UIM provides support for easy development of a consistent application user interface and can meet most presentation requirements. However, sometimes there is a requirement for richer functionality or a more sophisticated look than can be achieved with UIM alone. Cúram 6.0 introduces support for the customization of widgets. Widgets are the elements of the user interface used to present the values of the fields defined in UIM, such as simple text values, editable text fields, date selectors, bar charts and calendars. The new custom widget development features make it possible for developers to create their own widgets that supplement or replace those provided by the CDEJ. Here are just a few examples of the kinds of customizations that can now be performed:
- The configuration can be changed so that the basic text field widget is used for the input of all date values, instead of the date selector that is configured by default;
- The presentation of all e-mail address values can be customized so that, instead of being shown as simple text, they are shown as HTML mailto: links beside an e-mail icon;
- A photograph of a person stored in the application database can be displayed as the value of a field;
- The details of a person can be presented using a richer and more compact layout than possible with a UIM CLUSTER;
- Widgets can be reused within other widgets, so that the e-mail address widget can be reused within the widget that displays the details of a person and that details widget can, in turn, be combined with the widget that displays a photograph of a person to create a single widget that presents a more engaging summary of a person in a tab context panel.