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Open Client Developer's Guide | |
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Best Practices for CustomizationThe Open Client user interface can easily be customized by specifying colors, graphics, and preference settings consistent with your environment. The Open Client source code can also be modified to meet your application needs, including extending the supplied Data Providers and User Controls to create a fully customized application. If more complex customization is required, developers can leverage the IDM COM objects to write a custom ASP.NET Web application. For more information about customizing the Open Client through the use of COM objects, see Developing with IDM COM Objects in the .NET Environment. The following sections describe in more detail the available configuration options and points to consider when customizing the Open Client. Basic CustomizationBasic customization of the Open Client can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as through the use of corporate identity style sheets and graphics, or by configuring preferences for the out-of-the-box installation. Configuring LibrariesThe Open Client libraries must be configured on the Web server using the IDM Desktop IDM Configure tool. Honoring IDM PreferencesThe Open Client application runs on top of IDM Objects, and preferences honored by the foundation IDM Objects are also honored by Open Client. For a detailed list of supported preferences, see the Help for Open Client Administrators. Setting Open Client PreferencesThe Open Client supports a preference data provider, which has a structure similar to the IDM Preference Objects, but the preferences are stored in an XML file, rather than in the registry. This significantly simplifies the installation and upgrade procedures. The Data Provider allows for simple installation and upgrade procedures. Preferences can be edited using any XML or text editor. Using Site PreferencesExamples of Open Client 4.0.1 preferences include the following:
For a detailed list of supported site preferences, see the Help for Open Client Administrators. Advanced CustomizationThe Open Client is delivered with full source code, including all ASPX pages, User Controls, Data Providers and utilities. Advanced customization of the Open Client can be accomplished by modifying the source code and ASPX pages, or by extending the supplied Data Providers and User Controls to create a custom application. Suggestions for CustomizingFollow these suggestions when customizing the Open Client:
Upgrading a Customized ApplicationFollow these steps when upgrading a customized Open Client application:
Guidelines for Implementing the IE ActiveX Control and Applets Update Workaround in Custom ApplicationsActiveX controls and applets available in custom applications built on top of Open Client will not get affected by Open Client 4.0.1 and may appear as disabled on the first use. For more information regarding IE ActiveX controls and applets update, refer to What's New in Open Client 4.0.1 section. Following are two possible workarounds for handling ActiveX controls and applets in custom applications:
The modified solution will involve loading the ActiveX objects using an included external script (JScript/JavaScript or VBScript) file. These indirectly loaded objects will be activated immediately and will not require users to click on them for activation. Following is a sample custom application code segment that will require modification: Sample Custom Application Code Segment
The above-highlighted code segment is to be replaced with the following highlighted code segment to load ActiveX controls and applets. Using this code segment, a reference to the external script Object.js file is made. Modified Custom Application Code Segment
After modifying the custom application code file, create an external JavaScript file with the following code segment as highlighted below: Sample External Script File Object.js
For more information on how to activate ActiveX controls, refer to Activating ActiveX Controls. |
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