Java Entrepreneur

Editable HTML Grid

An associate of mine has created a really nice AJAX component in his spare time. The component is what I like to think of as a spreadsheet on the web. He calls it an editable HTML grid. I've used it on a project within the last month and I think it will turn out to be a hit with the users we are going after with the product.

The next best thing to the component itself is the documentation for it. The developer in this case explains step-by-step how the grid works and how it should be implemented. It is a pet peeve of mine when developers seemingly spends so much time and energy on a personal project that can greatly benefit others but fails to document it. This in many cases leads to a great component or product with a potential audience of one… the developer himself who created it. This is not the case here.

In the developers own words:

Data entry in typical web applications is painful. The aim of the HTML Grid project is to create an exceptional data entry environment to ease the pain many web users have unknowingly become accustomed to. They have been forced to accept what I like to call the list->view->edit interface. Most data entry applications work about the same. You make a call to the server to retrieve a list of information. The user chooses one of the items from the list of information, opens it, makes their change, and saves it.

Check it out