Advantages to Defining Models (Magic xpa 4.x)
The use of model definitions is optional, but using them will benefit you throughout the development and maintenance of your projects. Some advantages to using the Model repository are:
Time savings for project development. Once you have created an object model, you no longer have to set the same property values for other objects of that class.
Ease of maintenance. Once you have defined the properties associated to a specific model class, any modification to the model is automatically inherited by all of its associated objects.
Ensure matching of columns in different tables for Field models. When columns are compared for link purposes, or passed as parameters, their attributes must match exactly. A good way to ensure that they will match is to define them with the same model.
Field Model
Assume a Customer_Code object is used widely in the project. You can set the object properties such as Attribute property (Numeric) and Picture property (9 digits) once in the Model repository and then use this model throughout the project. In addition, if you need to modify the object picture, for example from 9 digits to 10 digits, you only have to do it once in the Model repository. Magic xpa will update all of the corresponding objects.
Form Model
Assume that in your project all of the forms are uniform and have a wallpaper image in the background. It is time consuming to repeatedly set these properties for each new form. Using a model, you can inherit all of these properties without the need to set them, and without having to remember what you want the form to look like or how to set it. In addition, if you need to change one or more properties, the change will take effect immediately in all of the forms that use that model.
