This page is for application designers who want to design re-usable components and add them to palettes.

Overview

The easiest way to design a screen for an application is to:

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1. Create a

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1. dashboard; see Dashboard

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1. Drag in pre-designed components and layouts from the palette. For information about
   
   • components and layouts see Understanding Components and Layouts and Component properties.
   • the palettes that can be installed with PhixFlow, see pages in the Using Palettes and Themes topic.

Components and layouts in a palette have been designed to have consistent formats; see pages in the  the Styles and Formats topic.

If you have a specific component that you want to reuse on multiple screensdashboards, you can make a template of the component layout template, then add it to a new or existing palette.

For the repository sections Components and Templates the repository does not have a Layout Templates, there is no context menu option to add a new one. 

Making a

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Layout Template

1. On a dashboard canvas, add components from a palette to create a layout
2. Set all the style options you require.
3. In the screen dashboard canvas, right-click the component and select 

   Insert excerpt
   _repository_find _repository_find nopanel true

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4. In the repository, right-click the component name.
5. From the context menu, select Copy as a Template.
6. PhixFlow opens a new property tab. This is a copy of the original component, with the Advanced → Template property ticked. It is saved in the Layout Template section of the repository. 
7. Edit the name to reflect that this component is now a layout template.

We recommend that you add a layout template to a Palette:

1. Open the repository and palette. Drag one of the tabs into the workspace to show the tabs side-by-side.
2. Drag the layout template from the repository into the palette.

Reusing Components in

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Dashboards

To use a layout template, simply drag it into the screendashboard canvas:

• either from the repository Template Layout Template 
• or from the palette.

When you drag in the layout template, PhixFlow prompts you to add a name. PhixFlow saves the copy in your application as a component on the screendashboard, using the new name. This means that changing a layout template

• does not change the components that have already been copied from it. 
• new copies will have the change.

Managing Layout Templates 

When you use a style or Layout template in your screendashboard, they become part of your application. To successfully move an application to a different PhixFlow instance, you must include the layout template and styles in the export. Consider adding your application, and any items it uses, such as layout templates and styles, to a package, to ensure they are all included in an export; see Package.

Use the Administration menu options Export Full Configuration or Open Export Pane to include the layout templates and styles in your package; see Export Configuration  and Import Configuration.

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