Page Content Meta-data

The main content area of an application allows server data to be displayed and entered. The basic unit of data is a field. Each field is either an output or input parameter of a server interface.

• Fields

  Fields are visually organized into clusters and lists on a UIM page. There may be zero or more of each on a page. Clusters and lists can have a title which describes the type of data displayed. There may also be a title for the whole UIM page. Refer to User Interface element 9 in Application User Interface Overview for an example of a page title.

• Clusters

  A cluster is a rectangular areas that displays fields in a tabular format. A cluster can have one or more columns of fields, and fields can be displayed with or without an associated label. Fields can be read-only, or they may be editable. If editable, they appear as a control such as a text area, drop-down menu, or check-box.

  Refer to User Interface Element 18 in Application User Interface Overview which shows an example of two configured clusters in the page content area - each with a configured title.

• Lists

  A list is used to display rows of repeating (or indexed) fields. As in clusters, fields can have associated labels which are displayed as column headings in the list.

  Refer to User Interface Element 21 in Application User Interface Overview which shows an example of a list in the page content area. The list's title is configured.

• Action Controls

  Action Controls, displayed as buttons, are used to submit form data, to link to related pages, or to open a modal dialog. Action controls can be organized into Action Sets which are associated with clusters, lists, or the UIM page. Individual Action Controls can also be associated with a single field in a cluster or a column in a list. When an action control is used to link to another page it can also send parameters to the target page which are normally used as keys to retrieve server data that populates the target page.

  Refer to User Interface Element 19 in Application User Interface Overview which shows an example of two action controls. These action controls are configured to only appear at the bottom of a cluster but by default Action Controls appear at the top and bottom of the widget they are associated with.

• Server Interfaces

  A server interface is a method that has been implemented using the Cúram Server Development Environment (SDEJ). See Cúram Server Developers Guide and the Cúram Server Modelling Guide for more information on developing server interface methods.

  The server interface is a non-visual element of a UIM page and each UIM page can be associated with one or more server interface methods. Each method is associated with either the initialization phase or the process phase. When the UIM page is first opened, the initialization phase methods are executed. Typically an initialization phase method uses Page Parameters as input parameters, and the resulting server data is mapped to output fields on the screen.

  The Process Phase is initiated when an Action Control of type Submit is selected by the user. Data from input fields on the screen are mapped to input parameters of process phase server methods and the methods are invoked. After execution of process phase methods, the flow of control is determined by the Submit Action, which can specify a link to a new target page, or by the default action which returns to the same page.

Various XML elements correspond to the user interface elements described above PAGE, FIELD, CLUSTER, LIST, ACTION_CONTROL, ACTION_SET and so on. Other elements such as PAGE_PARAMETER and SERVER_INTERFACE do not have visual representations, but are important to the functionality of the page. The CONNECT element is an important construct that allows fields to be associated with parameters to Server Interfaces. As well as mapping fields, connections can also map page parameters and static text. The latter is not stored directly in the UIM, but is externalized in a property file which facilitates easier language localization of user interfaces.

Page Content Meta-data contains an extract of UIM used to create the content area. This extract displays how the major elements that make up a screen of content area, such as clusters and lists, are represented in UIM. UIM Reference is a full UIM reference. Refer to User Interface Element 15 in Application User Interface Overview to see an example of a configured page content area.

<PAGE PAGE_ID="Person_search">

  <PAGE_TITLE>
    <CONNECT>
      <SOURCE NAME="TEXT"
              PROPERTY="PageTitle.StaticText1"/>
    </CONNECT>
  </PAGE_TITLE>

  <SERVER_INTERFACE NAME="ACTION"
    CLASS="Person_fo"
    OPERATION="search"
    PHASE="ACTION" />

  <CLUSTER NUM_COLS="2"
              TITLE="Cluster.Title.SearchCriteria">

    <FIELD LABEL="Field.Label.ReferenceNumber">
      <CONNECT>
        <TARGET NAME="ACTION" PROPERTY="referenceNumber"/>
      </CONNECT>
    </FIELD>

    <FIELD CONTROL="SKIP"/>

  </CLUSTER>

  <CLUSTER NUM_COLS="2"
              TITLE="Cluster.Title.AdditionalSearchCriteria">

    <FIELD LABEL="Field.Label.FirstName">
      <CONNECT>
        <TARGET NAME="ACTION" PROPERTY="forename"/>
      </CONNECT>
    </FIELD>

    ... more <FIELD> elements...

    <ACTION_SET ALIGNMENT="CENTER" TOP="false">

        <ACTION_CONTROL LABEL="ActionControl.Label.Search"
                           IMAGE="SearchButton"
                           TYPE="SUBMIT">
        <LINK PAGE_ID="THIS"/>
      </ACTION_CONTROL>

      <ACTION_CONTROL LABEL="ActionControl.Label.Reset"
                         IMAGE="ResetButton">
        <LINK PAGE_ID="Person_search"/>
      </ACTION_CONTROL>

    </ACTION_SET>
  </CLUSTER>

  <LIST TITLE="List.Title.SearchResults">

    <FIELD LABEL="Field.Title.Name" WIDTH="44">
      <CONNECT>
        <SOURCE NAME="ACTION"
                PROPERTY="personName"/>
      </CONNECT>
    </FIELD>
    ... more <FIELD> elements...
  </LIST>

</PAGE>