To open a palette

You can open one or more palettes in the palette side bar. Refer to To open the palette side bar for details on how to open the palette side bar.

To open a new palette in the palette side bar, follow these steps:

1. On the palette toolbar click the open palette button.

   The Open Palette dialog box appears.

2. In the Open Palette dialog box select one or more palettes from the list, as desired. The text field at the top of the dialog box allows you to filter the displayed palettes by typing in the name of the desired palette. Also, you can use the Browse button to locate palettes in alternate locations.

   Hold down the Ctrl or Shift key to make multiple selections.

3. Click OK.

   The palette(s) opens in the palette side bar pane.

To close a palette

You can close any of the palettes that are open in the palette side bar. When you close all the palettes, the palette side bar closes.

To close a palette, follow these steps:

1. From the Drop-down palette selector, choose the palette that you want to close.

   The selected palette displays in the side bar pane.

2. Click the Close palette button.

   The palette closes.

To create a palette

Palettes allow you to save copies of your work for future use. Palette files may reside under a station file system or as part of a module. This procedure describes how to create a palette that resides in a station file system. Refer to Working with modules for information about creating a palette file that is part of a module (jar file).

For convenience and good organization, it is a good idea to create a “palette” folder on the file system to hold all your custom palette files.

To create a palette, follow these steps:

1. In the nav tree, right-click on (or under) the station file system node, in the desired location (see note, above).

   The popup menu appears.

2. From the popup menu, select New->PaletteFile.palette.

   The File Name dialog box appears with a default name.

3. In the File Name dialog box, type the desired name for the new Palette file and click OK.

   The File Name dialog box disappears and the new Palette file appears in the nav tree.

To add a new component to a palette (PaletteFile.palette)

You can add a new component to any of your own custom palettes, store the palette files on your file system and view them in your palette side bar. The palette files must reside on the file system, not in the station database. However, the components that you add to your palette file may reside in the station database.

For convenience and good organization, it is a good idea to create a “palette” folder on the file system to hold all your custom palette files.

To add a new component to a palette using the wire sheet view, follow these steps:

To add a new component using a view other than the wire sheet view, refer to the information in Working with components.

1. In the nav tree, double-click on the palette file that you want to open.

   The default (Wire Sheet) view appears.

2. Add a component to the wire sheet view using one of the following methods.

   • Right click on the wire sheet view and select a new component from the New menu.

   • Drag and drop a component from the nav side bar directly onto the wire sheet.

3. Select File->SaveBog from the main menu.

   The palette file is updated to contain the new component.

   If the updated palette is currently being viewed in the palette side bar, you must close and reopen the palette after saving the station (SaveBog).

To add a new component to a palette (module.palette)

You can add new components to any of your palettes that have module.palette files associated with them. A single module.palette file may be associated with each module that is stored in the modules directory. You change a module.palette file by first making the desired changes to a module.palette file that resides in a module “build” directory under your file system and then using the build process to recreate the module that includes the changed palette file.

To add a new component to a palette (module.palette file), follow these steps:

1. Double click on the desired module.palette file. It should be located in a module directory on your station file system.

   The default (Wire Sheet) view appears.

2. Add a component to the wire sheet view using one of the following methods:

   • Right click on the wire sheet view and select a new component from the New menu.

   • Drag and drop a component or container from the nav side bar directly onto the wire sheet.

3. Select File->SaveBog from the main menu.

4. From the console command line (press F3 to open console window) navigate to the working directory and type the build command followed by a space and then the name of the module folder. For example:

   C:\Niagara\Niagara-3.x.xx\workingDirectory> build moduleName

   Press the Return key to initiate the build process. If the build is successful, the updated jar file is built and overwrites the old jar file located in the modules folder. If the build is not successful, no jar file is built and error messages are generated to help you troubleshoot the problem.

5. Refer to To create a new (.jar) module for more detailed instructions about creating a module.

To copy a component to a palette

You can copy components to any of your own custom palettes, store the palette files on your file system and view them in your palette side bar. The nav files must reside on the file system, not in the station database. However, the components that you add to your palette file may reside in the station database. The components that you add to your palette are copies and not connected to the original components that you are copying.

For convenience and good organization, it is a good idea to create a “palette” folder on the file system to hold all your custom palette files.

To copy a component to a palette, using the Wire Sheet view, follow these steps:

1. In the nav tree, double-click on the file palette file that you want to open.

   The default (Wire Sheet) view appears.

2. From the nav side bar, palette side bar, or other source, drag and drop the desire component to the wire sheet.

   The copied component is added to the palette file.

3. Select File->SaveBog from the main menu.

   The palette file is updated to contain the new component.

   If the updated palette is currently being viewed in the palette side bar, you must close and reopen the palette in the palette side bar in order to see the new items.

To add a side bar preview using the compPreviewWidget property

Palette previews display in the palette when components have images configured either as the default image property or as the image assigned to the comPreviewWidget property. If no preview is associated with a component, in AX-3.5 and later, you can add a compPreviewWidget property to a widget in order to display an image in the preview pane of the palette side bar.

To add a palette preview image to a component, do the following:

1. Right-click the desired component in the palette side bar and select ViewsSlot Sheet from the popup menu. The Slot Sheet view displays.

2. In the slot sheet view, right-click in an empty area of the view and select Add Slot from the popup menu. The Add Slot dialog box displays.

3. In the Add Slot dialog box, enter the following information:

   • Name

     Type compPreviewWidget in this text field.

   • Type

     Select bajaui and Label from the two option lists respectively.

4. Click the OK button. The compPreviewWidget slot is added to the component.

5. Right-click the desired component in the palette side bar and select ViewsProperty Sheet from the popup menu. The Property Sheet view displays.

6. In the property sheet view, edit properties under the comPreviewWidget to add text and an image, as desired and click the Save button.

7. Click the OK button. The preview is configured and should appear in the preview pane the next time you select the component in the palette side bar.

8. Right-click the desired component in the palette side bar and select ViewsSlot Sheet from the popup menu. The Slot Sheet view displays.

9. In the Slot Sheet view, right-click on the compPreviewWidget slot and select Config Flags from the popup menu. The Config Flags dialog box displays.

10. In the Config Flags dialog box, select the Hidden and Remove on Clone options and click the OK button. The preview is now configured and should display in the preview pane the next time you select the component in the palette side bar.