Use the Component styles tab to define the presentation of components by creating custom style formats. After you define style formats, reference them on property panes for sections, harnesses, and controls.

Before you create a custom style format

If your application has many style formats of the same type, such as inline or stacked formats, and these formats vary only slightly, you might benefit from using CSS helper classes instead of creating custom style formats. Applying a CSS helper class to a layout or cell saves development time, reduces maintenance work (by limiting the number of customized skin formats), and improves the consistency of your application's look and feel. By avoiding the introduction of unnecessary static content, you also improve your application's initial loading time. For more information, see CSShelper classes.

Style formats

You can define style formats for the following components:

• General components styles

  Learn about the presentation of general components in custom style formats.

• Component styles for layouts

  Learn about the presentation of layouts in custom style formats.

• Component styles for controls

  Learn about the presentation of controls in custom style formats.

• Component styles for reports

  Learn about the presentation of reports in custom style formats.

• Skin rules

  Use the skin to specify the presentation of your content. You can style all presentation elements of your interface in the skin, including typography, borders, backgrounds, layouts, and UI placement and alignment. By defining presentation attributes in the skin, you separate the content that is defined in sections and harnesses from its presentati

• Creating a skin

  Create a skin to specify the presentation aspects of your application.

• Accessing a skin

  Skin rules are part of the User Inteface category. A skin rule is an instance of the Rule-PortalSkin Rule- classes Rule-PortalSkin rule type.

• Specifying a skin for your application

  The best practice is to associate a single skin with your application.

• Upgrading a pre-7.1 skin

  You can upgrade a pre-7.1 skin.