The SmartPlant Foundation Desktop Client provides the functionality of the SmartPlant Foundation client system through a windows-based client. The Desktop Client software is written using Microsoft .NET technology, so you must have the .NET Framework loaded on the client workstation. The initial size of the installation on the client workstation is small; icons are downloaded, when required, from the web server to the local computer.
The Desktop Client architecture consists of a container built on top of a number of assemblies, allowing programmers to drop in custom assemblies that expose new functionality. When a user logs on to the Desktop Client, the software downloads the main menus and toolbars from the server. The access privileges of a user determine how these custom assemblies and applications are filtered and displayed.
If a user selects a shortcut menu option on an object, the Desktop Client downloads the menus from the server to the client. Like the main menus and toolbars, the software filters these menus according to the access privilege of the user and the context of the selected object.
The Desktop Client also allows the following types of customizations:
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API Level Customization – Allows you to create a new custom API that you can integrate and make available on the existing client.
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Control Customization – Allows you to replace existing tree and list views with a custom version. Edit the application.config file to access this functionality.
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Form Customization – Allows you to use custom hook calls that affect the initialization, validation, and posting of events to forms.
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Application Customization – A set of .NET classes designed especially for SmartPlant Foundation that enables controls that can be inherited and methods that can be over-ridden as needed.