Understanding Site Structure
Overview
The site structure has a central role in determining the behavior and content of the site.
Content including menus, menu items shown in the menus, frames defining the structure of the browser page, and the content of the frames, are all defined by the site structure.
The site structure consists of a number of site elements tied together in a tree structure.
When a site element is attached to the site structure, it is always attached to an element that is already present in the structure. In the following explanation, this element will be called the parent element, while the element that has been attached will be called the child element.
The site elements themselves have a number of properties of which the most interesting is probably is the assigned roles. The roles assigned to a site element defines which users are going to have access to the site element.
In addition to the properties tied directly to the site elements, a number of properties can also be defined when a site element is attached to the site structure. Which properties you can attach to the site structure depends on the type of the site element the element is attached to.
Examples of these properties are:
- A frame name specifying which frame the child element is to populate
- An alignment/sequence specifying where the menu item is to be shown in a menu (if the parent element is a menu).
A site element can be attached to the site structure more than once.
Types of site elements
This section contains a short introduction to each of the site element types.
For each type a link to a detailed description is provided. For the site element types that can have child elements (Site Root / Frameset / Menu), the detailed description contains a list of which site element types it is possible to attach as children to the site element - and the effect of doing so.
Site Root
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The top of the site tree will always be a site root. This site root is used as a unique point of entry used when the site is loaded.
Frameset
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A frameset site element is used to define the structure of the browser page. A frameset defines one or more vertical and/or horizontal splits of the browser page.
A frameset site element refers an HTML template that defines the properties of the split.
The frameset itself just defines the split of the page - it is the site elements defined as children to the frameset that will be used to define the content of each frame.
Menu
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A menu site element is used when a frame is to contain a menu.
A menu site element itself just defines that a frame must be populated by a menu - it is the site elements defined as children to the menu that will be used to define the menu items shown in the menu.
Business Process
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The first icon will be shown if the parent of the business process site element is a frameset site element.
A business process site element is used when a business process must be used to populate a frame.
URL
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The first icon will be shown if the parent of the URL site element is a frameset site element.
A URL site element is used when an URL is used to populate a frame. This can e.g. be used to populate a frame with a static header or populate a frame by a call to an application running outside the Websydian Express framework.
Comments
When you add a site element to the site structure, you will see that there is the possibility to add a site element of the type Comment. This is in reality just a convenience that is to be used when planning/discussing a future site. When you choose comment for the new site element, you really just attach a special business process site element.
Looking at the site structure afterwards you can also see that the new site element is shown as a business process.