User Interface (UI) Maps

The User Interface (UI) map holds HTML to be rendered within portal zones and Business Process Assistant (BPA) scripts. UI maps allow your implementation to create input forms and output maps that closely match your customer's business practices. In other words, the UI Map is designed to facilitate the capture and display of your business objects and business services.

The UI map is a repository for a single HTML document paired with an XML schema where the schema defines the data that the HTML document displays and/or modifies. The UI Map HTML gives you the ability to craft the display by any method that an html document can support, including JavaScript and full CSS functionality.

Configuration tool support for UI Maps hinges around the ability to inject and extract an XML document from the HTML. For more information on the specialized support for HTML and JavaScript functionality refer to UI Map Attributes and Functions.

Figure 1. HTML to Display Customer Business Object
HTML to display customer Business Object
Figure 2. Customer HTML Rendered (Output Data for Zone)
Rendered customer HTML

UI maps are typically crafted as output tables when used in conjunction with portal zones - please refer to Map Zones for more information. When referenced within BPA scripts, UI maps are typically crafted as forms for the capture and update of data.

Figure 3. HTML Input Form Rendered (for BPA Script)
Personal Information input form rendered

Portal zones can reference a UI map for the zone header. They may also utilize a UI map to define their filter area. This type of UI map is not a complete HTML document, but is instead configured as a UI Map "fragment".

Note: UI Map Tips. A context sensitive "UI Map Tips" zone is visible on the UI map maintenance page. This zone provides several links to launch help topics related to valid schema syntax and UI Hint syntax in one click.
Note: Editing HTML. You can use a variety of HTML editors to compose your HTML, which you can then cut, and paste into your UI map. In addition, the zone provides a complete list of the XML schema nodes and attributes available to you when you construct the map's data schema.