Public Component Library

Hi All,

I think it would be a great idea to have a public component library area which works like this...

• Lets say you have built a component that you think others may find useful.  Alongside the 'Build' button, there is another button to 'Publish' to the public library (subject to moderation).
• Before building your own component from scratch, other users can view the public library for similar components for anything which they think may suit their needs (or even halfway there).  They would then have the option to download a version of it into their own library, then change their version as they see fit.

Hope that makes sense!

The most value this would have for me is to see the ideas of others - particularly, the type of components they are building.  But because what is saved is what is generated, the items in such a library would be very rough and require additional work.  I assume the library will not be curated. So there is no guarantee that any component that is shared works correctly or has meaningful connections among fields and related tables.  And if someone revises a build and tries to share it again, what is stored (duplicate copies or an updated copy)?

So for me, whenever I come across a need for a custom component, I probably will always conduct my own data modeling and build the initial component to my specific specifications.  But I can see a library of shared builds to have value for those who are challenged by data modeling and need to see examples.

Hi Randy

You're right in what you say about components needing extra work, and the idea is meant to be a starting block for others to tailor to suit their needs.

As an example, one of the components I'm currently building is a simple 'For Sale' component for a company's intranet.  I'd say at least 75% of the controls in there would be transferrable and applicable for someone else to use for a similar component, without having to build all that information in from scratch.  I'm sure there must be many more examples out there where people have already created something similar to each other.

I did suggest some kind of moderation to ensure only appropriate and tested components end up in the public library.

Thats an interesting point regarding duplicate copies, and if your 'updated' version ends up being better than the original, why not submit it again for approval?

There will of course still be many occasions whereby you have to start from scratch, which is why we've got this fantastic development tool, I just think the public library may just cut down the amount of 're-inventing the wheel' and save even more time.