The Nexaweb Outline view displays an outline view of the structure of a XAL or NXML document in a tree hierarchy.
This incremental builder gathers information about XAL (xal), NXML (.nxml) and Stylesheet (.xss) files. For this reason, Nexaweb recommends that you define MCOs and Macros in .xal files and not in JSP pages. If necessary, you can include a XAL file in a JSP page by means of an include directive.
Each component in the XAL document corresponds to a node in the Structural tree. The Outline has the following node types:
XAL document root: the root element of the XAL document displays as a root node in the structural sub-tree in this format: <xal>. Some files may use the implicit form, where the root element is <rootPane>.
Component Child node: A child node displays in the tree in one of the following formats where tagname indicates the name of the node in the XAL document:
<tagname>ID:foo, if the node has an associated ID, where foo is the ID.
<tagname>txt:sometext, if the node has no ID, but has an associated text attribute, where sometext is the value of the text attribute.
<tagname>, if the node has neither ID nor text attribute.
Expanded Child node: Some components have defined event, source, or href attributes that are shown in the tree as expanded child nodes. The expanded children are shown optionally in the Structural sub-tree. The Nexaweb Outline dropdown menu shown below has the expanded children display settings.
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Figure 92. Outline view. |
Figure 93. Outline View – right-click menu. |
Figure 94: Outline View Dropdown Menu.
Every component node represents a component on the screen. Clicking a tree component node, also selects its corresponding component in the Visual Editor or displays it outlined in blue in the Source editor. If the Properties view is open, it displays the properties of the selected component. The Visual and Source editors, and the Outline view should be in sync at all times. User changes on any of the editors or the Outline should be reflected on the others immediately.
You can select multiple components by using the shift or control keys when clicking the selected components.
Each node in the tree has a right-click menu accessible when you right-click on it. Most nodes and many of the context menu items have informative icons for increased ease of use.
Note: the Right-Click Menu (also known as Context Menu) is generated dynamically according to the node and component type, so it will have different menu items for different components.
You can expand or compress the Outline as needed using the +, - symbols left of any Outline node with children.
Drag and Drop
The Nexaweb Outline offers full drag and drop support. The supported drag and drop operations include:
Component Palette to Outline: drag component from Palette to Outline component node to insert the component into the Outline component.
Outline to Outline: drag and drop component within the Outline Structural sub-tree to move the component to a different parent or change the sibling ordering within the same parent.
Navigator view to Outline: drag image file from Navigator view into an Outline component node with image attribute to set the attribute.
Package Explorer to Outline: drag MCO method from Package Explorer into an Outline component to display the Event wizard and add the MCO method as an event handler for a component event.
Nexaweb Outline supports fully located drops. The located drops types are:
Drop On: this drop is supported for every drop operation. The operation is performed directly on the drop target. In the case of a component insertion, for example, the component is inserted in the target component.
Drop Before or After: This drop is type is supported for Outline to Outline and Palette to Outline drops (only for Structural sub-trees). The operation takes place in the drop target parent. In the case of a component insertion, for example, the component will be inserted in the parent of the target component.
