Customizing profiles
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View Profile Entry Value and Inheritance
Previewing the Effects of Profiling on a Model
Related Topics ...
When you manage a profile, we can customize it by manipulating values for entries you have included in a profile set. Entry values can be changed in either of two areas in the Designer:
- Manage Profiles editor (described in this page)
- Profile Input dialog
Working in the Manage Profiles editor, we can inspect a profile to see entry values as well as their edit state (locked or not) and their place in the inheritance hierarchy. You can also discern the value of any entry, as well as get the big picture on the overall level of customization of the profile.
Manage Profiles Editor
You access the Manage Profiles editor by opening a profile set in the Designer and clicking the Manage Profiles tab. The Manage Profiles editor has two major components:
- Profile Data Table — The upper component is a row-and-column table that shows all the profiles in the profile set and the individual entries they contain.
- Profile Entry Editing Area — The lower component is a workspace in which we can configure individual profile entries. Each entry has its own editor with which you set the state and value of that profile entry.
By working with these components we can create a highly customized set of profiles that meet the needs of each user-community accessing your Web application.
Profile Data Table
The Profile Data table gives you an overview of the overall state of a profile. Once you grasp the big picture by examining the profile at a high level, we can click on the table cells to learn the specifics about a given entry in a profile. The table displays individual profiles as rows. Columns in the table represent individual entries within this profile set. Profile entry names are listed across the top of the table.
The left-most column of the table lists all the profiles in the profile set. Indentation is used to represent profile hierarchy. Child profiles are indented under their parent profile. We can expand or collapse the profile hierarchy display. A table cell at the intersection of a row and column represents a profile entry (column) in a specific profile (row). We can view the content of a table cell by clicking on it. This content is the value of the profile entry.
The appearance of a cell is an indicator of the state of the entry the cell represents. A key to the symbols used in cells appears at the top of the Profile Data table. A profile entry can have one of four possible states:
Custom Value — The value of the entry in the cell is set at cell's level.
Locking Point — Cell value is set at that cell's level and locked. The value of this entry cannot be changed in any children of this profile.
Read Only — Entry value is set and locked in a parent profile. The value cannot be changed at this cell's level. Cell highlighting indicates the chain of inheritance.
Inherited Value — The value of the cell (entry) is inherited from entry in a parent profile. Cell appears empty, hover text indicates cell inherited value and status.
View Profile Entry Value and Inheritance
To see the value of a profile entry, click on the cell representing the entry. A box in the Profile Entry Editing Area displays cell content. Content represents the value of the profile entry, and this value can be a text string, a file path, a URL, or even a UI element such as a check box or radio button list.
Edit a Profile Entry
You edit the values for profile entries in the Profile Entry Work Area. Click on an entry cell in the Profile Data table to access the editor for that entry. Each cell has its own instance editor, and you use an instance editor to work with the value represented by the cell.
Each Profile Entry Instance Editor displays:
- the name of the profile entry.
- the prompt for the entry.
- the current value of the entry. A value might be a text string (button label), an input control (check box), the path to an image file (company logo) or anything else that is required by a particular builder input.
Tip - We can display multiple editors (both Entry Instance and Profile Properties) if you CTRL+Click or Shift+Click on profile names and profile entry cells. CTRL+Click selects and opens each selected profile, and Shift+Click opens the entire range of selected profiles. We can have as many editors open as you like. Use the scroll bars to view all open editors.
An instance editor header also contains several controls represented by the following symbols:
- Locked — This control allows you to lock the cell value. A cell must be customized in order to be locked. Once a cell value is locked, any profiles that inherit the profile entry must use the locked value. Changes in value down the inheritance chain from this cell are not possible. (Note that a cell containing an inherited value cannot be locked.)
- Revert — This control allows you to revert this cell's value to that of the parent profile.
- Text — This button launches an editor that lets you change the value of a TextArea entry.
The Locked and Revert controls are grayed-out when they do not apply to a particular cell value, and the Text button is not displayed if the entry is not a TextArea UI type.
If you are creating profiles to be used as "end user" profiles to be used for execution time personalization, disable the "Is Container" folder just to the right of the Name input.
Showing Selected Profile Entries
To simplify the display of profile entries in the Profile Data Table, we can choose to display only selected entries. Use the button atop the Manage Profile page to activate this feature. The "Show only selected entries" button will toggle the display between all entries and selected entries.
Create and Delete Profiles
We can create an entirely new profile from within the Manage Profiles view. Icons that represent the following functions are displayed at the top of the Profile Data table.
New Profile — Provides access to the New Profile dialog. Use this tool to create a new profile. When completed, the profile will be displayed on a new row within the Profile Data table.
Edit Profile — Provides access to the Edit Profile dialog. Use this tool to change the name and/or other attributes of an existing profile.
Delete Profile — Clicking this icon deletes the selected profiles from the Profile Data table. A deleted profile can be recovered using the undo function.
For details on creating and editing profiles, see Creating Profiles.
Previewing the Effects of Profiling on a Model
After you have profiled the builder call inputs, we can use the Applied Profiles view to preview the effects of the profiles on the profiled inputs.