Design elements and the Applications Navigator

Available design elements are displayed by the Applications Navigator.

By default, the Applications Navigator is on the left side of the window. When you create or open an application, its elements are displayed in the Applications Navigator.

To create an application, click File > New > Application or right-click in the Applications Navigator and select New Application (Ctrl-N).
To open an existing application, select it in the Applications Navigator, or if it is not there, click File > Application > Open and select it.
To see the available design element types and design element groups, expand an application. Expand a group to see the design element types in the group.
To create a design element of a selected type, use the menu or right-click. As design elements are created, they show under their type. Lists of design elements are displayed in the editor by double clicking the element type. Design elements can be opened for editing by double clicking the element.

The following table describes each design element and indicates the type of application it is generally used in.

Design element	Description
Forms	Provides the structure for both creating and displaying documents. For XPages, you can use a form as a data source.
Views	Are sorted or categorized list of documents. For forms-based Designer, views are the entry points to the data stored in a database. Views can be incorporated into XPages.
Folders	Are containers that are used to store related documents or groupings of documents. Folders have the same design elements as views.
XPages	Define the text and user interface (UI) controls that users interact with while using an application.
Custom Controls	Are a collection of UI controls that are stored as a single object.
Framesets	Are a collection of frames for adding structure to your application.
Pages	Are a database design element that displays information.
Shared Elements - Subforms	Are a collection of form elements stored as a single object.
Shared Elements - Fields	Collects data. You create fields on forms, subforms, and layout regions. For XPages, you bind controls to fields.
Shared Elements - Columns	Display field values and other information about documents. You create columns on views and folders.
Shared Elements - Outlines	Provides an organizing structure for an application and controls how elements display in a navigation pane.
Shared Elements - Navigators	Are a graphical road map that directs users to specific parts of an application.
Code - Agents	Set up a user-activated or background task in any part of an application.
Code - Shared Actions	Sets up a user-activated task on a form or view.
Code - Script Libraries	Contains LotusScript®, Java™, or JavaScript™ code for inclusion in client or server programming elements. JavaScript™ libraries are for XPages.
Code - Database Script	Is a programming elements activated for application level events, such as opening or closing an application.
Code - Web Service Providers	Are self-contained, self-describing, modular applications, based on XML, that can be published to and invoked from the Web. A Web service provider is a Web service hosted on a Domino® server so that it can be called from other computers.
Code - Web Service Consumers	Calls Web services on other computers.
Code - Java™	Creates a Java™ `Class`, `Interface`, or `Enum` element scoped to the NSF project (under `Code/Java` in the Java™ perspective). The Java™ code is directly callable by code in XPages.
Code - Jars	Gives you the ability to work with packaged Java™ code/libraries included in the application NSF. Frees you from having to deploy JARS to a server and/or include source files uniquely in the application database. This element is only available to XPage applications, where the JAR is automatically loaded by the XPages runtime.
Data - Data Connections	Are resources that establishe a data exchange between a Domino® application and an external data source.
Data - DB2® Access Views	Defines a DB2® view of Notes® data.
Resources - Images	Uses as a graphic or icon on XPages, pages, forms, subforms, action buttons, and outline entries, and as a background image on forms, documents, pages, table cells, and action buttons.
Resources - Files	Let you share non-NSF files within and across applications.
Resources - Applets	Are self-contained Java™ program that can run in your Domino® application.
Resources - Style Sheets	Can be created or imported. By default, XPages and UI controls use default cascading styles sheets (CSS) provided with Domino®. You can override the defaults with these resources.
Resources - Themes	Are server-side customizations of HTML generation that can be used to define an application's looks. By default, XPages and user interface controls use whatever theme is defined for the server. That global theme can be modified, for all applications, or it can be overridden by an application specific theme.
Resources - About Document	Describes the purpose of an application.
Resources - Using Document	Provides users with instructions.
Resources - Icon	Helps users identify the database quickly on bookmark panes, and can be brought into your application from the icon editor.
Composite Applications - Wiring Properties	Gives you access to the WSDL files within a composite application.
Composite Applications - Applications	Gives you access to required XML files that contain definitions for the composite application.
Composite Applications - Components	Deployed in composite applications if based on XPages
Application Configuration - Application Properties	Lets you set application-wide properties.
Application Configuration - Faces-config	Provides edit access to `webcontent\web-inf\faces-config.xml`. This is the configuration file that is used for configuring managed beans (amongst other things such as custom converters/validators) in XPages.
Application Configuration - Xsp Properties	Provides edit access to the file containing the collection of XPages framework parameters, known as `xsp.properties`. It is used on the application or server level to set and control XPages settings in your application XPages. Every XPages NSF application contains an xsp.properties file.

Since this user guide centers on XPages and applications that use XPages, it explains in more detail a subset of the design elements used in XPages applications. The detailed documentation for the more "forms-based" design elements and "forms-based" applications is found in the Domino® Designer Basic User Guide and Reference.

Selecting and filtering the design element types

You can select and filter which design element types you want to display in the Applications Navigator by making your selections in Preferences > Domino Designer > Applications Navigator.

Select the elements that you prefer to work with and display by selecting the elements on the Preferences panel. By selecting the perspective from a \list on the panel, you also set the selections and filtering options separately for each of the three perspectives: Domino® Designer, XPages, and Forms/Views Domino® Designer.

Comparing versions of design elements

You can compare different versions of design elements or resources by right-clicking a specific item and selecting the comparison type from the context menu. When a comparison is performed, comparison editors appear in the editor area. The differences between versions are highlighted in the comparison editors, allowing you to browse and copy changes between the compared versions.

You may perform the following comparison types:

Compare With > Local History - Compares the selected element or resource to one that is in the local history, which is maintained when you save changes.
Compare With > Each Other - Compares two or three selected elements or resources with each other