Be Able to Launch More Than One Wappler Window To See Design and Database on Separate Screens

The release of the Database Manager has made me realise the importance of being able to see two different parts of my design at the same time.

On my two screen setup, I always have Wappler up on one screen, and MySQL Workbench on the other… and I am constantly managing my table definition file as I edit in Wappler.

If I move to creating and managing the database in Wappler, that will no longer be possible, and I will be needing to constantly close out of, for example, a Server Action, to go over to the Database Manager and manage some aspect of my database structure.

That starts to feel very limiting… :frowning:

So this is a feature request to be able to launch more than one window into our Wappler World, so we can manage the design on one screen and the database on the other.

We have a situation whereby working with two Projects at once, one for data and the other a layout, more often than not. Keep having to shut down one to work on the other leads us to the same requirement as Antony, as in having two instances open at once. So you have my vote here! Would make a huge difference for us.

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Antony, if you are doing this:

Something is not quite right with your workflow and app planning :slight_smile:
Your main focus should not really be constantly editing the database tables / structure.

With Wappler you need to focus on the functionality more than constantly changing tables and columns names, structure… Yes you can do this but it should not really take that much of the time you work on project so that you need it constantly open…

You either work on the design part where the App Connect/Design panel is open or you setup some Server Actions for the serverside part of the app. These are the panels you are mostly using in Wappler.

To be honest, I don’t really see us allowing running multiple Wappler instances :slight_smile:

Focus on proper planning instead of constant changes.

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You can buy a Mac for that.

Every time I restart MacOS I get multiple instances. Two days ago I had 4 instances running. The amount I get is quite random but you know what they say.

Do you know what’s better than one Wappler? 4 Wapplers.

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Thanks for your perspectives Teodor… but with respect, I don’t appreciate being told how I should work… I will be designing my app in a way that suits me! :slight_smile:

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I’m dealing with the same thing. This is a problem because it is not possible to keep multiple projects open at the same time and I have to constantly switch between them. I “+1” this function.

Teodor was just explaining you the best practices. Planning your database structure up front will save you a lot of troubles later.

As you already discovered yourself renaming a lot of tables and fields afterwards leads to many errors and a lot of unnecessary work.

But it is up to you of course which path to choose.

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I personally think that working on the same site in two different instances of Wappler would be a synchronization nightmare. So many opportunities for things to go horribly wrong.

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I agree. But when it comes to two different projects, this function is very necessary. This situation always occurs when creating an mobile application with a backend: one project is the backend, and the other project is the application. Also are situations when you are working on a project that has already been deployed before. Then deployed project acts as a hint, which I periodically look at. In this case, a parallel opening would also be very convenient.

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Probably not a good idea. The team already has to do passes every now and then to improve performance of the app and still a lot of it is not under their control as it’s capped by the tech stack used.
I can imagine people complaining about performance because they are running several instances at the same time with docker containers running out of control. Bad rep for Wappler.

It’s probably better to root for a FR that involves being able to customize the main view or detaching panels which I believe they already exist.

But this is a bad idea. On the same level as stored procedures :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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I agree. In the case of speed and stability versus the ability to open multiple projects at the same time, the speed and stability of Wappler is definitely more important. But for the far, far future, it will be good if such a function appears. I don’t think that anyone will mind if the other functionality of the program is not affected. But there will definitely be those who approve.

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ha haha, the existing bug when restarting Mac OS X opens multiple windows of wappler… When I make a change on one window & save, it syncs instantly on the other window… haven’t really used multi windows, usually i close the extra ones

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Last time I restarted I had this feeling when clicking several times the close button.

Free points if you manage to sync the youtube video with the matryoshka dolls GIF.

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I thought this issue was fixed on Mac :slight_smile: Maybe @George can check it so we don’t allow Wappler running multiple times on restart.

It would seem we have a regression.

But you know… I restart the mac every two moons so It’s not a problem. One of the multiple perks of being one of those fanboys.

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Oh, I love the debates we have on here! :smile:

@George, @Teodor

I think it is important we all appreciate and respect each other’s way of working, and are not telling someone they “should” work a particular way.

When you are a team or highly experienced, of course, months and months of work goes into designing before building starts.

