Editor Edit menu (Device Stage Visual Editor)

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You can use the Device Stage Visual Editor Edit menu to add or remove categories and tasks and to refresh the Package Preview pane.

The Edit menu contains the following commands, which are described in this topic:

  • Add a New Category
  • Add a New Task
  • Delete a node
  • Refresh

Add a new category

A category in Device Stage Visual Editor is defined as an element that lets you organize multiple tasks into folders. By nesting tasks in a category, you can assign one or more tasks to a subfolder.

To add a new category

  1. Open an existing metadata package.

  2. In the Device Experience pane, select the TaskCategoryMapping element.

  3. On the Edit menu, click New Category.

    After you add the category, it appears at the bottom of the TaskCategoryMapping element in the Device Experience pane. Click New Category, and its associated fields appear in the Properties pane.

  4. After the default category property fields appear, you can edit the metadata as described in Customize existing metadata.

    Note  When you enter a name in the DisplayName field, click Refresh on the Edit menu. The name of your category replaces the New Category placeholder, and it also appears in the Category and Task areas of the Preview pane.

Tip  To develop a good Device Stage experience, we recommend that you limit the number of tasks and categories in the Device Experience pane to ten items. Ideally, users should not have to scroll through the window to see additional tasks and categories. We also recommend that you limit the number of categories that are nested within categories so that users do not have to search for tasks.

For detailed information on category attributes, see the Windows 7 Device Stage Reference Guide in the Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit.

Add a new task

A task in Device Stage Visual Editor is defined as an action that users can take that is related to the device for which the Device Stage experience is being presented. Tasks appear in Device Stage Visual Editor as icons, titles, and descriptions.

Tasks can link to functionality that is part of Windows 7 or to custom functionality that you define and include in your device experience. Custom tasks can open product manuals or web sites for product accessories, or can start your own software. Custom tasks include, but are not limited to, links to the following items:

  • Product manuals
  • Accessories
  • Customer support
  • Device tutorials and videos
  • Downloading additional IHV-provided software
  • Starting IHV-provided software

To add a new task

  1. Highlight the TaskCategoryMapping element in the Device Experience pane.

  2. On the Edit menu, click New Task.

    After you add the task, it appears at the bottom of the TaskCategoryMapping element in the Device Experience pane. Click New Task, and its associated properties appear in the Properties pane.

  3. After the default task property fields appear, you can edit the metadata as described in Customize existing metadata.

Note  

When you enter a name in the DisplayName field and click Refresh, the name of your task replaces the New Task placeholder and appears in the Category and Task area of the Package Preview pane.

Custom task items and XML

You can implement more sophisticated features through custom tasks and Tasks.xml. For example, you can reference web pages and display them in-frame in the Device Stage experience window or start an application that is installed on your computer. Your device category can even support the ability to display status that is reported from a connected device.

Tasks are defined for each device category. For detailed information on task-related XML elements and on the task model itself, see the Windows 7 Device Stage Design Guide, Windows 7 Device Stage Development Guide, and Windows 7 Device Stage Reference Guide in the Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit.

Delete a category or task

You can delete a category or task in the Device Experience pane of Device Stage Visual Editor.

To delete a category or task

  1. In the Device Experience pane, select the category or task to delete.
  2. On the Edit menu, click Delete Node.

Note  

You can delete only custom added categories and tasks. You cannot delete default categories and tasks in any Device Stage Visual Editor templates because Microsoft requires them for operating system continuity that targets common device functionality.

There is one exception to this rule. For the keyboards and mice device category, the template that is loaded into Device Stage Visual Editor incorporates default tasks for both keyboard and mouse. You can delete these default tasks to accommodate building a metadata package for one or the other type of device (keyboard or mouse).

Refresh the Package Preview Pane

To see real-time updates from the changes that you make to your metadata package, refresh the Package Preview pane. You can review this pane as often as you like.

To refresh the Package Preview pane

  • On the Edit menu, click Refresh.

Device Stage Visual Editor v1.5 User's Guide

Windows 7 device experience

 

 

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