Mrc has updated m-Power, its Java-based web-application development tool with a number of what it describes as Web 2.0 abilities.

A new feature called Hover allows users to view data and drill down into their web-based business applications without having to click. Instead the information is displayed as the mouse ‘hovers’ over a link. If a hover window displays an application with a hover-link in it, the method allows for ‘cascading’, letting the user roll-over that link to reveal another hover window, showing that drill-down information as well.

The new version also features cascading dropdown lists, an easier way to make dropdowns reliant on one another. For example, if a user needs to select a particular geographical area, the dropdown feature will allow them to select a place from a dropdown menu. When they do, the dropdown list will refresh to show only the valid towns and cities within that area.

m-Power now also allows developers to create top-ten style lists which will restrict the output to a pre-specified number of records. This is for creating simple reports where they only wish to show a certain set of records; for instance,  the top 10 highest sales regions, the five worst-selling products, or three most profitable distributors.

In the new version, web pages sent through email have the same look. Whether a page is run off the server at run time, sent via email, or saved to a local PC, the page will always have the same look and feel. This feature comes pre-configured and requires no additional configuration.

With new Web 2.0 reports, by default, users now have the option of  ‘formatted Excel’ as an output type. Users only have to format once, through m-Power’s painting interface, and the formatted report can appear as HTML or open in Excel.

Seamus Quinn