Ninext documentation
Ninext is an add-on that enhances the capabilities of Ninox. It provides improvements to the user interface, the development interface, and tools for code maintenance and debugging.
Ninext was initially created to meet our own needs in Ninox development. We decided to share it widely to help expand Ninox's adoption among developers.
It is therefore a completely free tool maintained by us.
Ninext comes in two forms:
- the plugin (version 3.x), installed from Ninox's plugin menu, in the Web App: this is the active, maintained version — see Plugin version;
- the classic version (2.3.7), loaded by a script placed in the database's "After Open" trigger: it is frozen, and remains available only to users of Ninox's Mac and smartphone apps, which do not support plugins yet — see Classic version.
Where to find what
Ninext is not limited to its panel: it also adds commands to Ninox's script editors, forms and views. Here is where to find the plugin's features, and who can use them. Most of them can be turned on or off in the Ninext Settings.
In the Ninext panel
The panel opens from Ninox's plugin menu, in "Edit mode" (see Ninext panel). Its tools are reserved for the database's administrators.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fields & Formulas | Gives access to all the global functions and all the fields of every table, to their dependencies across the whole code, and to the dependency tree. |
| Debug Tracer | Records the state of the variables each time your code reaches a debug() statement. |
| Console | Runs Ninox code on the fly, and debugs it step by step. |
| Errors | Shows the errors and warnings in the database's code, and takes you to the code at fault. |
| Profiler | Measures how long formulas take to evaluate. |
| Code Finder | Searches the whole source code, regular expressions included. |
| Schema Overview | Draws the database schema: its tables and their links. |
| Function Help | Gives the help for Ninox's functions and for those Ninext adds. |
| Navigation history | The footprints icon, to the left of the tabs: the last fields, global functions and reports visited in Ninext. |
| Ninext Settings | The gear that appears when you hover over the version number, to the right of the tabs: each tool is turned on or off there. |
In Ninox's top bar
| Feature | What it does | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Plugin menu | The puzzle-piece icon, in edit mode: it opens the Ninext panel, and "Manage plugin" installs or updates the plugin. | Administrators |
| Visited records | The footprints icon, just to the left of Ninox's icons: the list of recently visited records, which reopen in one click. | All users |
In Ninox's script editors
In the large formula editor and in the panel of a field or a table, for administrators:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Error underlining | Underlines errors and warnings as you type; hovering over the underlined passage explains it. The other occurrences of the selected word are highlighted. |
| Format code | When you hover over the editor, at the top right, or with Ctrl + Shift + F (⌘ + Shift + F on Mac): straightens up the code, without running it. |
| Debug in the Console | When you hover over the editor, at the top right: takes the code to the Console, to debug it. |
| Syntax tooltip | With the cursor on a function, shows its signatures, with a button that opens its help. |
In Ninox's forms and views
| Feature | What it does | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Badge when hovering over a field | In edit mode, when you hover over a field: its type, its formula, access to its editing, and the number of its dependencies. | Administrators |
| Badges in the "Edit fields" window | A badge on each field that other elements of the database use. | Administrators |
| Copy, paste, duplicate and delete fields | With the keyboard, on the selected field, in edit mode. | Administrators |
| Badges | Badges on the Files and Comments tabs, and on the tabs you customize. | All users |
| Column filters | In a table view, a chip for each filtered column. | All users |
| View field event | Clicking a cell of a view field runs your onclick function; selecting a record in a table's view, your onselected function. | All users |
| Button event | A button's onUpdate function changes its label, its tooltip, its color or its badge. | All users |
In your code
These functions are written in your scripts, and act for every user of the database:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Native JS | Runs JavaScript inside a Ninox script, between #{ and }#. |
onNinextLoaded | A function in the "After Open" trigger, which Ninext calls once it is loaded. |
ninext.callNinoxFunction | Calls a Ninox function from HTML or JavaScript. |
The U Man Genius team
