Modify the workspace structure - SysAdmin

To modify the standard workspace structure, censhare provides you tools including roles, workspace templates and resource replace variants. An overview on the visibility of changes.

The standard workspace structure in censhare is organized so that most of your needs are covered. You will usually only need to make changes if you are dealing with special user groups. censhare uses roles for assigning changes to the appropriate user groups.  The only thing that decides this is the main role of the user which changes he will see in the standard workspace. This is independent of changes that the user herself is allowed to make. These changes are saved by censhare in the associated user workspace asset.

You can modify pages  (2), tabs  (1), widgets (3) or the page navigation (4) of a user interface. The standard workspace structure describes the organization of static as well as asset pages  (2). Every page has one or more tabs (1). Each tab has one or more widgets  (3). In addition, the standard structure dictates the layout of the sidebar  (4).

You are not allowed to make direct changes to the standard workspace structure. These changes may be lost in an Update. Instead, censhare gives you resource replace variants and workspace templates as tools.

Resource replace variants always directly replace the behavior of an asset in the standard workspace structure. As such, there is a replace variant for every asset of the structure whose behavior is meant to change.  Every time an asset in the standard workspace structure is read, censhare checks first whether there is a replace variant and uses that instead.  

Workspace templates on the other hand save all desired changes in an asset.  A template is either used completely or not at all. A workspace template can describe the change as a series of changes by one user. Every change here is saved in the form of a
resource event.

Instead of resource events, a workspace template can also store the complete workspace structure in an XML file. In this case, censhare does not take the standard workspace structure into consideration. The workspace of a user is then based completely on the XML structure and the changes made by a user.

As of version  2017.2, censhare offers you the option of exporting the current workspace structure as an XML file. If this is based on the standard workspace structure, the changes will be included in the export when it is initiated. This XML file can then be downloaded, and the desired changes can be made before it is uploaded again.  

Resource replace variants can contain roles but don't have to. In the latter case, they apply to all users for whom no variant with a role is assigned. Workspace templates on the other hand must possess at least one role. Otherwise, they won't be assigned to any users and are thus deactivated.  

Resource replace variants and workspace templates with resource events can also be used in parallel for changes to the standard workspace structure. Both concepts have advantages and disadvantages. In general, resource replace variants are recommended for more complex, long-term changes to the system. Workspace templates with resource events on the other hand are better for shorter-term test changes.  

If you use workspace templates with XML files, you can only work with changes to the XML file. In that case, you don't need to make any changes via resource replace variants.

However, it is also possible to use resource replace variants. Changes made using these don't need to be made later in the XML file.

Executing configurations

censhare assesses the configuration of the workspace structure only when a user logs in to censhare Web. The result is an internal XML structure that censhare then uses to display the user interface.

censhare searches for the root asset of the standard workspace structure when generating the XML structure. This is the top of the tree structure that the standard workspace structure represents. Based on the top of the tree, censhare runs through the asset structure and creates the associated XML structure. The asset is then opened based on the resource key.

For every asset, censhare checks whether there is a resource replace variant.  It is used if it matches the role of the user. If that is not the case, and there is a resource replace variant without a role, censhare takes the replace variant.  If there are only resource replace variants with roles that do not match the user's main role, censhare uses the asset of the standard structure.  

If censhare selects a replace variant, it follows the relations there and not those of the assets in the standard structure. After going through the asset of the standard workspace structure, the first XML structure is created (step 1 in the graphic).

Generation of a workspace using a standard workspace structure, resource replace variants, workspace templates and user workspaces.

In the next step, censhare checks whether there is a workspace template with the role of the user. If yes, it applies the resource events saved there for the XML structure.

If the template contains resource events, censhare applies these to the previously created XML structure. For an XML file, it discards the previously created XML structure and instead uses the structure in the XML file.

Then censhare checks whether resource events are saved in the user workspace asset and applies those as well. These are the changes that the user makes herself in her workspace.

Testing the configuration

For every main role for which you wish to modify the standard structure, you need to create your own user that you will use for this task.

After making the changes, log in as the new user you created. Before that, you will need to reset the workspace so that you don't see any changes that are only shown in the user's workspace.

Check whether the changes made via resource replace variants work as you wanted them to with the workspace template.

Visibility of changes

If you make changes in the configuration of the workspace, the user will not see them. This is the case when the user logs off and on again.  censhare then reads the configuration and generates the internal XML structure out of that in order to display the workspace based on that.

Other main roles or workspace templates

The standard or main role of the user is used for assessing the workspace configuration. Additional roles for that user are not taken into consideration for the workspace. If the user's main role changes, then she must log off and on again in order for the new role to take effect.

The new role also changes the configuration of her workspace. Other resource replace variants will then apply according to the new role. In addition, censhare will select a different workspace template based on the new roles.  

The changes saved in the user workspace will still refer to the workspace configuration with the previous role. If the user logs in with the new role, censhare applies the resource events saved in the user workspace to the new workspace structure, to the extent this is possible.  The other resource events are discarded by censhare.  

At this point, the workspace may look a bit different to the user. For a clean change with the new role, we, therefore, recommend that the user reset her workspace. Alternatively, the administrator can delete the user workspace asset. That will result in a new asset being created on the next login.