IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Create user interfaces for business processes > Building Heritage Coaches > Customize Heritage Coaches

Use custom attributes

You can add custom attributes to Heritage Coach sections and controls to enhance the layout of the interfaces created for users.

You can add a custom attribute to enable users to expand and collapse a section in a Heritage Coach as described in the following procedure:


Procedure

  1. Open the service that contains the Heritage Coach that you want to work with and then click the Coaches tab.

  2. In the design area, click to select the Heritage Coach section that you want to customize.

    This example requires a Heritage Coach section with a visible title that is nested within another section.

  3. Click the Customization option in the properties.

  4. Click the Add Attribute button.
  5. Type showHide in the Name text box. By default, this field includes the name, key .

    You need to replace this text with the key name that you want.

  6. To make the section collapsible, type true in the Value text box. By default, this field includes the text, value . You need to replace this text with the value that you want.

    To make the section collapsible and collapsed by default, type hidden in the Value text box.

  7. Save the Heritage Coach and then run the service to test the custom attribute.


What to do next

The custom attributes that you add when building a Heritage Coach pass information to the XSL about how the page should be rendered. When you switch to the Heritage Coach XML view, you can see any name-value attributes in the XML. IBM BPM provides the following attributes that you can use just as the showHide attribute is used in the preceding steps:

Available custom attributes
Attribute Description Applies to Example value
cssStyle Overrides a CSS style Input Text (or equivalent) width: 100px
cssClass Overrides a CSS class (be sure to include the standard CSS class if you want the default functionality as well) Input Text (or equivalent) inputText important
height Enables scrollable tables and sections (the table or section will always be the given height, even when there is not enough data to fill it. The header of the table scrolls with the data.) Table or Section 200px
width Sets the width of a table column Cell 75%
precision Displays numbers with the specified number of digits after the decimal InputText or Output Text 2
symbolPre Displays the given symbol before a value InputText $
symbolPost Displays the given symbol after a value InputText %
position Specifies the location of a label, such as on top (the label must be visible) Label top

You can create completely new attributes and extend the capabilities of the Coach Designer by adding XML attributes directly to a Heritage Coach's XML. When you add attributes to a Heritage Coach's XML, you need to customize the Heritage Coach XSL to support the new attribute.

Customize Heritage Coaches


Related tasks:
Specifying an XSL transform override for a Heritage Coach