XMAdsl, the modeling future of XMA is out! Read more here...

XMAcore introduction

openXMA is a framework and a set of development tools (Eclipse plug-ins) for implementing Java thin, rich client applications.

basically, openXMA programs are web applications where client side Java code, based on SWT, will be downloaded and executed automatically.

so look-and-feel like typical OS native rich clients is provided. client code is cached locally, client and server halfs are communicating highly optimized via http.

to find out more, please have a look at the whitepaper, at the getting started page and the openXMA documentation.

on problems, dont hesitate to ask for help in the user mailing list!

features

  • automatic distribution of the (application specific) client side code. openXMA applications are centrally deployed as war-file on a J2EE application server (or just a servlet container). the client side code is downloaded on demand and cached on client side.

  • based on half-object concept. representations of UI controls exist on client and server side. client and server halfs are synchronized automatically.

  • highly optimized client-server communication guarantees very low network bandwith consumption.

  • development of openXMA applications is based on Eclipse plugins.

  • model based WYSIWIG UI designer. the GUI is stored in an XML (Ecore) model which is used to generate Java code.

  • a tiny program (the openXMA boot runtime) has to be installed on the client computer to be able to start openXMA applications. right now the openXMA boot runtime installation is available for Windows and Linux. it mainly consists of some JAR files (like the swt.jar) and has about 3 MB.

history

openXMA was developed, under the name XMA, by a company called S-IT solutions (SPARDAT in the past), what is the IT provider for one of Austrias greatest banking groups, named Erste Bank Group.

the XMA framework was built for development of intranet (in house) applications. the initial development began around 2003, but it will be continously enhanced with new features.

currently about 30 developers are developing applications based on the XMA framework. the framework itself is maintained by 4 people in S-IT solutions.

now there are more than 25 different applications based on XMA in production at S-IT solutions. these applications are used by several 1000 clients (in the Erste Bank Group). additional XMA applications are planned or right now in development (for intranet applications the XMA framework is considered as the first choices at S-IT solutions)

further development of the framework is already planned for this year and funded by S-IT solutions. for example there should be added a feature set which makes it possible to define new application screens at runtime of an application.

by the way: XMA is a historical abbreviation (eXtranet Multichannel Architecture), where multichannel comes from the concept to provide information on different "channels" like web applications, mobile phones, PDAs, rich clients...
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