Structural components

The following elements govern the structure of forms, pages, and entire portals:

Design templates

Design templates are reusable sections with predefined elements that you can use to build your interface. You can apply design templates to sections to promote consistency, and to ensure that all sections are up-to-date when you alter the template. Design templates cover many user interface scenarios, and require minimal effort during upgrades.

For more information, see Design templates.

Layouts

Layouts form the structure of your interface by being containers for other components, such as fields and buttons. In Dev Studio, you can use layouts to build your own design templates and other custom UI elements. This solution offers more flexibility, but requires more maintenance and development effort during migration to Cosmos React UI.

For more information, see Layouts.

Presentational components

The following components govern the appearance and style of your interface:

Skins

Skins are rules that help you define the style of your interface and the presentation of your content. You can determine the typography, borders, backgrounds, placement, and appearance of UI elements. Skins separate content from its presentation, so that you can reuse your configurations and keep user interface design consistent throughout your application.

For more information, see Skins.

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) helper classes

CSS helper classes are predefined classes that help you make minor changes in the format of layouts. For example, you can change the borders, margins, or padding.

For more information, see CSS helper classes.

Behavioral components (Action sets)

Action sets can help you create a dynamic UI in which certain elements appear only under certain conditions. For example, when the user selects their marital status as married, a new section is displayed that collects information about the partner. Action sets consist of the following elements:

Event

User activity that triggers actions. For example, selecting a check box.

Action

System response to an event. For example, displaying a new section.

Conditions (optional)

Restrictions that apply to combinations of events and actions. For example, hovering over a field and displaying a message if the field is empty.

For more information, see Using business logic to drive user experience.

Actionable elements (Controls)

Controls introduce interaction to your interface with such elements as buttons, links, and fields, through which users initiate certain events, such as displaying a screen, saving their work, or advancing a work item.

For more information, see Controls.

Accessibility

UI components in Pega Platform support assistive technologies for a more inclusive approach to users with disabilities. Accessibility features take advantage of ARIA roles that provide additional information about your application to assistive technologies such as screen readers.

For more information, see Building an accessible UI.

Localization

Localization helps you broaden your pool of application users by setting the product in an understandable context. You can also use a wizard to automate localization processes, for example, the preparation of translation packages.

For more information, see Localizing your application.