FAQ

Help and troubleshooting

What skills are required to use Rintagi?

Rintagi empowers anyone to quickly create responsive, online database web applications without writing a single line of code. It gives you the flexibility to expand on it by adding own business rules. Aside from aptitude, three common skills a superior developer must possess include:
- Business Skills
- Technical Skills:
  - Basic understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript
  - Basic knowledge of Database, SQL syntax, relationships etc.
  - REST API basics
  - Basic app design, understanding of various artifacts etc.
- Analytical Skills:
  - Project Management
  - Business & System Analysis
  - Process and Data Modeling
  - Development, Testing, Deployment
  - Change Management
Rintagi eliminates most of the technical skills requirement by removing most of the coding giving every developer the power to become a superior developer. We also offer free training on aptitude, analytical and technical skills in self-paced videos.
How can database applications be customized on Rintagi?

Rintagi can be 'taught' to generate custom modifications, granting users high-control over their systems.
1. Hand code the new features on the generated application and perform all tests to verify that it meets requirements.
2. Generalize the design of this new feature so that simple meta-data information can be captured to reproduce the same feature onto all other applications.
3. Hand code the generalized new feature into Rintagi's generator and the user interface to capture the required meta-data, generate this feature to replace the hand code in step 1, make sure codes generated are exactly the same; only then perform unit and integration testing again.
4. Where applicable, use Rintagi to generate the new feature to Rintagi itself and perform unit and integration testing again.
Can Rintagi migrate or transform legacy systems?

In order for a Rintagi generated application to replicate the functionality of a legacy system there must be some degree of re-development or re-factoring. The overall legacy system should be well understood and it should exhibit some degree of variability before it can be interpreted into an effective blueprint. Although existing legacy code can be "templatized", the Rintagi philosophy discourages taking inefficient or "bad" legacy code to create a generator that can recreate the same legacy code because no efficiency will be gained. Consideration should be given as to why the legacy system needs to be migrated in the first place. Typically it means the system needs to be evolved, including its internal structure. Therefore the effort invested in making it "model-driven" is probably well spent, since it helps to achieve the goals of improving the structure of the system. Once converted Rintagi can maintain the system's fitness and avoid the need for migration in the future.
Which architecture is used to build Rintagi based industry standard applications?

Rintagi builds industry-standard applications with the standard N-tier architecture preferred by most corporate developers. The generated code includes complex features like multi-table joins, multi-table access and distributed update on multi-servers, user interface functionality like search and navigation, and security. Rintagi generates all three tiers of standard code: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript on the Client Tier, C# on the Web Tier and SQL stored procedures and functions on the Data Tier. Developers enjoy unrestricted access to 100% of the generated code, and modifications to the generated code via metadata changes are automatically preserved when an application is re-generated.

Self-generated Rintagi creates an enterprise-ready, web-based N-Tier application on a service-oriented architecture. Rintagi generates this same N-Tier application for its enterprise applications including Web Pages, Presentation Layer, Business Rules Layer, Data Access Layer, Database Layer, and Framework.
What type of business rule layers does Rintagi support?

Rintagi builds applications that are specifically designed to support all types of business rules: 1. Constraints, 2. Computation, 3. Inference and 4. Action Enablers.
Can Rintagi generated applications be easily integrated with other systems?

Applications generated by Rintagi can be easily integrated with other systems via web services and API interfaces. Rintagi-generated applications can operate as separate, independent applications because of the stateless nature of web programming. One application may call into another via the URL mechanism inherent in all web applications. For example, Rintagi-generated applications can call any web page from within its menu.

Other applications can call any Rintagi-generated programs via a standard html anchor. For example: testing .
Integration can also be done via web rule, as well, where other web pages and web services of other applications can be called and the results integrated into Rintagi-generated applications.
Is it easy to generate reports on Rintagi?

Business users will find that the Report Generator creates reports, documents, charts or dashboards easily. To make the best use of Rintagi, it is recommended that the Report Generator is used to create a basic report that can then be enhanced by technical people.

The Report Generator is organized into many tab folders, and depending on the selection of report type, the available tabs may change.
What are the types of reports available?

