User interface composer is a hosted web application on the OpenRemote website that allows you to create generic user interface descriptors and layouts for OpenRemote panels and consoles.
User interface descriptors can be stored on the OpenRemote website, and later updated and redistributed to panels. User interfaces can be stored and used based on a user's profile therefore allowing for example different family members to use differently composed user interface elements and layouts, if desired.
Currently in development OpenRemote consoles that consume the UI composer XML descriptors are
OpenRemote iPhone console and OpenRemote web consoles .
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Screenshot of UI Composer Prototype
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Technical Overview
As OpenRemote does not dictate any specific client or console software, we need a platform independent model that can describe user interface elements, layout, action binding and status displays. The UI composer generates an XML descriptor that is most often deployed to the OpenRemote Box and then served to panels and consoles as requested. In some specific cases the XML descriptor may be served directly to the console from the OpenRemote website as well. Also note that in many cases the console or panel hardware can support persistence of configuration files and therefore the descriptor needs to be distributed just once, unless updated later.
Also note that while the initial development of UI composer tools focuses on an "online" deployment model from OpenRemote website, we are considering an "off-line" deployment model on a local network through OpenRemote Box as well.
Proposal: Sample User Interface XML Document Instance
Project Details
