Custom Wizard Interfaces

ACT provides you with the capability to customize the interface of a Workbench-based wizard, defining layouts both for the interface as a whole and for the individual interface components within the layout.

In the extension's XML file, you use the optional element <uidefinition> to define wizard interface customizations. The basic definition of this element follows:

  <uidefinition>
       <layout>
          <component/>
   	     <component/>
	        <component/>
   	     <component/>
       </layout>
  </uidefinition>

The customizations are exposed as follows:

User Interface Definition

The element <uidefinition> defines a single user interface for the wizard. It is the top-level entry that contains all layout definitions.

Layout Definition

The element <layout> defines a single custom layout for the wizard. A separate layout can be defined for each step in the wizard. The attribute name defines the name of the layout. The name is referenced in a wizard step in the following format: 

LayoutName@ExtensionName

This notation allows a wizard to reference a layout defined in a different extension.

Component Definition

The element <component> defines a single component in a custom layout for the wizard.

  • The mandatory attribute name defines the name for the component. The component name is required to position it next to another component. To do this, the name is used in conjunction with the following attributes:

    • leftAttachment

    • rightAttachment

    • bottomAttachment

    • topAttachment

    The component name is also used in the IronPython script with the method GetComponent(). For instance, in a step, the callback Onrefresh can use the following code:

    component = step.UserInterface.GetComponent(ComponentName)

  • The mandatory attribtues heightType, height, widthType, and width define the dimensions of the component. Possible values are as follows:

    • FitToContent: The component is to have a default size that is set by ACT. When selected, the attributes height and width become irrelevant.

    • Percentage: The height and width of the component is expressed as percentages.

    • Fixed: The height and width of the component is expressed in pixels.

  • The mandatory attribute componentType defines the type of component. Some examples of possible component types are:

    • startPageHeaderComponent (Defines banner titles)

    • propertiesComponent

    • chartComponent

    • tabularDataComponent

    • buttonsComponent

    • stepsListComponent

  • The attributes leftOffset, rightOffset, bottomOffset, and topOffset specify the distance and the margin between the different components.

The next section provides an example of customizing a wizard interface.