About Interface Display Configuration Files

Contents

Document Conventions
Introduction
Interface Display Configuration Files
Location of Interface Display Configuration Files
Gadget Specifications
Data Wrapper Specifications
Specific Sections in Interface Display Configuration Files
Use of Interface Display Configuration Files in the WebZ Interface

Document Conventions

• <WebZ_root> is the location of your WebZ environment.
• 4.0.x refers to any SiteSearch 4 version prior to 4.1.0; that is, 4.0.0, 4.0.0a, 4.0.1, or 4.0.2.
• 4.1.x refers to SiteSearch 4.1.0 and 4.1.1.

Introduction

This document introduces you to interface display configuration files. It defines interface display configuration files, describes how they are used in WebZ, indicates where to find them, describes the section types they contain, and explains their use in the WebZ interface.

Interface Display Configuration Files

Interface display configuration files define the format display entities used to format and display records in the WebZ interface. Format display entities in Java classes or HTML pages are substituted for HTML code and/or text during a patron's WebZ session.

Each interface style in the WebZ interface is associated with one interface display configuration file. One interface display configuration file can be associated with multiple interface styles.

Interface display configuration files contain two kinds of sections. The interface display configuration files for all SiteSearch versions contain gadget specifications. Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.0, interface display configuration files also contain data wrapper specifications. Each section contains one or more variables. (See Interface Display Configuration File Example for an example of an interface display configuration file.)

Modifying the way that you display records by changing or adding a gadget specification or a data wrapper specification is part of the process of customizing the WebZ interface.

Location of Interface Display Configuration Files

Interface display configuration files reside in the <WebZ_root>/ini/interface directory. Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.0, WebZ interface display configuration files are located in subdirectories underneath this directory:

• /obiv1 for the OBI, version 1
  • frameDisplayGadgets.ini (interface display configuration file for a frames-based interface)
  • noframeDisplayGadgets.ini (interface display configuration file for a no-frames interface)
• /obiv0 for the OBI, version 0
  • DisplayGadgets.ini

For SiteSearch 4.0.x, the interface display file configuration file (DisplayGadgets.ini) is located in the <WebZ_root>/ini/interface directory.

Gadget Specifications

The gadget variable in every gadget specification refers to a class in the ORG.oclc.gadgets package. The gadget specifications in interface display configuration files all contain a fmt or fmtclass variable and often contain other variables as well.

The fmt or fmtclass variable refers to a variable in the [Formats] section of a database configuration file. In the database configuration file, a fmt variable refers to a formatting configuration file used for rules-based formatting (beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.0); a fmtclass variable refers to a formatting class (for SiteSearch 4.0.x, but you can still use formatting classes in SiteSearch 4.1.x).

If the gadget specification has a fmt variable, it often has a dataWrapper variable as well. If present, other additional variables provide additional input to the gadget referenced in the gadget specification.

See Display Formatting Configuration File Flow for a diagram that shows the relationships among gadget specifications, data wrapper specifications, database configuration files, and formatting configuration files.

Several gadget specifications may refer to the same class, such as ORG.oclc.gadgets.FormatRecords or ORG.oclc.gadgets.FormatRecordsWithDuplicates. These classes can format multiple record types. The other variables in the gadget specification, particularly the fmt or fmtclass variable, provide the class with the information it needs to format a particular record type.

Click here for information about the syntax of a gadget specification as it pertains to the rules-based formatting introduced in SiteSearch 4.1.0.

Data Wrapper Specifications

Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.0, the dataWrapper variable in a gadget specification refers to a data wrapper specification, the other section type in an interface display configuration file. A data wrapper specification contains HTML and/or text that surrounds an element of the display, such as the HTML that appears before the start of the data in a record. Data wrapper specifications often include a number of variables. The formatting configuration file that contains the formatting rules for a particular format, such as the brief or full display, refers to the appropriate data wrapper variable.

Specific Sections in Interface Display Configuration Files

See Interface Display Configuration Files - Sections and Variables.

Use of Interface Display Configuration Files in the WebZ Interface

Interface Display Configuration Files and the JaSSI

The [InterfaceDisplayGadgets] section of the JaSSIServer.ini configuration file specifies the interface display configuration file associated with each interface style used in the WebZ interface. For example, the JaSSIServer.ini configuration file delivered with SiteSearch 4.1.x versions contains interface display configuration file references for the default, noframe, and rss styles in the WebZ Out-of-the-Box Interface (OBI), version 1.

At system startup or whenever a new JaSSI starts, one of the JaSSI initialization classes, ORG.oclc.gadgets.GadgetAndStyleLoader loads all the information from each interface display configuration file into a StyleTable object for storing display gadgets data (FmtDisplay).

Format Display Entities

To refer to one of the sections of the FmtDisplay StyleTable object, HTML pages or Java classes use this syntax:

&FmtDisplay.[section].gadget

where [section] refers to a gadget specification from the relevant interface display configuration file.

When the JaSSI performs entity substitution during page processing, the syntax of the format display entity indicates where to look in the FmtDisplay StyleTable object to find the gadget class to execute and the parameters it should pass to this class.

Format Display Entity in a Java Class

The briefscreen class (ORG.oclc.obi.briefscreen) in the OBI, version 1, which the brief.html page calls via a JavaPage tag, contains two entity references in this section of code:

//Set up the correct gadget to the record display
 if (format != null && format.equals("F"))
   user.put("BriefResultsGadget","&FmtDisplay.MultiFullResultsRecord.gadget;");
  else
   user.put("BriefResultsGadget","&FmtDisplay.ResultsRecord.gadget;");

The second reference (in bold blue text) refers to the [ResultsRecord] section of the relevant interface display configuration file, which formats records in a brief display format.

Format Display Entity in an HTML Page

In the OBI, version 1, the <WebZ_root>/htdocs/obiv1/html/full.html file contains the entity reference shown in bold blue text:

<hr>
<table>
  &FmtDisplay.FullRecord.gadget;
</table>
<hr>            

This reference refers to the [FullRecord] section of the relevant interface display configuration file. See Display Configuration File Flow to see the [FullRecord] section of frameDisplayGadgets.ini in the OBI, version 1 and the roles that a gadget specification, a format reference in a database configuration file, formatting configuration files, and a data wrapper specification play in formatting records using rules-based formatting.

See Also

Interface Display Configuration Files - Sections and Variables
Interface Display Configuration File Example
Interface Style Configuration Files
Display Formatting Configuration Files
Rules-Based Formatting Process Overview