IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Create user interfaces for business processes > Developing reusable Coach Views

Configuration options and properties

You define the configuration options in your Coach View so that users can customize a specific instance of that Coach View. Users see these configuration options as configuration properties in that instance.

For example, the Radio Buttons stock control has the layout configuration option and a Layout label. When you drop a Radio Buttons instance onto a Coach View layout and then select the instance, the Properties area displays a list of configuration properties. One of these configuration properties is Layout. You can choose Horizontal or Vertical for this configuration property. This choice affects only this Radio Buttons instance.

When you define a configuration option for your Coach View, you set the appearance of the corresponding configuration property and the information that it displays.

• In the Label field, provide the display name of the configuration property. If you do not provide a label, the Coach View instance uses the name of the configuration option as the display name.

• In the Documentation field, provide hover help text to help users decide on the setting for that configuration property.

• To group several related configuration options, provide a group name. The Coach View instance displays the group name with a twistie. When users expand the twistie, they see all the configuration properties that have the same group name.

  For example, you add config1 and config2 to the Config group.

  

  When users click an instance of the Coach View, they see the Config group.

  If users expand the twistie, they see config1 and config2.

  

The data type of the configuration option affects how the Coach View instance displays the corresponding configuration property. If the type is a simple type, like String, or is based on a simple type, the corresponding configuration property is an appropriate control.

For example, the control is a check box for the Boolean type or text field for a String type. If the type is a business object, the configuration property is a group that contains the business object parameters as configuration properties.

Here is config4 presented as a configuration property:

If the type is a list, the configuration property is a two-column table. Each row in the table represents an item in the list.

Here is config5 presented as a configuration property formatted as a two column table.

If the type is a list of business objects, the configuration property is a table with a header row and a row for each list item. Each parameter in the business object has a corresponding column in the table. If a parameter is also a business object, that corresponding column subdivides into columns for each parameter in the child business object.

Here is config6 presented as a configuration table formatted as a three-column table:

simple types in the business object hierarchy" />

When you are setting (binding to data) a configuration property on a Coach View instance, you can bind it statically or dynamically. To bind it statically, type or choose a value for the configuration property. To bind it dynamically, assign a variable to the configuration property by clicking

. You can then select an existing variable from the presented list. By default, the list contains only variables with a data type that matches the type defined for the configuration option. However, you can select to see all variables. If you do so, only the variables with matching types are in bold typeface. If you select a variable and the type of the variable does not match the type that is defined for the configuration option, the designer displays a warning. Instead of selecting a variable, you can select

to have the designer create a configuration option of the correct type and bind the configuration property to this configuration option.

Restriction: You cannot bind to a business object that contains nested lists statically. Instead, you must bind to it dynamically.

Developing reusable Coach Views

Related concepts:
General properties and HTML attributes of Coach Views
Data binding for Coach Views

Related tasks:
Developing reusable Coach Views