Development system with methods for bi-directional application program code generation

摘要

Development system with visual designer tools (Designers) are described for generating and modifying program code. During system operation, a user employs the Designers to visually create an application program and generate a source file. Moreover, the user can proceed to edit the file with a text editor and then return to the Designers to edit the form visually. Each Designer is a bi-directional or "two-way" tool: the user can modify a form either visually with a Designer, or by editing the generated code in a source (text) file with a text editor. The user can use both techniques interchangeably-switching at will. All changes which occur in Designers are reflected in the generated code and vice versa.