About App Builder and the App Hub

App Builder

App Builder is a set of application design tools that are incorporated in and can be run from within Infor Mongoose. As part of the Infor Technology Suite, App Builder is designed primarily to run within Infor OS Portal or Infor Ming.le™ and in the cloud as part of a multi-tenant offering.

You can use App Builder to reuse existing business logic across Infor products and to build composite applications that use that business logic. You can also use App Builder to create custom-built and highly specialized apps to boost your productivity.

App Builder is designed to build basic apps using an intuitive WYSIWYG user interface. App Builder offers click-and-drop of user interface components, a data service layer to connect with APIs, and an interaction wizard to set up how the components of your app interact with each other.

App Builder also includes responsive-design mechanisms that enable you to easily design apps for optimal operation and display, regardless of what device the end user is using.

Apps can be built, exported, and published from and into different environments. This means you can develop and test in your test environment, and then later deploy the app in your production environment. Optionally, you can begin the creation of an app with App Builder and then convert the app to be a Mongoose form for further development. You can also receive and incorporate apps from other Infor or third-party sources.

Apps built in App Builder are client-side applications that use API Gateway or ION API, Mongoose Intelligent Data Object (IDO) back end services, or both. Because many Infor products are API Gateway or ION API-certified, you can use them when building apps with App Builder. You can manually attach your own APIs behind the API Gateway, and that way, you can use any REST-based API as part of your apps. In addition, you can use Mongoose IDOs in your App Builder apps.

App Hub

The App Hub is a repository where published and activated App Builder apps are stored and made available to users. App Hub is the main user interface for the end user of your apps. The App Hub offers a list of all apps the user has access to.

Authorized administrators can administer their company's apps within the App Hub. Administrators can control which apps are available, in what versions, and who can access them.

Mongoose as host for App Builder and App Hub

When used within Infor Mongoose, App Builder and App Hub are both hosted within Mongoose forms that have the same names. In fact, with the incorporation of App Builder and App Hub into Mongoose, these apps can now operate as FormOnly-mode Mongoose forms. If you are using Infor OS Portal or Infor Ming.le to access App Builder and App Hub, you must be a licensed Mongoose user operating in Infor OS Portal or Infor Ming.le. And if you attempt to access App Builder or the App Hub from a URL, you are prompted to sign in to Mongoose before the form opens.

Note: Although App Builder or App Hub can run within a Mongoose environment, they are designed primarily to work within an Infor OS Portal or Infor Ming.le environment.

Complementary design and storage of App Builder apps

App Builder and Mongoose can be considered complementary design tools. What you do in App Builder can be converted to work within Mongoose, as Mongoose forms.

For example, if you create an app in App Builder. When you do, App Builder can convert and store the app as a Mongoose form.

Note: This does not necessarily imply that all content in one can transfer to the other. There are limitations, in that the metadata from an App Builder project must have an analogous concept or component in Mongoose, or Mongoose does not recognize and use it.

Interactions created in App Builder projects are generally created and stored in their corresponding Mongoose forms as form event handlers.

When an App Builder project is copied to and converted to be a Mongoose form, data services created from API Gateway or ION APIs in App Builder projects are created in Mongoose as IDOs. Collections created with or for those IDOs are then added to the Mongoose form, and Mongoose components are bound to those collections.

Of course, data services that were created from Mongoose IDOs, retain and reuse those IDOs when the project is converted to be a Mongoose form.