Manifest Overview

Article
06/05/2016

For a control add-in to work on all display targets there has to be a manifest. The manifest contains a declarative description of the control add-in and is written in XML. The manifest is added together with any resource files in a .zip file and registered with the control add-in resources in the Client Add-in page. This topic explains the structure of a manifest by using an example of the manifest for the Bing Maps control add-in. For more information about the implementation of the Bing Maps control add-in, see Walkthrough: Creating and Using a Client Control Add-in.

Example of a Manifest

The syntax of a manifest file is illustrated in the following example. All elements inside the <manifest> element are optional.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  
<Manifest>  
    <Resources>  
        <Image>PushpinBlue.png</Image>  
        <Image>PushpinGreen.png</Image>  
        <Image>PushpinRed.png</Image>  
        <Script>Script.js</Script>  
        <StyleSheet>StyleSheet.css</StyleSheet>  
    </Resources>  

    <ScriptUrls>  
        <ScriptUrl>https://ecn.dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6.3</ScriptUrl>  
    </ScriptUrls>  

    <StyleSheetUrls>
        <StyleSheetUrl>https://www.microsoft.com/stylesheets/colors.css</StyleSheetUrl>
    </StyleSheetUrls>

    <Script>  
        <![CDATA[  
            InitializeMap('controlAddIn');  
            Microsoft.Dynamics.NAV.InvokeExtensibilityMethod('ControlAddInReady', null);  
        ]]>  
    </Script>  

    <RefreshScript>
        <![CDATA[
             Microsoft.Dynamics.NAV.InvokeExtensibilityMethod('Refresh', null);
        ]]>
    </RefreshScript>

    <RecreateScript>
        <![CDATA[
             Microsoft.Dynamics.NAV.InvokeExtensibilityMethod('Recreate', null);
        ]]>
    </RecreateScript>

    <RequestedHeight>300</RequestedHeight>  
    <RequestedWidth>700</RequestedWidth>  

    <MinimumHeight>200</MinimumHeight>  
    <MinimumWidth>400</MinimumWidth>  

    <MaximumHeight>800</MaximumHeight>  
    <MaximumWidth>1000</MaximumWidth>  

    <VerticalStretch>true</VerticalStretch>  
    <HorizontalStretch>true</HorizontalStretch>  

    <VerticalShrink>true</VerticalShrink>  
    <HorizontalShrink>true</HorizontalShrink> 

    <AllowCaption>false</AllowCaption>
</Manifest>

Manifest elements overview

Element	Description
`<Resources>`	Contains all of the resources such as the script, style sheet, and images that are required to display the Bing Maps control add-in. Each resource is included in a child element, such as `<script>`, `<stylesheet>`, and `<image>`.
`<ScriptUrls>`	Includes references to other JavaScripts from the manifest. In this case the `<ScriptUrls>` element points to online map controls.
`<StyleSheetUrls>`	Contains references to style sheets from external web sites.
`<Script>`	Contains the actual initialization code for the control add-in. The code must be written inside a `<![CDATA[]]>` element to be parsed as code. The `Microsoft.Dynamics.NAV.InvokeExtensibilityMethod` is described in more detail in the reference documentation. For more information, see InvokeExtensibilityMethod Method.
`<RefreshScript>`	Used for refreshing the control add-in when the user refreshes the page by using F5 or if the RefreshOnActivate is property is set on the page.
`<RecreateScript>`	Used for reloading the control add-in script in following instances: In a FastTab, when the user selects Show More or Show Less. Applies to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client only. In Designer, when the user switches the display target. Applies to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client only. If this element is not defined, then the `<Script>` elememt is used. This element only pertains to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client.
`<RequestedHeight>` and `<RequestedWidth>`	Determine the minimum resize value of the control add-in. These are set to definite sizes. It is recommended to apply some size to the add-in using these elements.
`<VerticalStretch>` and `<HorizontalStretch>`	Determine how the control add-in behaves in the client when the window it is displayed in is resized. The default value is false which means that the control add-in is not resized vertically, or horizontally. The value true means that the control add-in is resized vertically, or horizontally.
`<VerticalShrink>` and `<HorizontalShrink>`	Specifies that the control add-in can be made smaller vertically and horizontally.
`<AllowCaption>`	Specifies whether to display the caption that is specified by the CaptionML Property of the page field control that the control add-in uses. Set to `true` to display the caption; `false` to not display the caption, in which case the control add-in will use all the available space. `false` is the default setting. The caption will only display if the ShowCaption property of the field control is set to `Yes` (`true`).

