Difference between revisions of "Developer Mode"

Revision as of 12:14, 28 March 2019

Overview

The developer mode provides certain features to help customizing the UBIK^® UI and is therefore only meant to be accessed by project engineers and developers.

Stages

The developer mode can be reached by hitting F12. When hit for the first time, developer mode is in Stage 1, when hit again it will be in Stage 2. When hit for the third time, developer mode is switched off again (Stage 0).

Stage 1

If there are lists currently displayed, the templates of the list items will be highlighted.

Stage 2

The area templates will be highlighted; if there are lists currently displayed, its item templates will not be visible.

Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 0 (non-developer mode)

Features

Template button and its flyout

Context button and its flyout

In developer mode, all templates on a certain page will be highlighted as a crossed-out green area with two buttons. The top/template button allows to edit the XAML file behind the respective area, and the bottom/context button allows to browse the properties, methods and commands of the underlying ViewModel/Context.

XAML Files

When pressing the edit button in the flyout with the name of the XAML file, the following will happen:

• If this template doesn't have a customized XAML file yet, UBIK^® will copy its default XAML definition into the customizing folder, open the explorer and highlight it. From there you can use any text editor to modify it;
• If there is already a customized XAML file for this template, UBIK will ask whether you want to open the existing file or if you want to replace the existing file with the default XAML definition of this template again.

Browsing the ViewModel/Context

When pressing the button with the name of the ViewModel/Context, UBIK^® will open a browser that allows you to explore all its public properties, methods and commands. Tapping on a member will pin that member and browse a level deeper. Tapping on the button on the left side of the member name, will trigger the following:

• If the member is a property P or method M , its path will be copied to the expression field on top of the browser and its result will be instantly evaluated;
• If the member is a command C the browser will navigate to its respective Execute method. Tapping the button of the Execute method will invoke the command.

Here is a list of all possible member types.

Converter		All converters that can be used in the current XAML context. They are only displayed at the top level.
Obsolete		All members marked red are obsolete and recommended not to be used anymore.
Property		Public properties that can be inspected.
Method		Includes both the command related methods and all other public methods.
Command		Performs a certain task, e.g. navigating back to the previous page, taking a picture. Every one of them has a corresponding "Execute[CommandName]" method which actually executes the command.

You can hover over a member in the list to get more information such as its description, usage, hints, etc. When hovering over an obsolete member, you will find a suggested replacement.

An example of searching & evaluating

Search field

The second text field (the one that says "Search...") in the browser can be used as a filter to reduce the number of members displayed in the list.

• The search occurs as you type and the search text is case insensitive;
• Only members whose names contain the entered search text are shown in the list;
• The already pinned members are not filtered.

Expression field

The text field on top (the one that says "Enter expression...") allows direct input of an expression to be evaluated.

• The evaluation occurs as you type and the expression text is case sensitive;
• The context used for evaluating the expression does not change as you browse further into the list;
• The result of the evaluation (if there is any and it's not null) is displayed below the expression field.

Usage example

An example is shown in the picture. The template involved is UBIKChildArea and the context is a ContentPageViewModel.

• The search text "number" filters the list of members under ContentPageViewModel.ClassificationHandler.ChildInformation and only "NumberOfDocuments" and "NumberOfNonDocuments" are shown;
• The expression text "ClassificationHandler.ChildInformation.NumberOfNonDocuments" evaluates to 2 because the context object of this ContentPageViewModel carries child information and has two non document child objects;
• The result "2" is a primitive type and the string representations of these values are shown. For other types, you might see their type names instead unless they have their own ToString() implementations;
• You can browse to the level shown in the example and then click on the P next to "NumberOfNonDocuments". Or you can simply type in the above mentioned expression text at any level. Both would yield the same result;
• If an expression is successfully evaluated here, you can use the same text for bindings in the relevant template (UBIKChildArea in this case) and expect the same result.

You can safely type expressions directly in the field. However, you might be constantly interrupted since the evaluation is done as you type. For example, a dialog can be shown because of a command. In such cases, you might want to finish the expression elsewhere and then copy/paste it into the field.

As mentioned, the name of the context is not required at the beginning of the expression. However, it is required when you nest an expression in another one as its parameter. For example, you can enter "ExecuteShowMessageBoxCommand(Context.AppVersion)" to display the app version in a dialog. The "Context" keyword is needed for evaluating the parameter expression "AppVersion".

Other features

By hitting F5, all templates on the currently displayed page will be disposed of and reloaded. So if a customized XAML template file was changed, this change will be immediately reflected in the UI.