Customizing the user interface

Customizing features allow you to customize the appearance and behavior of pages and list settings to your needs.

Because all apps access the same definitions, pages and lists in the desktop app, cloud app, and web app look identical, and customizations are available anywhere and instantly.

The customization of the pages is done in the Vertec class settings, which can be found in the folder Settings > Class Settings. Each class visible on the interface has one or more built-in pages, which are identified by a unique name.

Customizing is configured on the Customization tab. The supplied page configuration can be seen on the Built-in tab.

Because of this structure, it is guaranteed that your changes will persist in future updates, and that new features will still be visible: The structure of Vertec is not changed. You simply overwrite the parts that you want to have differently. This way, Vertec will always remain in its original form, with the following caveats:

• In future versions, if items are inserted into groups that you have completely hidden, they will not be visible on the interface because they belong to the hidden group.

• If new pages and fields are added in future versions, they will automatically appear on the interface due to the structure described here. Therefore, you should check your own adjustments when updating.

Detailed information on customizing pages can be found here.

Customizing lists means, in addition to the usual list settings, the configuration of controls in lists. In the XML control field, the individual list elements can be configured.

Tip: The F2 key opens the zoom on a field. This makes it easier to type the code in the Element XML field, because you have more space.

Customizing refers to the control specified in the Control field. This is overwritten and modified, in the example above with <ComboBox Override=”cmbProjekt”>.

To override the input control in the list settings, the type of the control must match.

cmbProject is a ComboBox and must be overlaid with the corresponding control:

<ComboBox Override="cmbProjekt" ... />

or replace with a specific control for which the OCL expression for the list selection is defined:

<ProjectComboBox ... />

edtProjekt is a project reference box and must therefore be superimposed as follows:

<ProjectReferenceBox Override="edtProjekt" ... />

or replace with a specific control for which the OCL expression for the list selection is defined:

<ProjectReferenceBox ... />

For a list of available controls, see Controls.

Detailed information on customizing controls in lists can be found here.

Customizing is defined in XML format. Vertec’s customizing therefore requires rudimentary knowledge of XML. XML essentially consists of structured elements in square brackets and readable text. Since the supplied pages are already available in Vertec as XML documents, you can easily copy them there.

The most important structural unit of an XML application is the element. These elements have attributes with which customizing is controlled.

<Element Attribut="Wert" />

XML elements can contain additional elements. If this is the case, the element must have a start and an end tag as shown here:

<Page>...</Page>

If only attributes of a single element are described, it is sufficient to enclose them in a single tag, with a slash at the end:

<Page ... />

A list of all available elements and their properties can be found here.

Existing elements are overwritten using the Override attribute, specifying the name of the underlying element.

The page

<Page Name="Project" ..... />

can be used with

<Page Override="Project" .... />

be overwritten.

All attributes that are then described will be overwritten. All others will be displayed as in the basic configuration.

The XML code is case sensitive, which means that it is case sensitive.

XML comments are enclosed in <!-- ... -->.

<!-- Dies ist ein Kommentar -->

A comment can also run over several rows:

<!-- Dieser Kommentar ist zu lang, um ihn
      auf einer Zeile zu platzieren. Darum
      erstreckt er sich über mehrere. -->

If quotation marks are to be used within an expression, they must be escaped, i.e. you cannot write ““ (because this would close the expression), but you must use &quot;. Example:

<IndexComboBox Label="Select month:" ListItemsString=" &quot;September 2016&quot;,&quot;Oktober 2016&quot;,&quot;November 2016&quot; " />

For example, since “September 2016” must be summarized (otherwise the spaces will be interpreted as separators), &quot; must be used here.

The same applies to the following symbols: