3.6. GUI desktop configuration settings

Following is a description of all the configuration items common to desktop applications. These are applications which provide the user with an environment that mimics a desktop as it is well known in many graphical operating systems. That desktop consists of a main menu, toolbar, working area and status- and taskbars. It can be customized by the user by providing a proper XML definition file (see below) and allows to restrict the available commands of an application to support kiosk usage of applications for example.

Table 3.2. Desktop related configuration items

NameAliasTypeDefaultDescription
lookAndFeel N/A String <empty>

The GUI look and feel to use.  Specifies the name of a standard Java look and feel which must be supported by the executing operating system. This allows the user to work with the platform specific look and feel instead of the default Java “Metal” look and feel.

theme N/A String <empty>

The GUI theme file to use.  Specifies a file with “theming” settings for the selected look and feel. The supported contents of this option are completely depending on the selected look and feel.

skin-fileskinString ${app.home}/${app.name}.skin

The GUI skin file to use.  Specifies a file with “skinning” settings for the selected look and feel. This is a very primitive skinning mechanism which requires the specified skin file to match the active look and feel exactly. It will thus only be useful for system administrators which can ensure the proper format.

desktop-filedesktopString ${settings.dir}/${app.name}Desktop.xml

The GUI desktop file to use.  Specifies the XML file which configures the desktop of the application. This allows a user (or system administrator) to change the availability and arrangement of the available commands in the user interface as well as to specify a background image for the working area. The specified file must conform to the Desktop.xsd XML schema which is in use by the application. If the file cannot be found or is invalid in respect to that schema, the embedded desktop configuration will be used after a warning log message has been issued.

help-root N/A String ${app.home}/${app.name}-Help.zip

Help content root directory or archive file.  This allows to specify either a directory or a ZIP/JAR file archive with the help contents that should be displayed by the help dialog. The files present at that location should at least contain an index.html file and all documents linked therein. If available, the navigation meta information XML files as defined by Navigation.xsd will allow the help dialog to provide the user with a navigation tree which allows direct access to various parts of the documentation. Without that meta information, only the main document will be displayed in the navigation tree. If this settings points to an inexistent location (or is empty), the embedded help information will be used by default.

show-tooltips N/A Boolean false

Whether to display tooltips.  If set to true, will enable the display of tooltips in all GUI controls which support them. This setting influences the behavior throughout the whole application.

full-screen N/A Boolean false

Whether to start in full screen mode.  If set to true, will start in full screen mode, hiding any other windows of the operating system.

always-on-top N/A Boolean false

Whether to stay always on top.  If set to true, will attempt to stay on top of all other windows in the operating system.