Vault Application

You have asked this question in multiple places.  Please do not do that as it duplicates effort.  Your question has been answered in the Developer group: (+) VAF Application - Developer Forum - Developers - M-Files Community by Laurent Gabiot who pointed you at the documentation here: https://developer.m-files.com/Frameworks/Vault-Application-Framework/Distributing-Child-Applications/.

Apology for multiple posts for the question, however, I have tried and it is not working the way it is advised.
1. I have used the server app guid in client.
2. compiled the client app and created .mfappx.
3. using this .mfappx in server application with below code

 

public override void Initialize(MFilesAPI.Vault vaultSrc)
{
try
{
SysUtils.ReportToEventLog($"The application path is {Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()}", System.Diagnostics.EventLogEntryType.Information);
string appPath = "app.mfappx";

if (File.Exists(appPath))
{
vaultSrc.CustomApplicationManagementOperations.InstallCustomApplication(appPath);
}
else
{
SysUtils.ReportErrorToEventLog("File: " + appPath + " does not exist");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
if (!MFUtils.IsMFilesAlreadyExistsError(ex))
SysUtils.ReportErrorToEventLog(ex.Message);
}

base.Initialize(vaultSrc);
}

it says in event logs
The system cannot find the file specified. (app.mfappx)
please note that app.mfappx is also installed as an application

I built an application using this today so it does work as described.

Did you remember to embed your client app in the server app, and have you validated the paths?

Thank you Craig Hawker this is how i have embedded the client application.  

and this is the status from M-Files server

GCG.EForms(Advance Types) is the client application at server

GCG.Vault.Hybrid is the application which is supposed to be server Vault application, which requires using EForms application.

Please advise

If the application is being installed correctly but it's not "nested" in the listing then it's because you have not correctly specified the master application GUID in the client application's appdef.xml.

Thanks for the response Craig Hawker ,

Just to reconfirm please note the steps i followed,

• i created client app
• i created the server app
• now i replaced the guid of client app with the one in server app
• i compiled  client application and installed
• now when i compile the server app it fails. i tried explicitly installed from the created GCG.Vault.Hybrid-1.0.mfappx it failed with the error like "DlgClientApplications.cpp, 552, The structure of the application is invalid. (Server application type must not be changed.) (0x800408E2)"

below is the appdef.xml of client app

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<application xmlns:xsi="">www.w3.org/.../XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="">www.m-files.com/.../appdef-client-v5.xsd">
<!--<guid>ab2da4f7-90bf-45e3-9ab2-7b12eed4dc67</guid>-->
<guid>eb1ec555-b326-46df-899b-8ece191a08bd</guid>
<name>GCG.EForms (Advance Types)</name>
<version>1.0</version>
<description>Advance Control</description>
<publisher>Muhammad Irfan</publisher>
<copyright>GCG</copyright>
<required-mfiles-version>20.12.0.0</required-mfiles-version>
<optional>true</optional>
<enabled-by-default>true</enabled-by-default>
<modules>
<module environment="shellui" fast-browsing-compatible="true">
<file>Client/main.js</file>
<!--<file>Client2/main.js</file>-->
</module>
</modules>
<dashboards>
<dashboard id="eforms-dashboard">
<content>Client/eforms.html</content>
<allow-selection>true</allow-selection>
</dashboard>
<dashboard id="advance-dashboard">
<content>Client2/index.html</content>
<allow-selection>true</allow-selection>
</dashboard>
</dashboards>
</application>

this is the server app appdef.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<application
type="both"
xmlns:xsi="">www.w3.org/.../XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="">www.m-files.com/.../appdef-server-v5.xsd">
<guid>eb1ec555-b326-46df-899b-8ece191a08bd</guid>
<name>GCG.Vault.Hybrid</name>
<description></description>
<publisher></publisher>
<version>1.0</version>
<copyright></copyright>
<required-mfiles-version>22.3.0.0</required-mfiles-version>
<multi-server-compatible>false</multi-server-compatible>
<extension-objects>
<extension-object>
<name>GCG.Vault.Hybrid</name>
<assembly>GCG.Vault.Hybrid.dll</assembly>
<class>GCG.Vault.Hybrid.VaultApplication</class>
<installation-method>Install</installation-method>
<uninstallation-method>Uninstall</uninstallation-method>
<initialization-method>Initialize</initialization-method>
<uninitialization-method>Uninitialize</uninitialization-method>
<start-operations-method>StartOperations</start-operations-method>
</extension-object>
</extension-objects>

</application>

Please note that either of the application is installed first the subsequent one throws the above exception.

The client app GUID must be different from your server app GUID.

Your client app's appdef.xml needs a <master-application-guid> tag which references the server app's GUID as content, like so: <master-application-guid>eb1ec555-b326-46df-899b-8ece191a08bd</master-application-guid>

See https://developer.m-files.com/Frameworks/User-Interface-Extensibility-Framework/Application-Definition/ 

Thank you Dr. Martin Lisowski I see the master-application-guid was the right def.xml which shows them child under the parent. So I hope now child application will be able to communicate and access values from within the parent-app. The idea behind this is that we want a value, specifically, the class value to be set in configuration of Vault and make this class readable from client application. 

