Code On Time: Features

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Features

Friday, March 5, 2021Print Subscribe

Universal Input is the major technological advantage of apps based on Touch UI. The forms do not contain the physical HTML input elements. The values are rendered as text, which is perfect for reading. If the user clicks on the value, then the framework will create a native HTML text input control and place it over the value. It may also open a built-in virtual keyboard to make it easier to type on mobile devices.

This approach makes the forms look natural since the values are not embedded in the restrictive text boxes and flow naturally on the page. It also improves performance making possible responsive data-driven surveys with hundreds of inputs.

The active input control may have one of the three styles of focus that help the user to see the active input.

Underline

The default highlighting for input focus in Touch UI is the line going below the entire length of the field value. The line matches the color of the accent.

Outline Focus

The second alternative is to outline the entire value. The City name is outlined in the modal form in the screenshot.

You will need to change the configuration file ~/app/touch-settings.json as follows to replace the default “underline” style with the “outline”.

Minimalist Focus

There is also a minimalist variation of the focus for a clean uncluttered look. The City name shows up as a selected text ready to be changed or replaced on focus in this screenshot. Set the style to “none” for a minimalist input focus.

Label Color Accent

You have another option to make the input focus more obvious if you prefer. Set up the label property of the focus to true in touch-settings.json.

The input label will get a touch of accent color when the focus is acquired.

Initial Text Selection

The framework makes another important configuration of the input on focus. It will either select the entire text value or place the cursor of the text input control at the end of the value. The former is done when the end user is operating the app with the mouse pointer and the latter is taking on touch screens.

You can override the default behavior like this:

This will result in the direct opposite of the default configuration with the cursor placed right after the last word of the Contact Title in the screenshot:

Labels: Features, Rapid Application Development, Touch UI

Thursday, March 4, 2021Print Subscribe

Light or Dark? Automatic Theme Detection.

If you had a pleasure of setting up a new device recently, then you might remember the challenge of choosing between the Light and Dark themes for the user interface. The modern operating systems also have an optional automatic transition between the two based on the time of the day.

Touch UI does have two major theme variations called Light and Dark with multiple accents that make possible bringing a splash of color to each theme. Your app will automatically detect the theme of the device and switch the theme for you.

Here is an example of iPad Mini with the online app in Dark theme.

The color accent of the app will not change when the switch of the theme occurs. If you have designed your own brand accent or prefer a particular standard accent, then your customization choice will remain in place.

If you are a Windows user willing to experiment with the automatic theme detection, then search for Theme in the Start menu, load up your app in the browser and try switching the dark and light app modes in the Colors settings.

Choose the dark colors and observe the instant change from Light to Dark: The browsers will go “dark” and so is the app.

Flick the switch and bring the light back. The user interface of the operating system changes and so does the application built with Code On Time. The screen shot shows Chrome, Edge, and FireFox respond in exactly the same way.

Your application will also detect that the theme has changed when it loads up.

If you prefer to force the particular theme for the application, then disable the theme detection in ~/touch-settings.json like this:

The dark mode of the operating system will be ignored.

Our recommendation is to keep the theme detection in the enabled state. Light color on the dark display or the dark panels on the light background may cause an unintended distress to the end users of your app.

If you have designed your own “brand-name” accent, then make sure that it supports both themes of Touch UI or make the specific adjustments as we do in the configuration of the Vantage accent found at ~\app\css\themes\touch-accent.vantage.json:

Labels: Features, Touch UI

Friday, January 8, 2021Print Subscribe

Reading Pane

Touch UI provides the built-in option to display the details of the selected record side-by-side with the master list.

Popular email applications have proven this presentation style to be very effective. The end user can view the details of the selected message and has the quick access to the contents of the inbox.

The prototype of this presentation style has been a part of the framework for the past two years. Our team was able to bring it to the production state just now. The technical challenge was to provide a simultaneous access to the master and detail panes each holding a virtual page of the Touch UI application. A consistent styling has also been worked out.

The reading pane detail is empty by default. The placeholder area is filled with the standard background image that can be changed in ~/touch-settings.json through the ui.readingPane.background parameter. Set the option to false to disable the image or specify your own alternative (for example, ~/images/app-bkg.jpg).

The modal form fills this area when a selection is made in the master list or a new item is created. Both master and detail panes can be scrolled and are fully interactive. The familiar form buttons are migrated to the top of the detail pane and have icons to complement the toolbar of the master pane.

Set the option ui.actions.form.icons to true to enable action icons in all forms of the app. By default, only the form buttons in the reading pane are rendered with icons.

If the reading pane is not enabled then the familiar modal presentation will take place when the user is interacting with the master list.

Any forms activated from the detail pane are displayed on the top of the reading pane.

The option to enable the reading pane is available to the end user through the view selector if the screen size is that of a typical tablet. Developers can also tag the data view on the page as reading-pane-auto to activate the reading pane by default. The option and the mode are not activated if the screen is small.

Touch UI allows specifying the default minimal size of the reading pane master and detail in ~/touch-settings.json through the options ui.readingPane.minLeft, ui.readingPane.minRight, ui.readingPane.minTop, and ui.readingPane.minBottom. The default value for these options is 375 measured in pixels.

The device with the vertical orientation will display the reading pane detail at the bottom of the screen.

The master pane displays all supported presentation styles.

Hover over or touch the middle divider and drag it to the desired position to change the panes.

The responsive Touch UI will present the data in the best way possible within the available space of master and detail panes.

The reading pane mode enhances the productivity of the end users and requires zero effort on the part of the developer. If for any reason this mode is not desirable, then disable it with ui.readingPane.enabled option in ~/touch-settings.json. The reading pane mode is available only on the pages with a single master dataview.

Labels: Features, Touch UI, User Interface