Initializing help system before first use

Adding a Custom User Interface

You can create custom views using VDL, JavaScript and Tableau.

This introductory guide focuses on creating a custom user interface using two different methods, which includes using the View Designer. For more information about creating views using the JavaScript API, refer to the later section Using the JavaScript API to Create Custom Views.

The View Designer is a visual editor in Xpress Workbench which makes it easy to design and develop the views of Xpress Insight Apps. With View Designer, you can compose a view by dragging interface elements into a symbolic layout and configuring the behavior of those elements with wizards.

View Designer generates the underlying VDL (View Definition Language, an extension of HTML) code. The symbolic layout represents the structure of the final VDL file and does not behave as a WYSIWYG editor. For advanced tasks you can switch between the View Designer and Code editor to work directly with the underlying markup. Your view can be quickly and easily previewed in Insight.

The following sections provide a tutorial that creates a custom user interface using the graphical user interface provided by the View Designer, and introduces the code editor.

Covered Topics
  • View Designer Overview
    The View Designer is the default editor for a file with a .vdl extension when Xpress Workbench is initially installed—This setting can be changed in the project preferences.
Parent Topic Building a Basic Xpress Insight App