This section provides basic information about how to create a Guided Search application.
This section refers to the UI reference implementation, which is a sample Web application included with the Platform Services package.
To start building your own application:
Without relying on the UI reference implementation, define what your application’s architecture requirements are.
In Java, if you need to create JavaBeans or command classes, have a good definition of those requirements independent of the current structure and architecture of the reference implementation.
Determine your page and page element definitions.
Again, this should be done without relying on the UI reference implementation. Most applications have a navigation page and a record page, but each application has its own requirements. A typical navigation page includes some sort of results section and query controls section, but this is also entirely dependent on the application design. Whatever the resulting design is, produce a list of all required elements and the pages they are associated with.
Evaluate each page element and decide which UI reference implementation module, if any, is the closest match to the functionality required.
For example, if you have a dimension search results section, the
misc_dimsearch_resultsmodule may be a good starting point. Keep in mind that the UI reference implementation does not use all of the Presentation API objects. You may need a component that has no closely corresponding reference module. In this case, you need to develop this component from scratch or based on significant adjustments to an existing module.Create a new application framework (that is, an "empty" application) and begin building each required element.
Refer to the corresponding UI reference implementation modules as necessary. If a new element is very similar to an existing module, you may be able to start from that module’s framework and simply add supporting HTML. If the new element is significantly different, however, you may want to use the existing module as a guide only and construct the new code from scratch.
