Where can I modify user interface?

Build 1501 on 14/Nov/2017  This topic last edited on: 21/Mar/2016, at 18:34

You can modify GN4 user interface in two ways:

A.By locating, in the file system, the appropriate XML file, and then opening it in a XML editor of your choice, modifying, saving back to disk and reimporting to database.

B.By locating, in the database, by means of the EdAdmin4 application, the XML code, editing it in EdAdmin4, and saving it to database.

In both cases, you need to edit the XML content.

Click to toggle expandMore about above methods

The advantage of the B (EdAdmin4) method is that it requires less steps. The downside is that the XML editor in EdAdmin4 is indeed a very basic plain text editor that does not help you neither in checking syntax, nor in outlining, indenting and so on. Even the smallest change can represent a hard task, as no Find feature or Go To line is available there.

Thus, the recommended method is A. Its downside is that it requires more steps, and moreover, you need to maintain the configuration files on disk. On the other side, it's very simple to make backup of any file before modifying it, and step back to that backup in case that changes were not what you expected.
Click to toggle expandAbout XML editor

As XML editor you can use what you want. If you have Visual Studio Express installed on your workstation, then it can be a good choice. It has a good undo, syntax highlighter, basic syntax checker, outliner, an excellent find and replace functionality including wildcard and regexp searches, find in all files on disk etc. Moreover, you can automate re-import of files in the database. You may want to take a look at Using Visual Studio Express to edit xml files and Configuring tools in Visual Studio Express.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify menus?

You can modify menus (main drop-down and context menu) by editing the appropriate *.TABITEMS.XML file. See Finding a menu in the configuration for detailed instructions.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify keyboard shortcuts?

You can modify keyboard and mouse shortcuts by editing the appropriate *.TABITEMS.XML file. See Finding keyboard and mouse shortcuts in the configuration  for detailed instructions.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify a toolbar?

You can modify toolbars by editing the appropriate *.TABITEMS.XML file. See Finding toolbars in the configuration for detailed instructions.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify a directory style or sort order?

You can modify directory styles and sort orders by editing the appropriate *.CONFIG.XML file. See Finding directory styles in the configuration for detailed instructions.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify a search pane in navigator, a search dialog box or any other dialog box?

You can modify search panes and dialog boxes by editing the appropriate *.CONFIG.XML file. See Finding search panes in the configuration files, Finding search dialog boxes in the configuration filesfor detailed instructions.
Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify preview pane?

You can modify search panes and dialog boxes by editing the appropriate *.CONFIG.XML file.

Click to toggle expandWhere do I modify main and navigator tabs?

You can modify toolbars by editing the appropriate *.TABITEMS.XML file.

You can modify the GN4 user interface by locating, in the file system, the appropriate XML file, and then opening it in a XML editor of your choice, modifying, saving back to disk and reimporting to database. As XML editor you can use what you want. If you have Visual Studio Express installed on your workstation, then it can be a good choice. It has a good undo, syntax highlighter, basic syntax checker, outliner, an excellent find and replace functionality including wildcard and regexp searches, find in all files on disk etc. Moreover, you can automate re-import of files in the database.

About XML editing

You may want to learn a bit about XML structure, do's and don'ts and similar. Take a look on http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Editing_XML_tutorial _offsite-ico.

Custom VB dialog boxes

GN4 add-ins contain some custom dialog boxes (Extra tab on the Preferences dialogs, Ads import dialog on the Edition main tab), created in Visual Studio Express. You need to use Visual Studio Express to modify such dialog boxes.