Bar Interface Library
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The UI library implements a generic sidebar interface, managing placement of controls and displaying the tooltip grande. The CB client uses the sidebar interface to display an individual’s view of the current model.
The basic units of the sidebar UI are Sections, Groups, Items and the Tooltip Grande. These are organised hierarchically; Sections contain Groups, which in turn contain Items. The library shows the Tooltip Grande when the user moves the mouse cursor over elements in the bar. The picture shows an example of the sidebar UI without the Community Bar content. Within each of the two Sections shown in the figure there are two Groups, each of which display a number of items. The Tooltip Grande is displaying the complete hierarchy information about “Item 2”, in this case that it is part of “Group 2” which is then within “Section 2”.
The CB client makes use of this structure to display the elements of the client owner’s view. CB only creates one Section, headed “Places” in the CB client interface. Each of the owner’s subscribed places, along with all the media items within them, are displayed as sidebar Group elements. The sidebar Items are spaces for the media items to display their local tile view. The Tooltip Grande display area is used to display the media items’ transient views.
Commands from the user take five forms: creating and deleting places; subscribing and unsubscribing from places; creating and deleting media items; adjusting focus on media items; and, interaction with media items. The first three are passed on to the data model library, which then updates the server model data to reflect the command. Focus adjustments result in the client telling the media item of the change in available display space and asking for a new view. As for the last, the individual media items handle their own internal interactions.
- AppBar
- Basic sidebar and tooltip functionality. Makes a sidebar that reserves space, attaches to the any of the four edges of the display and can contain controls. Any application using AppBar directly should have classes inheriting from AppBars.AppBar
- MainBar
- (Inherits from AppBar) Restricts the sidebar to the right or left sides of the screen. Can contain Sections.
- Section
- UserControl that has a title and contains Groups. Manages the automatic shrinking of Items when the bar runs out of space, and expanding Items when some of that space is made available again. Sections can be collapsed and expanded. Section is intended to be inherited.
- Group
- Item
- TooltipGrande
- TooltipView