Addition of a Custom Transport to the Configure Remote Connection Dialog Box

In the Configure Remote Connection dialog box, if the user chooses Configure, Platform Manager provides a common dialog box that presents transport properties as a two-column grid. The first column contains the name of the property and the second column contains the value of the property. The data standard for the dialog box is Extensible Markup Language (XML). For this reason, the two-column grid is referred to as an XML grid. For information about the schema for the XML grid, see XML Grid Schema.

As a transport writer, supporting the XML grid in your transport enables you to concentrate on designing and implementing your transport. You need not concern yourself extensively with user interface (UI) design or implementation. In addition, the UI for your transport has the same appearance as the UI for other transports supported by Platform Manager.

To support the XML grid, you must create a common container for your transport that is recognized by Platform Manager. For more information, see Creating a Common Container for a Custom Transport.

The following illustration shows how data is transferred from your transport to the XML grid and back.

Platform Manager obtains the transport properties that are to be presented to the user from the transport as XML data. Platform Manager presents the XML data in name and value pairs in the Configure Remote Connection dialog box and validates the data provided by the user. If the data is valid, Platform Manager sends the data to the transport. If the data is not valid, Platform Manager displays an error message to the user.

When the Platform Builder user opens the Configure Remote Connection dialog box and chooses Configure, the following series of events is triggered:

  1. Platform Manager calls the KITLGetTranXMLParams function.
  2. If the call to KITLGetTranXMLParams is successful, Platform Manager creates an XML Document Object Model (DOM) object.
  3. Using the XML DOM object, Platform Manager processes the XML data, creating an XML DOM node object for each property represented in the XML data.
  4. Platform Manager creates a UI element for each property according to the following guidelines:
    • If the property type is combo, Platform Manager dynamically creates a combo box and fills it with the items in the option nodes.

    • If the property type is list, Platform Manager dynamically creates a list box and fills it with the items in the option nodes.

      If an edit='true' attribute exists for the property, Platform Manager creates a text box above the list box so that the Platform Builder user can type in the text box or choose an item from the list.

    • If the property type is string, Platform Manager dynamically creates a text box.

    • If the property type is number, Platform Manager dynamically creates a text box that accepts only numerical values.

  5. After the Platform Builder user chooses OK, Platform Manager calls the KITLSetTranParam function for each property. If KITLSetTranParam reports no errors, Platform Manager persists the user's selections in the registry and closes the dialog box. If KITLSetTranParam reports errors, Platform Manager displays a dialog box containing the error string returned by KITLSetTranParam.

See Also

Custom Kernel Transport Creation | Configure Remote Connection Dialog Box | Creating a Common Container for a Custom Transport | KITLGetTranXMLParams | KITLSetTranParam

 Last updated on Friday, October 08, 2004

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