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This chapter explains some ways to configure your Portal themes. To begin, we review the contents of the folders provided with the base installation.The Exhibit folder is provided with your base installation. This same folder is duplicated when you create a new site via the PORTALADMIN GUI. This folder includes several files that are critical to Xinet Portal. It is very important to maintain the integrity of the file and folder structure within each Xinet Portal site folder.At the top level you have three php files: index.php, startup.php and config.inc.php, as well as a templates folder. These files and this folder must remain nested at the top level of your site folder. You cannot rename these files nor this folder.Within the templates folder you have many different types of files: HTML files, local.inc.php, portal.css, and portal.js as well as a few folders for plug-ins and images. Once again, these files and folders must remain nested within the templates folder of site’s folder. You cannot rename these files or folders.
A template is a file, always ending the suffix .tmpl.html, which always resides within the site’s templates directory or subdirectory. The file contains HTML code and tags.
A tag domain is a designated block of HTML within a template that has variable portions called tags.You can recognize a tag domain in Xinet Portal templates because a domain always begins with <styles:tmpl name= ...> and ends with </styles:tmpl>. The base tag domain for every Xinet Portal page is PortalPage. Other domains may be nested within it.
A tag presents variable data, stored in an array, depending on when and where it is called. Examples: {UN} and {KW_HTML}.
A tag family is a group of tags that must be used together in a template in order to present button functionality. Here’s an example of the four tags used to present the Custom Order button in Short View inside the file_table_short.tmpl.html template:d. A tag that refers to the user’s language style, which will be filled in automatically from an entry in the language.js file.If you look in the file_table_short.tmpl.html file you'll find examples of buttons which use tag families in this way. It is easy to customize new buttons by copying an existing one and substituting specific HTML for a tag. You don’t need to write fancy scripts if you follow this technique. Please refer to Xinet Technote 330 for further information about customizing buttons.
Each tag domain has an array of tags associated with it. Turn to Looking at Xinet Portal arrays for some examples. You may also want to consult a PHP manual for explanations on the working of associate arrays.All Xinet Portal templates begin with <styles:tmpl name="PortalPage">, the beginning of the PortalPage tag domain, and close with </styles:tmpl>. The passwordcntl template, above, uses the {LANG_CHANGEPASSFOR}, {UN}, and {RESULT_MESSAGE} tags, which are stored by the $tmpl->variables['PORTALPAGE'] array.Figure 2 shows the passwdctl.tmpl.html page as rendered, first, by Dreamweaver, and then, by Xinet Portal (by pointing a browser at /localhost/PORTAL/PASSWORDDCNTL.php).
Built-in php arrays, such as $_SESSION, $_SERVER, are not used in templates. You can gain access to them using the local.inc.php file.
Iterative arrays are composed of sub-arrays, one for each item. For example, $volume_info, $keyword_info, $files_info. As a tag domain iterates through each item, one cell in a template becomes one cell for each item in the array in the page the browser displays. The tag domain includes _table, _row, _cell for each _info array. For example, the $file_info array has tag domains file_table, file_row, file_cell.Let’s examine an Exhibit theme site file_table_short.tmpl.html for its iterative array tags and tag domains. The browseshort.tmpl.html template calls upon the file_table_short.tmpl.html template whenever a user browses in Short View.<div class="{PREVIEW_PAD_COLOR} allcorners">The figure below shows how a browser renders file_table_short.tmpl.html when called through browseshort.tmpl.html.For more information about arrays, including a complete list, turn to Looking at Xinet Portal arrays.Let’s look at an example of how you might make use of Xinet Portal arrays when customizing sites. We’re going to change a copy of the Exhibit site so that file-modification date shows in Short View:
