Chapter 1. Introduction
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## Chapter 1. Introduction

This feature is available only in XMLmind XML Editor Professional Edition.

The user interface (GUI) of XMLmind XML Editor is made of parts. Parts are high level building blocks such as menus, menu bars, tool bars, status bars, actions (for use in menus, tool bars and status bars), etc.

These parts are declared in a special GUI specification file having a `.xxe_gui` suffix. Such GUI specification files also contain a `layout` element which specifies which assembly of parts to use to create the user interface of XMLmind XML Editor.

Example (excerpts of common.xxe_gui):

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
    <gui xmlns="http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/schema/gui"
         xmlns:gui="http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/schema/gui"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/schema/gui
                             "../../../../xxe_addon/xxe_gui_config/xsd/gui.xsd>
      ...
      <action name="newAction" label="_New..."
              icon="icons/newAction.gif"
              accelerator="mod N">
        <class>com.xmlmind.xmleditapp.kit.part.NewAction</class>
      </action>
      ...
      <menu name="fileMenu" label="_File"
            helpId="fileMenu">
        <action name="newAction" />
        <action name="openAsTemplateAction" />
        ...
        <menuItems name="recentFilesMenuItems" />
      </menu>
      ...
      <menuBar name="menuBar" helpId="menuBar">
        <menu name="fileMenu" />
        <menu name="selectMenu" />
        ...
      </menuBar>
      ...
      <layout width="850" height="650">
        <menuBar name="menuBar" />
        ...
      </layout>
    </gui>

| Declares action "`newAction`".
| Declares menu "`fileMenu`".
| Declares menu bar "`menuBar`".
| Element `layout` actually specifies which GUI to create.
| It is menu bar "`menuBar`" which will be used in the GUI of XXE because it is referenced in the `layout` element.

### Important

Declaring a part does not mean that this part will be created and then, displayed in the GUI of XXE. For this to happen, a part must be referenced directly or indirectly[1] by the `layout` element of the GUI specification file.

`Xxe_app.jar`, the archive file containing the code of XMLmind XML Editor (XXE for short), also contains 3 GUI specifications:

Resource `/gui/app/common.xxe_gui`

  Specifies the user interface parts which are common to all XMLmind XML Editor Editions.

Resource `/gui/app/Restricted.xxe_gui`

  Specifies the default user interface of XMLmind XML Editor Editions other than the Professional Edition. `Restricted.xxe_gui` includes `common.xxe_gui`.

Resource `/gui/app/Professional.xxe_gui`

  Specifies the default user interface of XMLmind XML Editor Professional Edition. `Professional.xxe_gui` includes `common.xxe_gui`.

A copy of these files is found in ``XXE_install_dir`/doc/gui/gui/app/`. This, because using common.xxe_gui as a reference when creating custom GUIs for XXE is absolutely required.

If you want to see by yourself the effect of using Restricted.xxe_gui (instead of default Professional.xxe_gui), please proceed as follows:

Windows

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Change working directory to the directory where XXE has been installed (typically `C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\`).

  3. Change to subdirectory `bin\` where `xxe.exe` (and `xxe.bat`) are found.

  4. Set environment variable `XXE_GUI` as follows:

         C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin> set XXE_GUI=xxe-gui:app/Restricted.xxe_gui

  5. Start XXE as follows:

         C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin> xxe.exe

Linux, Mac (with `bash`)

  1. Open a terminal.

  2. Change working directory to the directory where XXE has been installed (example: `/opt/xxe/`).

  3. Change to subdirectory `bin\` where the `xxe` shell script is found.

  4. Set environment variable `XXE_GUI` as follows[2]:

         /opt/xxe/bin$ XXE_GUI=xxe-gui:app/Restricted.xxe_gui; export XXE_GUI

  5. Start XXE as follows:

         /opt/xxe/bin$ ./xxe &

Don't worry, all this will be detailed in the deployment chapter of this document.

[1] Example: layout references a statusBar which references an action.

[2] Quicker, directly execute this:

    /opt/xxe/bin$ XXE_GUI=xxe-gui:app/Restricted.xxe_gui ./xxe &

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XMLmind XML Editor - Customizing the User Interface | Home | Chapter 2. Tutorial