Manually Creating Custom Components

Create a server configuration, but do not start the server. If adding custom components to an existing server configuration, stop the server.

You can create custom components using the XML file located in the server directory you created or from the SDK. This procedure below discusses the XML file method. For instructions on how to create custom components with the SDK, refer to the SDK documentation.

  1. Create a server configuration or stop the existing server before adding custom components. During the server configuration creation, you designate a repository path. When the configuration is created, files are placed within that directory. The custom component XML file is located in the CustomComponents folder contained within the directory.
  2. Create the XML file in an editor such as Notepad.
  3. Save the XML file in the CustomComponents folder in your server configuration.
  4. Find the <component name=""> tag and type the component name between the quotes. The Component Name can be no more than 20 characters and consist of ASCII A-Z and a-z and numeric 0-9 characters. Additionally, the Component Name must be unique for the server configuration.
  5. Find the <ClassDisplayName default =" "> tag and type the component name between the quotes. The Class Display Name can be no more than 20 characters and consist of ASCII A-Z and a-z and numeric 0-9 characters. Additionally, it must be unique for the server configuration.
  6. Type a default language for the Class Display Name. Additional language translations are options and will appear as <translation language = "fr-FR">Exigence de hardware</translation>, for example.
  7. Find the <ComponentType></ComponentType> tags and type 0 or 1 between the tags to define the component type.
    • 0 - Tree component includes the following system properties:
      "ID"								  
      "CreatedTime"
      "CreatedUserID"
      "DeletedTime"
      "DeletedUserID"
      "ModifiedTime"
      "ModifiedUserID"
      "EndModifiedTime"
      "RevisionNumber"
      "RevisionFlags"
      "ShortComment"
      "CommentID"
      "ParentID" -  system property, type is eLong
    • 1 - Branchable component includes the following system properties:
      "ID"								  
      "CreatedTime"
      "CreatedUserID"
      "DeletedTime"
      "DeletedUserID"
      "ModifiedTime"
      "ModifiedUserID"
      "EndModifiedTime"
      "RevisionNumber"
      "RevisionFlags"
      "ShortComment"
      "CommentID"
      "RootObjectID"
      "ParentObjectID"
      ParentRevision"
      "PathRevision"
      "ViewID"
      "DotNotation"
    The following properties are created for all components:
    Attachment Service Properties
     "Attachment count" -  system property, type is eLong
     "AttachmentIDs" -  system property, type is IDArray
     "Attachment names" - server calculated property, type is text
    Notification Service
     "Notification count" - system property, type is Long
     "NotificationIDs" - system property, type is IDArray
     "ReadStatusUserList" - server calculated property, type is IDArray
    Bookmark Service
     "FlagUserList"  - server calculated property, type is IDArray
    Component Object Identifier 
     ComponentName + "ID" - system property , type is eLong
  8. In between the <Properties></Properties> tags, define each property for the component. Create a name and type for each properties as well as values, order length, and such, depending on the property type. For example:
     <Properties>
    - <Property name="Name">
      <DisplayName default="Name"/> 
      <Type>8</Type> 
      <Length>250</Length> 
      </Property>
    - <Property name="AutoType">
      <DisplayName default="Automobile Type"/> 
      <Type>2</Type> 
      <DefaultValue>"100"</DefaultValue> 
      <Flags multiselect="false"/> 
    - <Enum code="100">
      <EnumName default="4 door"/> 
      <Indent>0</Indent> 
      <Order>1</Order> 
      <Flags selectable="true"/> 
      </Enum>
    - <Enum code="101">
      <EnumName default="2 door"/> 
      <Indent>0</Indent> 
      <Order>2</Order> 
      <Flags selectable="true"/> 
      </Enum>
      </Property>
    
    Tip: The property types are defined at the top of the XML file.
  9. Save your changes.
  10. Start the server. If there are any errors while parsing the XML file or while creating the custom components, locate the errors in the server log. The server starts without creating the new component.