When you are a lone entrepreneur who has never built an app before, every day is a massive learning process, so design and build become very iterative…

… it is a totally different mindset and approach!

Far from being unneecessary work, it is a wonderfully rapid and enjoyable journey of discovery.

So of course, as a lone entrepreneur, I will configure the tools and methods around me which support my own process which will be very different to other people’s.

Psychologically, I do at times find it hard being on this forum when my background is very different to most of the other people here. When I am being told I “create unnessary work” and “I should be working a different way” I have to dig deep inside to find the strength to respond and stay positive.

I hope these perspectives help you to understand where I am coming from!

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That’s because you are a pleb! :joy:

But actually you are right. This forum is harsher than Bubble’s one for instance because there are certain things that people here expect you to know or to learn. For someone without a coding background it can get heavy. Same as if you went to Stackoverflow.

But you know what? I consider that you already have a coding background. Things like recursion, binary search and pointers which are very basic for a programmer might seem daunting but those are things of the past to be honest. Wappler allows you to abstract yourself from such things. But you didn’t stop there.

Fun fact: no pointers in javascript.

You are actually now on a level that allows you to understand programming concepts. I know that because I’ve read you.

It might seem annoying taking enforced advice, but these guys just want us to be able to be 100% productive with Wappler. If they see we are not doing something the right way they will let us know and if we don’t agree they are always open and humble to discuss and support your needs if possible.

This is also a lesson for them as from time to time they need to be reminded that we are all plebs to them. Including myself :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, ditch stored procedures because they will come to bite you later big time. Just as bubble came to bite us all after years of hard work. Start ditching them now. It might set you back a week or two on your planning but you will regret it a lot in the future if you don’t start right now.

Regarding the database I agree with them. If you are constantly changing the schema it’s time to go to the whiteboard, not to the database panel.

This is a wild guess. Correct me if I’m wrong. Could it be that you feel the urge of switching between design view and database manager because you are actually testing the new feature and not really because you need it? You are checking if this new feature will cover your needs. If that’s the case remember it’s an experimental feature. Once it’s mature you will already know if it covers your needs or not and won’t be visiting it as much.

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My Mac and PC both have that feature right now, but I only restart my computer when it turns to a black screen with white writing in 5 different languages every month or so, when it says enough is enough and literally dies, so once a month i have to close 2 or 3 windows, the PC bombs every 3 days so that one is more frequent.

When doing video training it would come in handy having multi instance, because i create a dry run of the app, then have to film and explain it, so having 2 Wappler instances open at the same time would be handy. I have often thought it would be great to have some kind of stand alone server action reader so i can open server actions from a second project which would make it easier to replicate step by step and explain what is done.

I have found 2 ways of getting around this, one is open the other project on another computer and screen share it over to my main mac which fortunately has 3 monitors attached.
Second way I have tried is one of my bigger monitors has multi input so I can have screen in screen and one computer controls one part and another computer the other.
I prefer the screen sharing way personally as I can control the remote computer without switching mouse and keyboard.

As far as the forum goes, for anybody that used to use DMX Zone support previously, this forum is the best thing since toilet paper was invented, quick answers, weekend answers, midnight answers, and even I, with a missing sensitivity chip have been saddened sometimes by an answer from various people, and also find some things are not explained in detail and you have to fumble around, and that is why every video I make is an hour or two long whilst i explain the history of the comma character. So sometimes far better having the shortened versions. I myself use the docs and Hyperbytes videos many times when i forget things to get me going quicker than watching myself if I don’t have half a day to spare.

Anyway my point is, having direct access to the Wappler guys themselves is so important to me that if they give me answer that upsets me from time to time, I try keep in mind that we are all friendly here, and we all have our own way about us, we all have our external lives that play a part in our moods, i love the freedom of speech here, rather than the big corporation style of what they can and can not say, if something upsets me, oh well, the support is worth it.
Just my opinion and not knocking anyone by the way.

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I’d be happy with just having detachable panes. The ability to see my file tree, database structure and my current Server Connect action file at the same time would be excellent.

I have all this wonderful multi-monitor screen real estate and Wappler limited to one panel of it. :frowning:

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