Needful in these lines will be helpful.

Thanks you once again

Simply bundling the applications will not do this.  You need to create a vault extension method in the VAF application which returns the data you need, then call that from the UI application.

Thank you Craig Hawker , 

I agree with you and i have created a comprehensive Vault application that interacts with the external Web Service, in fact for a signing solution. It works fine. Now there was a requirement to exchange the information between Vault Server(e.g. taking class name set in the configuration) and accessing it in UI application. 
I was expecting a guide that could help me grab the class name from Server Configured and accessed in UI. 

Appreciate your timely response always. 

Like this?

Client (UIX) to server (VAF or VBScript) communication

Thank you Craig Hawker , your response and the example in the above link does make sense to me.

However, being occupied to another work, I am not able to give it a try this moment. I will check it in practical a bit later. Looking into the example and how both apps are wired-up makes sense to me. I will give it a try and get back to you.  

Thank you once again. 

Thank you Craig Hawker , your response and the example in the above link does make sense to me.

However, being occupied to another work, I am not able to give it a try this moment. I will check it in practical a bit later. Looking into the example and how both apps are wired-up makes sense to me. I will give it a try and get back to you.  

Thank you once again. 

Hi Craig Hawker , followed the example in provided link UIX to Server but trying multiple tries ending up with the error saying "TypeError: shellFrame.ShellUI.Vault.Async.ExtensionMethodOperations.ExecuteVaultExtensionMethod is not a function"

the below server method is never reached

[VaultExtensionMethod("VaultExtensionMethod_VAF", RequiredVaultAccess = MFVaultAccess.MFVaultAccessNone)]
private string TestVaultExtensionMethod(EventHandlerEnvironment env)
{
SysUtils.ReportInfoToEventLog("Reached to server");
return DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString()
+ " (the input received from client was: " + env.Input
+ ")";
}

client method i called as per website example

shellFrame.ShellUI.Vault.Async.ExtensionMethodOperations.ExecuteVaultExtensionMethod(
"VaultExtensionMethod_VAF", // The name of the extension method to execute.
"world", // The input (string) to pass it.
function (response) {
// The output (string) will be in response; show it.
MFiles["ShowToast"](response);
});

even i tried 

shellFrame.ShellUI.Vault.ExtensionMethodOperations.ExecuteVaultExtensionMethod(
"VaultExtensionMethod_VAF", // The name of the extension method to execute.
"world")}

Hi Craig Hawker , The difference i see is that example is xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="www.m-files.com/.../appdef-server-v1.xsd" whereas we are using 

xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="www.m-files.com/.../appdef-server-v5.xsd"

Both the applications are explicitly installed, the server and client ones and they are well classified as child under the parent. 

My Server method is as below

[VaultExtensionMethod("VaultExtensionMethod_VAF", RequiredVaultAccess = MFVaultAccess.MFVaultAccessNone)]
private string VaultExtensionMethod(EventHandlerEnvironment env)
{
SysUtils.ReportInfoToEventLog("Reached to server");
return DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString()
+ " (the input received from client was: " + env.Input
+ ")";
}

My client call is as under

else if (commandId === serverCall) {
console.log("will call the server method now");
shellFrame.ShellUI.Vault.Async.ExtensionMethodOperations.ExecuteVaultExtensionMethod(
"VaultExtensionMethod_VAF", // The name of the extension method to execute.
"world", // The input (string) to pass it.
function (response) {
// The output (string) will be in response; show it.
MFiles["ShowToast"](response);
});
}

 It writes correctly the console log but fails when making call and throws

shellFrame.ShellUI.Vault.Async.ExtensionMethodOperations.ExecuteVaultExtensionMethod is not a function

Difference is only that I am not running/overriding the 

protected override void InitializeApplication(Vault vault)

why i am skipping that is that my application is already installed correctly classified (parent-client) as i explained earlier. 

Would appreciate the earlier response. 

The schema won't matter; keep it as the later one.  Are you using UIXv2 or UIXv1?  This is an older sample for UIXv1 so the specific code shown won't work in UIXv2, but the concept of declaring and calling the vault extension method is identical.  If you do a search on this site you'll be able to find a UIXv2 version.

Thank you Craig Hawker , This is my config in UI application

<application xmlns:xsi="">www.w3.org/.../XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="">www.m-files.com/.../appdef-client-v5.xsd">

Unfortunately, i could not find a link with example for as you mentioned UIXv2. Could you please help me sharing it. 

The method you need is this: RunExtensionMethod | M-Files User Interface Extensibility Framework

This is a helper method that I have in a project that shows how it's called:

	async _callVaultExtensionMethod(name: string, input: string):Promise<string|undefined>
	{

		// Run the request.
		const request: RunExtensionMethodRequest = {};
		request.method_name = name;
		request.input = input;
		const response = (await this.Dashboard.ShellFrame?.ShellUI.Vault.VaultExtensionMethodsOperations.RunExtensionMethod(request))?.output;

		return response;
	}

Thanks Craig Hawker , it is helpful.