Overview

Component Categories are used to highlight on a screen where an items  item is expected to be placed.

For example, a Tile Container has the Component Category "Tile Holder". If a user then drags a tile with "Tile Holder" specified as its Preferred Parent onto a screen that has a Tile Container it will highlight with a pink surround.

The PhixFlow palettes contain templates with layout components an component categories and preferred parent specified to help make creating screens easier. For example,:

• Header areas highlight when header items are dragged over a screen.
• Button bars highlight when buttons are dragged over a screen.

The following palettes predate version 9.0.0 and the preferred parent feature is not supported for them. We recommend using the Serene Grey Template Package, see Installing Template Packages. 

How to Configure Preferred Parents

Define a Component Category and apply it to an object, then any objects we want to be place in this object have this Component Category set as their Preferred Parent. A Component Category is just a label that is used to create an association. Objects can have multiple Preferred Parents and can also have their own Component Category.

Setup

1. For the item you want to be the Parent,
   1. Open its properties.
   2. In Basic Settings → Component Category, 
   3. If you have a Component Category already defined, click

      Insert excerpt
      _componentCategory _componentCategory nopanel true

       and from the window that opens drag the component category into the box.
   4. If you have not defined a Component Category yet, click 

      Insert excerpt
      _add _add nopanel true

       to create one.
2. For all the template items that you want to be placed in this Component Category repeat the following:
   1. Open the template section in the repository where your desired items is held.
      1. It is advised to add this feature to a template, however if you have not yet made your component a template, simply open its properties from where it resides.
   2. Double click on item to open its Properties.
   3. In the Preferred Parent Categories section click

      Insert excerpt
      _componentCategory _componentCategory nopanel true

      .
   4. From the repository, drag the required Component Category onto the Preferred Parent Categories list and save your changes. This is illustrated below:
   5.