Build a Widget Properties Editor in iOS

When you build a custom widget to use in a mobile application, you can also build a properties editor that allows you to add, modify, or delete properties for the widget. These properties are set individually for each report or document in MicroStrategy Web and saved in the metadata when the report or document is saved. They are then available to the custom widget in the mobile application.

The custom widget properties editor is created as a plug-in in Eclipse. It is identified by a custom style that you register with MicroStrategy Web. This style requires a transform and a layout definition file. The transform, together with the layout definition file, provides the code to display the controls in the editor for each property, populate the controls with a value for each property, and save the resulting property-value pairs to the metadata for each specific report or document to which the widget is applied.  

• You can use the default transform for a widget properties editor, VisualizationPropertiesTransform, or you can create a custom transform that extends VisualizationPropertiesTransform. The default transform provides code that a layout definition file can use to render a widget properties editor. Transforms are discussed in detail in the Web SDK section of the MSDL under Customizing MicroStrategy Web -> Part I: Fundamentals of Customization -> Data Presentation -> Transforms.

• You must create the custom layout definition file for a custom properties editor. The custom layout definition file is responsible for the presentation of the properties editor, using its own code and the logic included in the transform’s Java code. Layout definition files are discussed in detail in the Web SDK section of the MSDL under Customizing MicroStrategy Web -> Part I: Fundamentals of Customization -> Data Presentation -> Layout Definitions.

Once you have created the widget properties editor plug-in and deployed it to MicroStrategy Web, you can use it to set properties for the custom widget.

The topics in this section provide a detailed description of how to build and use a custom widget properties editor.

• Creating a Plug-in for a Widget Properties Editor 

• Adding a Properties Editor to a Custom Widget 

• Setting Properties for a Custom Widget

For code samples that illustrate how to build a custom widget properties editor, see the following topics:

• Example: Using the Default Transform and a Custom Layout Definition File 

• Example: Using a Custom Transform and a Custom Layout Definition File

For code snippets that illustrate how to read these widget properties, refer to Reading Widget Properties.