The types of reports available in the Report Generator are:
1. Dashboard Gauge Only
2. Graphical Chart Only
3. Summary Table Report with Chart
Rintagi reporting can be divided into four categories:
1. Crystal Reporting -- can be viewed on-line as HTML, printed to a server side printer or exported to a tab-delimited file (.txt), Excel spreadsheet (.xls), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) and Microsoft Word(.doc).
2. Excel Reporting Only -- most suitable for displaying large numbers of columns.
3. Excel Document Merging
4. Global Criteria -- Not a report. A set of criteria that affects all screens as a hidden filter.
5. Report Generator utilities as explained in previous chapters:
```
1.  Dashboard Gauge,
2.  RTF Document Merging,
3.  TXT Document Merging,
4.  SQL Reporting Service which covers Charts, Lists and Summary Tables.
```
Although Rintagi currently provides only the above reporting types, these reports can be extended as Rintagi regenerates and evolves. Rintagi supports each organization in having its own unique Rintagi to generate company-specific codes that run on that company's architecture.
Can data be imported easily?

Data can be imported easily via any Rintagi screen if the data is contained in a data grid. This eliminates the need for re-entering a large volume of data from a spreadsheet or text file. Rintagi provides an Import Wizard to facilitate the importation of large volumes of data via a spreadsheet.
What technical architecture is Rintagi built on?

Rintagi runs above Microsoft .NET framework. The generated code includes complex features like multi-table joins, multi-table access and distributed update on multi-servers. Rintagi generates native Microsoft .NET code, with ASPX pages, ASCX controls, SQL stored procedures and C# code. Applications generated by Rintagi are automatically multi-tenant, multi-project, and multi-system. Many companies and their projects plus their data can coexist on the same database. Rintagi builds complete N-tier applications on a Service-Oriented Architecture.

Rintagi generates this same N-Tier application for its enterprise applications including:
1. Web Pages
2. Presentation Layer
3. Business Rules Layer
4. Data Access Layer
5. Database Layer
6. Framework
What type of security is provided for Rintagi built apps?

Rintagi addresses access control by IP Allow List, customized password complexity requirements, CAPTCHA, two-factor authentications, etc.

Once authenticated, authority is assigned based on role, organization, responsibility and business rules. These security controls have enable generated applications that are not only multi-tenant, but also connecting customers and vendors to share valuable data online and real time for effective and efficient communications.

In addition, with the exception of authorized developers, all data entry screens are protected from script injection attack.

Rights management is an integral part of Rintagi. All of the rights management is automatically built in to all screens, reports or import wizards as they are generated. Row Authority is used to authorize access to row information; Column Authority is used to authorize column information.
Explain Rintagi's concept of rejuvenation?

Rintagi platform is futureproof. The platform and the applications it builds are generated from metadata, basically meaning that we are eliminating the tedious process of having to rewrite your code every time new technologies come out or if you want to make deep changes.

Since Rintagi is self-generated, in order for it to introduce new technology to its generated applications, it must generate its own source code with the new technology first. This architecture ensures all bugs are eliminated well before it reaches other applications that Rintagi generates. Old generated code would be replaced in its entirety by newly generated code. Rintagi has the ability to stay current on new technology, keeping both the platform and its generated applications on cutting edge technology.

Although Rintagi generated source code is standard code that can be modified freely via any text editor, it is highly recommended that you only use Rintagi to regenerate the source code in order that later versions of Rintagi may continue to deliver rejuvenation services to your applications.
How can I create my own license for the application developed using Rintagi ?

Rintagi uses version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License or later for its software. Developers who need their own licensing terms for their application, please visit the website folder of your project root directory to find the license.txt file.

Enter you new licensing information and save the file. When the package is created for your application this txt file information will be part of the package which users will need to accept before installing your application.
I made a clone from Github, but I am unable to run the application without the Key.cs file. What should I do?

The git clone by itself is not a complete setup. After clone, please follow the below steps:
1. Ensure all the prerequisites are set up properly via the instructions at https://www.rintagi.com/Docs/site/Initial-Setup/index.html
2. Run the installer https://github.com/Rintagi/Low-Code-Development-Platform/tree/master/DeployExt) to set up the database, etc
3. The mentioned key.cs is deliberately removed from the git repo to be re-created during the installer process.