Work with application templates

You can develop your own application template from a Standalone application. Developing an application template is a three-step process.

1. Create an application and set appropriate windows in the application to template windows.

2. Create an application thumbnail for preview in the Application Template Browser.

3. Export the application as an .aaPKG file to make it available as a template in the Browser.

Set application windows as template windows

4. Create an application.

   1. Develop your application using graphics, scripts and windows.

5. Do the following for all windows in the application:

   1. Right-click each window and select Properties.

   2. In the Window Properties panel, select the Template checkbox.

      

      Upon selecting OK, each window is automatically placed in the Template Windows folder in the Windows pane.

You must now create and assign a thumbnail to the application you want to make into a template.

Create and assign an application thumbnail

6. Using any screen capture program, take a screen capture of your application at either configuration or run time.

7. Save the image to any picture file format, such as a .bmp or .png file, and copy it to your application folder.

8. From your application folder, open the INTOUCH.INI file with a standard text editor such as Notepad.

9. Edit the INTOUCH.INI file to include the file name of the image in the ApplicationThumbnail field.

   Note: The ApplicationThumbnail field is case sensitive and must exactly match the name and extension of the thumbnail image.

   

10. Save your changes and close.

The application must now be exported as a .aaPKG file that will populate in the Application Template Browser.

Export application and create template

11. In the Application Manager, export your application to create an .aaPKG file.

    For details on how to export an Application, see Export InTouch applications to use as a template.

12. Copy the exported .aaPKG file into the following directory:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Wonderware\InTouch\ApplicationTemplates

    Your application is now available as a template in the Application Template Browser.

Note: The application template thumbnail you created in the previous procedure is extracted from the exported .aaPKG file. If your application template appears in the Application Template Browser with a blank thumbnail, a valid image could not be extracted. Be sure a valid image file format was used to save the thumbnail and the exact filename is entered into the ITOUCH.INI.