Say goodbye to Widgets and Hello to Components

Difference between Widgets and Components

Widgets are the primary elements for creating user interfaces. They can display data and status information, receive user input and so on. In other words, they provide a standardized way of operating in a UI.

But where it becomes hard with Widgets is when you want to make changes to them, since they are typically pre-compiled or pre-generated. Furthermore, they were created for a general purpose for someone that did not have your vision or does not know how your specific UI should look like. 

To overcome these limitations, with Storyboard you have the chance to use Components. They are like Widgets with the difference that you can create them on the fly and from the vision of the designer.

Guideline to create Components

Components could be created from Controls or Groups. On you application model, right click on the Control or Group that you would like to create a Component from, select Components>>Create New Component

Name the component and add a description to it and hit OK.

Select all the resources that belong to your component and hit OK. You maybe have animations or some piece of code that belongs to the component but in this example, we are going to select control that is composed of some simple render extensions.

Your new component has been created and it is located under the directory “templates” in your project folder.

You are ready to use your new component in your application and of course you can share it with other coworkers and/or across project. To do so, find it on the Tab “Components”. Simply drag and drop it

But that is not all! There is much more about Components! Leverage your designs and get to market on time by using Components within your application. Check our advance trying here: VIDEO: Leveraging Storyboard components to speed up GUI development – Crank Software