DSL for Grails

Build your intranet in Groovy

Typed DSLs for Grails: no HTML, no JavaScript

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Describe, don’t template

new UiFormSpecifier().ui user, {
    section "User", {
        field user.username_
        field user.firstName_
        field user.lastName_
        ajaxField user.manager_,
            this.&selectUser
    }
    formAction this.&saveUser
}

Checked at compile time

field_ symbols generated from your classes
Rename a field, the compiler finds every screen
Validation errors localized, for free

Tables, filters, pagination

Charts in a few lines

diag dsl bar diag dsl line diag dsl pie diag dsl whiskers

Same DSL, printed to PDF

new UiPrintableSpecifier().ui {
    printableHeader '2.5cm', {
        show userHeader, Width.THIRD
    }
    printableBody {
        show userShow, Width.MAX
        table userTable, Width.MAX
        diagram barChart, Width.MAX
    }
}

Batteries included

Full-text search

File previews

JDBC on your model

SSH & SFTP

Try it live

Every DSL page of the documentation opens its samples in a modal

Docs › DSLs ▶ Try it live

Build Your Own Intranet using DSL (no HTML or JavaScript)

Taack-UI is a Grails plugin that extends Grails by describing user interfaces with a Groovy DSL (Domain Specific Language), statically typed.

Install

Set up Java, Grails and your first Taack server.

Installation guide →

First app

Step by step: a table, a form, a filter, a menu.

Build your first app →

Try the DSLs

Every DSL page opens its samples live, in a modal.

Explore the DSLs →

Latest: version 0.7.11 (with 0.7.10): new themes, selectable from the settings menu, and a reworked save that avoids binding. All news →

From Code to Screen

A form is a few lines of Groovy. Fields are symbols generated from your class (username_), so the compiler checks them; constraints become localized error messages.

def form() {
    DslSampleUser u = new DslSampleUser()
    taackUiService.show(new UiBlockSpecifier().ui {
        modal {
            form createForm(u, {
                row {
                    col {
                        section 'User', {
                            field u.username_
                            field u.firstName_
                            field u.lastName_
                        }
                    }
                    col {
                        section 'Details', {
                            field u.age_
                            field u.birthday_
                            field u.city_
                            field u.status_
                            field u.enabled_
                        }
                    }
                }
                formAction this.&saveForm as MC
            })
        }
    })
}

▶ Try it live

Features

Security per field

Objects are displayed and edited according to user rights on each field. Links and form actions the user cannot run are hidden automatically.

Security →

One DSL, every output

The same description renders to HTML, PDF, Mails and CSV.

Printable DSL →

Localized, validated

Labels come from i18n files, validation errors are localized with no extra code.

Form validation →

Filter, sort, paginate

Tables and filters without writing queries nor keeping session data.

Filter and Table DSL →

Full-text search

Solr indexing of statically typed domain objects, with faceting and ranking. File previews can be extended.

Search →

JDBC on your model

Query domain objects with TQL (Taack Query Language) from IntelliJ, DBeaver or LibreOffice Base.

Taack JDBC Driver →

SSH & SFTP

A shell UI running inside the server process, and a virtual file system per user, with credentials checked (taack-ui-ssh module).

Screenshots ↓

Git server

The Intercom app serves Git over SSH: documentation written in Asciidoc is pushed, then rendered.

Intercom →

Why Taack?

	Taack	Grails with GSP	JavaScript front-end
UI written in	Groovy DSL, statically typed	GSP templates, HTML, CSS	JavaScript or TypeScript, plus a REST API
Field names checked	At compile time	At runtime	Depends on the API contract
Rights per field and action	Built in, links hidden automatically	Hand written	Hand written, on both sides
PDF, CSV, Mails	Same DSL as the screen	Separate code	Separate code
Languages to know	Groovy	Groovy, HTML, CSS, JavaScript	Groovy or Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS

Taack

Grails with GSP

JavaScript front-end

UI written in

Groovy DSL, statically typed

GSP templates, HTML, CSS

JavaScript or TypeScript, plus a REST API

Field names checked

At compile time

At runtime

Depends on the API contract

Rights per field and action