Creating sections

Use sections to build a modular user interface that promotes reusability and design consistency. By populating your sections with content, you can create a functional chunk of interface that has a specific purpose, and can be used in many contexts.

When you create a section, you can use a design template to define layouts and regions to which you add user interface elements and controls. Each design template contains one or more regions, which are marked with names or with capital letters.

  1. In the header of Dev Studio, click Create > User Interface > Section.
  2. On the Create Section tab, specify the label, context, class, and ruleset for the section, and then click Create and open.
  3. On the Design tab, click the Change template icon.
  4. In the Select a template window, select the template for the new section.
  5. Optional: To customize a region, next to the region name, click the Edit region icon, and then change the default settings:
    1. In the Region properties window, select the Override default region settings check box.
    2. To include a header for the region, in the Title field, select the type of header that you want to use, and then define text and formatting for the header.
    3. To format the region, for example as a warning message, in the Container format field, select the format type and reference.
    4. To add an icon to the header, select the Include icon with title check box, and then select an icon from the catalog by clicking Show Image Viewer.
    5. To add a style to the region, such as a border, in the Styles line, select a style from the catalog by clicking the Open class editor icon.
    6. To prevent the region from being displayed when empty, select the Hide region when empty check box.
    7. Click Submit.
  6. Click Save.