Overview of the iTool UI Service
A UI service is an iTool component object class that defines how and when a user interface element is presented to an iTool user. UI services provide a way to separate platform-independent iTool functionality from platform-dependent user interface code. When an iTool needs to display a graphical interface, it simply calls the appropriate UI service to display the interface; the iTool itself does not need to know anything at all about the platform on which it is running. Decisions about how to display the desired interface are left to the UI service, which can choose from any number of options based on the platform and user interface style in use.
Note
In the initial iTools release, only one user interface style is supplied: the IDL widget interface toolkit. As the iTools framework continues to grow, additional user interface styles may be created either by ITT Visual Information Solutions or by third-party developers.
Creating and Using a UI Service
To create and use a new iTool UI service, you will do the following:
- Create an IDL function that displays the user interface elements. See Creating a New UI Service for details.
- Register the new UI service with the iTools system. See Registering a UI Service for details.
- Execute the UI service from iTool code. See Executing a User Interface Service for details.
