Accessing the DXF Development Tool

Too use the development tool, you must be running Aspire. The tool is accessed via the debug console and can be accessed using a web browser, by navigating to http://myAspireServer:myPort/aspire?cmd=testDxf

 (2.0 Release)   In 2.x use the following link: http://localhost:50505/aspire/files/testdxf.html

This should display the following page:

Entering the DXF & properties

You can enter DXF & properties by typing or cutting and pasting in to the text areas on the page. If you need more space, you can resize the text areas or minimise the text area using the - icon next to the label.

You don't need to enter the properties. If you don't, or the XML structure does not match the structure of your template, the template will still display, but will not be populated and will use any default values you have used.

Rendering the DXF

When you have entered the template and properties you want, click the Render DXF button. This will cause a dialog to be displayed, using your DXF template. If you've entered properties, these will be used to initialise the template, and the form will appear populated.

You can then use the form as you would in an application and all selection/pull down/input elements should function. You can now test that your template looks and functions are you require.

Writing Data

When the form is displayed, you'll notice a Write Data button at the bottom of the dialog. If you click this, the dialog will close, and the data contained on the form will be written to the Properties text area. NOTE: One side effect of this is that the next time you render the form, it will be initialise with this data.

Closing the form

If you don't want to write the data, you can close the form by clicking the X icon on the top right of the dialog.

Errors

If your template or properties are invalid, you'll see an error. Errors are displayed in one of two ways

XML errors

If the XML you use is invalid, you'll see an error message above the text areas when you click Render DXF:

You can expand the error by clicking the more link:

NOTE: Typically the most detailed error is at the bottom of the stack trace

JavaScript errors

Your template can cause a JavaScript error (typically if the template is missing but you may have discovered a bug - well done you!). Javascript errors are reported is an alert box:

If it's not obvious what the issue is, please get in touch for support.