Script Code in a Separate File

Code that is called from C/AL code must be put in a separate file under the \Script folder. The code below is called from the manifest file and initializes and loads the map.

var map = null;  

    function InitializeMap(controlId) {  
        map = new VEMap(controlId);  
        map.HideScalebar();  
        map.onLoadMap = function () {  
            Microsoft.Dynamics.NAV.InvokeExtensiblityMethod('MapLoaded', null);  
        };  
    }  

    function LoadMap(latitude, longiture) {  
        var mapOptions = new VEMapOptions();  
        mapOptions.DashboardColor = "black";  
        mapOptions.EnableSearchLogo = false;  

        map.LoadMap(  
            new VELatLong(latitude, longiture), // Center  
            1,                                  // Zoom level 1-19  
            VEMapStyle.Birdseye,                // Map style  
            false,                              // Fixed map  
            VEMapMode.Mode2D,                   // Map mode  
            true,                               // Map mode switch  
            0,                                  // Tile buffer  
            mapOptions                          // Options  
        );  
    }          

    function ShowMiniMap(show) {  
        if (show)  
            map.ShowMiniMap();  
        else  
            map.HideMiniMap();  
    }  

    function ShowPushpin(title, imageName) {  
        map.Clear();   

        if (title != '') {  
            var point = map.GetCenter();  
            var pushpin = map.AddPushpin(point);  
            pushpin.SetTitle(title);  
        }  
    }

Control Add-in HTML Element

When the control add-in is loaded into the Web browser one HTML element is provided for the control add-in to host its content. This HTML element is a DIV element and it is always named controlAddIn.

<div id='controlAddIn'>  
    control add-in script code can add content here...  
</div>

The following is an example of the script code for a control add-in

function initializeControlAddIn() {  
    var controlAddIn = document.getElementById('controlAddIn');  
    controlAddIn.innerHTML = "Hello World";  
}

Sizing the Control Add-in

To control that the sizing of the control add-in always is optimal, even on smaller display targets, such as the phone, some settings are available when you write the manifest code. The settings make sure that resizing of the control add-in works on all client types.

VerticalShrink specifies that the control add-in can be made smaller vertically. This setting is optional.

bool VerticalShrink()

HorizontalShrink specifies that the control add-in can be made smaller horizontally. This setting is optional.

bool HorizontalShrink()

MinimumHeight specifies the minimum height that the control add-in can be shrunk to. This setting only applies if the VerticalShrink setting is specified.

int MinimumHeight()

MinimumWidth specifies the minimum width that the control add-in can be shrunk to. This setting only applies if the HorizontalShrink setting is specified.

int MinimumWidth()

MaximumHeight specifies the maximum height that the control add-in can be stretched to. This setting only applies if the VerticalStretch setting is specified.

int MaximumHeight()

MaximumWidth specifies the maximum width that the control add-in can be stretched to. This setting only applies if the HorizontalStretch setting is specified.

int MaximumWidth()

VerticalStretch specifies that the control add-in can be made larger vertically. This setting is optional.

bool VerticalStretch()

HorizontalStretch specifies that the control add-in can be made larger horizontally. This setting is optional.

bool HorizontalStretch()

RequestedHeight specifies the initial height of the control add-in.

int RequestedHeight()

RequestedWidth specifies the initial width of the control add-in.

int RequestedWidth()

Resource Files

The resource files can be described in the manifest file with or without a relative path; Dynamics NAV supports both.

In the following example the files are described by using their file name only:

<Resources>  
    <Image>Blue.png</Image>  
    <Script>Script.js</Script>  
    <StyleSheet>StyleSheet.css</StyleSheet>  
</Resources>

To support the example earlier in this section, the resource files must be located in subfolders in the control add-in .zip file by using the following names:

Resource File Type	Resource Name	Subfolder Name
Image file	Blue.png	Image/Blue.png
Script file	Script.js	Script/Script.js
Style sheet file	StyleSheet.css	StyleSheet/StyleSheet.css

In the next example the resource files are described using a relative path in the manifest file:

<Resources>  
    <Image>Images/Pushpins/Blue.png</Image>  
    <Script>Scripts/Script.js</Script>  
    <StyleSheet>StyleSheets/StyleSheet.css</StyleSheet>  
</Resources>

To support this example, the resource files must be located in subfolders with the name of the relative path in the control add-in .zip file:

Resource File Type	Resource Name	Subfolder Name
Image file	Images/Pushpins/Blue.png	Images/Pushpins/Blue.png
Script file	Scripts/Script.css	Scripts/Script.css
Style sheet file	StyleSheets/StyleSheet.css	StyleSheets/StyleSheet.css

Share via