Frontstages

A Frontstage is a full-screen configuration designed to enable the user to accomplish a task. There are three types of frontstages:

Type Description
Primary may use all zones and stage panels and the Tool Widget contains the App button that opens the App menu
Nested is accessed from a primary frontstage. It may use all zones and panels, but instead of the App button, the Tool Widget contains a Back button to return to the primary frontstage.
Modal is accessed from another frontstage or the Backstage. It may contain any content along with a Back button. It does not use zones or stage panels. It is useful for application settings and data management user interfaces.

Configuring a Frontstage

A frontstage is configured in a class subclassing the FrontstageProvider abstract class. The FrontstageProvider contains an abstract FrontstageProvider.frontstage field containing a Frontstage React component. The Frontstage React component has props for the default tool, Content Layout, Content Group, a Footer mode flag and application data. It also has props for the Zones that are specified by their position in the 9-zone grid.

Zone Descriptions

The following zone props are used in the Frontstage React component.

Zone Description
topLeft contains the Tool Widget
topCenter contains the Tool Settings
topRight contains the Navigation Widget
centerLeft free zone for applications to use (App 1)
centerRight contains widgets for browsing; a Tree is typically used
bottomLeft free zone for applications to use (App 2)
bottomCenter reserved for the Status Bar, which shows messages and system state
bottomRight contains widgets showing Properties; A PropertyGrid is typically used

Basic Sample

The following is a sample of a very basic FrontstageProvider definition with zones containing a Tool Widget, Tool Settings, Navigation Widget, Status Bar and Property Grid.

export class SampleFrontstage extends FrontstageProvider {

  public get frontstage(): React.ReactElement<FrontstageProps> {
    return (
      <Frontstage id="Test1"
        defaultTool={CoreTools.selectElementCommand}
        defaultLayout="TwoHalvesVertical"
        contentGroup="TestContentGroup1"
        isInFooterMode={true}
        applicationData={{ key: "value" }}
        topLeft={
          <Zone
            widgets={[
              <Widget isFreeform={true} element={<SampleToolWidget />} />,
            ]}
          />
        }
        topCenter={
          <Zone
            widgets={[
              <Widget isToolSettings={true} />,
            ]}
          />
        }
        topRight={
          <Zone
            widgets={[
              <Widget isFreeform={true} element={<SampleNavigationWidget />} />,
            ]}
          />
        }
        bottomCenter={
          <Zone defaultState={ZoneState.Open}
            widgets={[
              <Widget isStatusBar={true} iconSpec="icon-placeholder" labelKey="SampleApp:widgets.StatusBar"
                control={SampleAppStatusBarWidget} />,
            ]}
          />
        }
        bottomRight={
          <Zone defaultState={ZoneState.Open} allowsMerging={true}
            widgets={[
              <Widget defaultState={WidgetState.Open} iconSpec="icon-placeholder" labelKey="SampleApp:widgets.PropertyGrid"
                control={SamplePropertyGridWidget} fillZone={true} />,
            ]}
          />
        }
      />
    );
  }
}

The defaultTool prop specifies a tool or command. defaultLayout specifies a registered Content Layout and contentGroup specifies a registered Content Group. Note that these two props can reference a ContentLayoutDef and ContentGroup directly instead of specifying an Id. See Content Views and Layouts for more details. A isInFooterMode prop with a value of true indicates the Status Bar will be in Footer mode across the bottom of the screen. A value of false would indicate the Status Bar is open in the bottom center position in the grid. The applicationData prop specifies JSON data attached to the Frontstage and FrontstageDef.

Each zone prop specifies a Zone React component. A Zone component can host one or more Widget React components, which are listed in the widgets prop. The defaultState prop specifies the default zone state, which controls how the Zone is initially displayed. The default is ZoneState.Open. The allowsMerging prop indicates if other zones may be merged with this zone. The default is false. Zones can be merged together by default using the mergeWithZone prop, which indicates another zone to merge with. The applicationData prop specifies JSON data attached to the Zone and ZoneDef.

Setting a Frontstage active

// Create a Frontstage.
const frontstageProvider = new SampleFrontstage();
// Add the provider to FrontstageManager
FrontstageManager.addFrontstageProvider(frontstageProvider);

// Set the Frontstage active
FrontstageManager.setActiveFrontstageDef(frontstageProvider.frontstageDef).then(() => {
  // Frontstage is ready
});

API Reference

Last Updated: 13 June, 2024