Associate External Content to a ViewApp

After you configure an External Content item, you must place it onto a pane of a layout incorporated into a ViewApp. You can place an External Content item into a pane from either the Layout or ViewApp editors. External Content items are listed in the Toolbox or Assets tabs of either editor.

Note: You cannot select an External Content item from the Industrial Graphic Editor.

The External Content item must have been assigned a valid location for a document and a viewer application must be associated with the assigned document media type.

If you attempt to place an External Content item onto a pane that that does not have an assigned viewer application to display the media type, a warning message appears after placing the item onto a pane. The ViewApp will not show the document, although the ViewApp still continues to run during runtime.

To associate external content to a ViewApp

1. Open the System Platform IDE and select the Toolbox tab to see the list of layouts.

2. Select a layout that you want to insert external content in and open it in the Layout editor.

3. Select the Toolbox tab of the Layout editor to show the list of content accessible from the Galaxy.

4. Locate the External Content item to place in the layout.

5. External Content thumbnails appear beneath of the list of content shown in the Toolbox list.

6. Drag an External Content thumbnail from the Toolbox area onto the desired layout pane.

   

   The External Content thumbnail appears in the pane containing the name of the External Content item, the media type of the external content, and the viewer app that will display the media during runtime. Also, the layout Actions area shows the name of the External Content item and the pane that it was placed in.

   Editing an External Content Item After Being Placed onto a Pane

An External Content item can be modified after being placed in a layout or a ViewApp, which automatically propagates the changes

To edit an External Content item in a layout

7. If necessary, open the layout containing an External Content item.

8. Locate the item in the layout Actions list.

9. Select the Options icon shown at the right of the item in the Actions list.

   A drop-down list shows an Edit External Content command.

   

10. Select the edit command.

    The External Content editor opens the item for editing.

11. Update the values assigned to the item and save your changes.

    The External Content thumbnail in the pane updates to reflect the changes made to the item.