Display Formatting Configuration Files

Introduction
Display Formatting Configuration File Flow
Interface Display Configuration Files
Record Display Formatting Gadget Specifications
Data Wrapper Specifications
The Role of Database Configuration Files in Rules-Based Formatting

Introduction

This topic explains the individual roles of the various configuration files involved in the WebZ Rules-Based Formatting process. It begins by showing a file flow diagram to depict the interrelationships among the files followed by definitions of the formatting structures inside them.

Display Formatting Configuration File Flow

Multiple configuration files are used during the WebZ Rules-Based Formatting process. These files are collectively referred to as display formatting configuration files and they include interface display configuration files, database configuration files, and formatting configuration files. The diagram below is based on the Out-of-the-Box Interface (OBI), version 1 and it illustrates the basic flow and interrelationships among these files during the rules-based formatting process.

Interface Display Configuration File

An interface display configuration file is one of the initialization files used to format and display a record in the WebZ interface. Record display formatting gadget specifications and data wrapper specifications are defined in this file. These specifications are two of several specifications that WebZ uses to build a formatted display.

Example Interface Display Configuration File

The example below shows the contents of one of the interface display configuration files for the OBI, version 1.

Default Interface Display Configuration Files

Starting with version 4.1.0, two default interface display configuration files are shipped with SiteSearch: One of them is for a frames interface and the other is for non-frames interface. By default, both are declared as parameter values under the InterfacedisplayGadgets section of the JaSSIServer.ini file.

Record Display Formatting Gadget Specifications

A record display formatting gadget specification is a section inside an interface display configuration file. Its main purpose is to start the formatting process. Additional parameter values for the actual gadget referenced in a record display formatting gadget specification may also be used to further define the gadget's actions during the formatting process. One of these parameters is fmt, which references a format type defined in the database configuration file for the current database.

Syntax

The following table lists the basic syntax and parameters for a record display formatting gadget specification:

Data Wrapper Specification

A wrapper specification defines the html or text that surrounds data to be displayed in the Web browser. Each element in a WebZ interface has its own wrapper specification that defines how it is to be presented on the HTML page.

Example from the OBI, version 1

For example, by default the [dataLabel] rule specification for the [brief] format in the MarcArticleFormats.ini file is defined as follows:

Given the above rule specification, notice that it references beforeRecordData as the wrapperName, which is ultimately defined under the [briefHtml] section in the interface display configuration file, frameDisplayGadget.ini as:

Based on the current data wrapper for [dataLabel] (as defined in the above examples), the effect on the display of data would appear similar to the following:

On the other hand, if you were to change the wrapper specification in the interface display configuration file to align the label to the right, the specification would look like this:

And, the data labels would appear right justified as in the following example:

The Role of Database Configuration Files in Rules-Based Formatting

WebZ rules-based formatting is designed so that each database has its own database configuration file and each database configuration file has its own [Formats] section. The following examples illustrate this design as demonstrated in the OBI, version 1:

Examples of Rules-Based Formatting Design

The end result of this construction is that formatting is determined per database. (For more detailed information regarding the [Formats] section and other structures in a database configuration file, see the topic with the same name.)

References to Formatting Configuration File

Format types for the current database and their corresponding formatting configuration files are listed under the [Formats] section in a database configuration file.

Formatting configuration files contain the formatting rules that ultimately create the display string that replaces the format display gadget entity on the html page.

See Also

WebZ Rules-Based Formatting Process Overview
Formatting Configuration Files
JaSSIServer.ini Configuration File