Initializing help system before first use

# Adding a Custom User Interface

This introductory guide demonstrates in more depth how to use the View Designer to create a user interface. It builds upon the example created in the Getting Started Chapter. The source file is also available in the examples folder in your Xpress installation directory.
Covered Topics

- Creating the Layout for the New View
  Perform the following steps to begin creating the user interface.
- Soft Validation in the View Designer
  The View Designer does not allow poorly structured views to be created and highlights errors in existing .vdl files.
- Display an array in a table
  The source file included in the demo folder imports a data file that contains a set of share categories and allocates an estimated return on investment for each.
- Display Result Entities in the User Interface
  The View Designer features components that make it easy to access bulk model data.
- Using a Form to Change Parameters
  The source file set the parameters that controlled the maximum investment that could be assigned per share and the maximum investment made into high-risk values.
- Adding Text Elements to the View
  A Text component is used to insert text into any element that supports it.
- Using Expressions to Update Text Elements
  Expressions are statements used in place of fixed values for some element attributes. They are evaluated when the view is loaded, and then again should any data entities they reference change.
- Adding Formatted Lists
  As previously mentioned, expressions can be used to provide dynamic text content.
- Charts in views
  Charts can be embedded within conventional views using the Chart component or the vdl-chart tag . Chart data can originate as static, scripted data, or it can be retrieved from model entities.
- Controlling Element Visibility Based on Results
  If a user opens the app as it exists currently, the input data and un-calculated result values will be displayed by default.

Parent Topic View Designer Overview

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