Customization

GBC customizations allow you to determine how the application displays at runtime.

IMPORTANT: Some interface changes can be made using Genero presentation styles. Where possible, it is recommended that you use these presentation styles instead of GBC customizations. For information about presentation styles, see the Genero Business Development Language User Guide.

Customizations are comprised of themes and theme parts, as described in How customization works.

NOTE: For information about how customizations and themes are selected at runtime, see Selecting customizations and themes.

Before you develop your customizations, you need to set up the working environment; see Set up your GBC build environment. You can then set up your customization project; see Create a customization project.

Use themes to change the look-and-feel of your application; see Manage themes.

You can customize your UI by a number of methods. From simplest to most complex:

  1. For a few specific needs, you can simply replace an existing file. For example, to update the favicon image, you overwrite the current gbc_logo.ico file. See Replace an image.
  2. You can update the UI by setting theme variables. For example, you can use theme variables to display or hide the sidebar. See Use theme variables.
  3. You may need to edit a style sheet. For example, you can edit a style sheet to display a loading icon in the center of the screen. See Use style sheets.
  4. You may need to edit a widget. For example, you edit a header widget to modify the application header. See Use widgets.

IMPORTANT: Use the simplest method possible. If you can complete the customization requirement by setting a theme variable or by editing a widget, then set the theme variable! Editing a widget should be a last resort.

After you have completed your customization, you must compile and deploy it; see Rebuild the GBC.

GBC applications can be translated and modified for international markets; see Internationalize your app.

For information about moving your customizations to a new version of GBC, see Migrating customizations.