App Studio Resources Pane

The Resources Docking Pane displays all resources used by the Project. The Resources Pane is one of the App Studio main window docking panes.

Resources include:

  • Images (.bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png)

  • Sound files (.wav)

  • Videos (.mp4)

  • Icons (.ico)

  • XML and WSDL schema files

In order to use one of these file types within your Project, the file must be imported into the Project. Resources can be imported by dragging and dropping files onto this pane, by using the context right-click menu or by clicking File → Import / Export → Resource. In addition, some Properties which take a file as their value include a Browse button allowing you to locate and select a file, which will then be automatically imported into the Resources Pane.

 

A panel is situated at the bottom of the pane which is used to preview a selected image, icon or sound.

 

When a resource is added to the Project, it is automatically given an Identifier name, e.g. ID_IMAGE_MYPIC_1, and a Resources File Name and is copied to a new file within the Project folders. Once a resource has been added to your Project you can then use it within the Project by referring to its Resource Identifier or File Name, according to the circumstances.

 

You can drag and drop images from the Resources Pane onto a form, which will automatically add a Picture & Video Control to the form containing the dropped image. You can also preview an image, display its size and colour resolution and check its Project file name in the panel at the bottom of the Resources Pane by selecting the image in the tree view.

Resources which have been used explicitly within the Project are indicated within the Resources Pane by a small red tick in the icon to the left of the name in the tree view.

If you include unused resources in an app, these could potentially significantly increase the size of the finished app unnecessarily, so we recommend you delete unused resources if possible. When you publish an app, a warning message will be displayed if there are unused resources, allowing you to cancel the publish in order to delete the unused resources.

You can delete a resource by right-clicking on it in the Resources Pane and then choosing Delete from the context menu displayed. Alternatively, you can select the item and press the Del key.

  • A picture which you have used as the default image in a Data Conversion Table will not appear in the Resources Pane as used, since it isn't actually used until runtime and may not be used at all. Be careful if you have configured any Data Conversion Tables that you do not delete 'unused' images which are included within such Table(s).

 

The right-click context menu also allows you to display the Properties for a resource in the Properties Pane, e.g. to change the name of an image resource.

 

A library of stock images which can be used in your projects is supplied with the Digitise Apps software. To import these images choose Import From Library from the right-click context menu or choose Import / Export → Resource From Library from the Ribbon's File tab. This option provides access to a library of stock images which can be used in your projects. Choosing the option will display a browse dialog box open at the library folder:

C:\ProgramData\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\App Studio\Library\Resources\Images