About presentation media

The framework supports four primary target media.

  • Workbench — the stack must be available to take full advantage of the presentation architecture. The desktop version of Workbench provides a stand alone application that can render presentations with their full power. With the WbProfile feature, new custom applications can easily be built using Workbench and its presentation engine.

  • Web Launcher — a Java-based web client application, which provides an applet-like Workbench environment running in an application window completely outside of a web browser.

    When the Web Launcher application creates a Workbench view, that view is not contained within a web page. The view has no direct relationship to HTML elements in a web page, and the HTML does not know about the view. The view is not displayed as part of the layout of a page. This means that certain things that might have been possible with an applet in a browser do not work in Web Launcher. An applet contained within an HTML frame, for instance, cannot be supported in Web Launcher.

  • PDF — Adobe's PDF (Portable Document Format) is the standard way to export a presentation for printing. PDF provides explicit control for how a presentation is rendered on paper in various sizes. It is also a convenient file format for access via HTTP or email. The presentation architecture includes an engine for generating PDF files from Px files.

  • HTML5 — provides enhanced capabilities for users and developers. A set of open web technologies (HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript) provide a modern web interface using common standards. HTML5 views offer interactive functionality, makes it possible to edit properties and invoke commands right in the view. Other HTML5 functionality includes context sensitive menus and the ability to add data to views dynamically. For the designer/developer, consistent rendering across media means you can develop a view once and it renders in both Workbench and Hx interfaces. The bajaux HTML5 widgets included by default provide interactive charting and dashboarding functionality. The bajaux widgets also integrate into the environment. For example, commands defined for a WebWidget render as added icons in the Workbench tool bar or in a modern HTML5-capable web browser.

Refer to the Niagara Graphics Guide for information about presentation media technologies.

Figure 1. Presentation media options