Creating and customizing application views by using Shell
You can design a special configurable view for applications. A view is an outer container of an application, and acts as an entry point for users to access the application on the Web. To design a view, you use BMC Modern Shell, which is a built-in landing page and default menu system that is configured for every application.
BMC Modern Shell enables you to:
- Design the application UI without requiring coding skills
Create header and navigation by using inbuilt navigation and framework services from BMC Modern Shell - Enable navigation between views in an application
You can toggle between the views created by using BMC Helix Innovation Studio and the contents available in the current web application in the form of HTML, JavaScript and CSS code. - Customize the list of navigational links and the list of actions
- Control user access by assigning permissions to Shell menu items
For every application, the shell navigation is generated by application archetype and is available for an application in the BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
The following image shows the Shell editor for the Task Manager application:
The following image shows the application view when users access the Task Manager application:
To access the Shell editor for applications
- Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
- Select the application that you want to modify.
The application details are displayed. - From the application, click Navigation.The BMC Modern Shell Designer is displayed.
Process for designing an application view in Shell
You can design the application’s view in BMC Modern Shell by configuring the following items:
Action | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Add navigation components to the header | Provides navigation options for the end users. For more information, see Adding-navigation-components-to-header | The following image shows the View in Shell editor:
The following image shows the View in the deployed application:
|
Assign permissions to menu components | Enables you to control access to Shell menu items of view components, by assigning appropriate permissions to them in BMC Modern Shell. For more information, see Controlling-user-access-by-assigning-permissions-to-menu-elements. | If you assign permissions to the Administrator group for a Shell menu element, only those users belonging to the Administrator group, such as IT Helpdesk Administrators, can see and access the Administration menu group. Users who are not a part of the Administrator group, such as IT helpdesk agents, cannot access the Administration menu group. See the following image:
|
Enable switching between applications | Enables the end users to toggle between multiple between applications. For more information, see Launching-application-views-and-viewing-notifications. | The following image shows how you can switch between applications:
|
Enable and customize global search | Implements search for the end users of your application. Global search provides default and customized search options. For more information, see Enabling-global-search-for-use-in-an-application. | The following image shows a sample search result with default configuration:
|
View and customize the user profile | Provides information about the user and the application settings for that user. You can customize this component by adding additional menu items to it. For example, you can add a link to the user's profile. For information about how to customize the user menu, see To customize the user menu. | The following image shows from where you can access your profile: |
Track notifications | Tracks notifications created by application, so that users are aware and can take necessary actions. For more information, see Launching-application-views-and-viewing-notifications. | The following image shows a sample notification: |
Related topic