Basic Concepts

Development Environment

You can develop and configure logical modules in the development environment to create different types of applications. The default domain name of the development environment is appcube.cn-north-4.huaweicloud.com.

Sandbox Environment

You can configure testing data and test applications in the sandbox environment before their release. The default domain name of the sandbox environment is appcubesandbox.cn-north-4.huaweicloud.com.

A sandbox is a security mechanism that separates running applications. It is often used to test applications that are untrusted or destructive, or whose intentions cannot be determined. The sandbox restricts program behavior and resource access based on security policies. It restricts network access, system access, and input device access. No changes in the sandbox will cause any harm to the operating system.

Runtime Environment

Runtime environment refers to the production environment to which applications are released after testing. The default domain name of the runtime environment is appcuberun.cn-north-4.huaweicloud.com.

The free edition does not provide a runtime environment. Purchase a professional edition, package and release the application, and install it in the runtime environment.

Huawei Cloud Astro Zero Users

There are two types of users in Huawei Cloud Astro Zero: users, who are application developers, and portal users, who use the applications. Guests can directly use applications developed by users.

Figure 1 User behavior

Namespaces

Data can be packaged and shared between tenants. To avoid duplicate names of data (such as objects, applications, and flows), define a namespace before creating an application.

The namespace of each tenant is unique, and only one namespace can be created by each tenant. Use your company or team's abbreviation as the namespace. The system automatically prefixes this namespace to the names of applications or application elements (such as objects, scripts, flows, or pages) you create. For example, with a namespace of CNAME, all subsequently created applications and elements will begin with CNAME__.

Standard Pages

Standard pages utilize the Vue technology stack. The platform offers a range of preset basic widgets and supports extensions. They are primarily used for rapidly developing backend management pages, such as tables and forms.

The standard page development interface offers a graphical, codeless online tool for building pages. You can quickly create complex forms and tables with flexible layouts by dragging widgets from the panel to the canvas, set widget properties and events, and orchestrate events to implement advanced services. This block-based approach enhances efficiency and quality, ensuring timely service delivery.

Advanced Pages

Advanced pages are highly customizable, packed with a variety of powerful widgets. They support a range of frameworks and coding options, making them perfect for complex page design needs.

BPMs

Huawei Cloud Astro Zero has developed its own Business Process Management (BPM) system based on the BPMN 2.0 industry specifications for modeling business processes. The function within Huawei Cloud Astro Zero that drives the execution of processes is known as the BPM engine.

Objects

An object in Huawei Cloud Astro Zero is similar to a table in a database of a traditional service system. Each object corresponds to a database table for storing the configuration data and service data required by a service system.

Flows

Huawei Cloud Astro Zero provides you with flows to develop services through simple drag-and-drop and parameter configuration. It also supports re-arranging existing services. In the flow editor, you can quickly develop services and extend more service functions through graphical orchestration. In addition, you can associate services to APIs to provide services for external systems.

Application Templates

Huawei Cloud Astro Zero offers a variety of application templates to lower development costs and enable rapid, no/low-code application building through drag-and-drop. These templates cover areas like HR management, administrative tasks, surveys, project management, and general applications. You can use them to quickly create and then customize applications to meet specific needs.

Connectors

A connector is an integration tool for calling third-party services. Huawei Cloud Astro Zero provides various encapsulated connectors for connecting to services like OBS, MINIO, Redis, and Cloud Search Service. Connectors abstract away implementation details, requiring only configuration of service addresses and authentication information to quickly integrate third-party systems into flows or scripts.