Customizing applications using overlays and custom objects

In its default Best Practice Customization mode, Developer Studio provides the flexibility required to customize AR System by using overlays and custom objects. With overlays, you can customize out-of-the-box AR System server objects. Overlays ensure that the customizations are not lost when an AR System application or server is upgraded. Overlays and custom objects protect any new functionality in your AR System enabled application.

An overlay is a copy of an AR System server structure or workflow object that is used in place of the origin object. Custom objects are new objects, such as forms or fields, that you can create in the Best Practice Customization mode.

Customizations made to the base objects in Developer Studio base development mode are not preserved through upgrades.

Related topic

Adding custom fields to your views using Smart IT

The customization feature protects your business investment in customizations by:

  • Protecting your customizations by enforcing best practice development in Developer Studio
  • Preserving customizations during upgrades of BMC Helix Innovation Suites, components, and applications
  • Enabling you to find all your customizations quickly and easily

This section includes the following topics:

Action

Reference

Understand the concepts and Best Practices about origin objects, custom objects, and overlays. 

Create form, view and field overlays to modify the respective properties based on the customizations you require. 

Learn to view, display, navigate, edit, remove and delete overlays.

Use Best Practice Customization mode of Developer Studio to rename, view, modify and delete custom objects without restrictions.

Configure the server to execute overlaid objects at runtime and to ignore overlay and custom objects.

Expand filtering options in Best Practice Customization mode to hide unmodified objects.  

Convert the related forms and workflow to origin objects, before converting custom objects to origin objects to avoid losing customizations, and runtime failures during an upgrade. 

Customizations made to the origin objects are also moved to the custom objects. 

Learn the behavioral operational difference of export and import with overlays and custom objects. Additionally, learn the behavior of import operations on overlays and custom objects. 

Add new fields on the overlay to enable auditing or archiving. 

Use AR System Navigator to compare and reconcile workflow, form, field and view objects using the objects list.

 

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