Project tree

The project tree represents the documents which comprise the project. The tree is separated to Outline and Resources trees.

Outline

The outline tree describes the skeleton of the project. The outline can be modified at any time, documents can be added, removed and rearranged at will through the Project Manager. The outline’s tree root is the project node, which contains the project outline and properties which are global to the project.

The outline tree describes a hierarchy of documents, each document can be one of the following types: a page, a chapter, a test, or a test section. Any document type can be designed and can contain any type of content supported by Composica.

docNode Pages

Pages are the most primitive document types. Pages can’t contain other documents under them in the outline tree. Pages have several configurable properties.

folderNode Chapters

Chapters are pages which can also contain other documents. Chapters can be used to arrange other documents into blocks, and can be configured to be skipped from the project’s navigation in their properties.

testNode Tests

Tests are the outer pages holding test sections and pages. A test has many different properties unique to tests, which allow for tests to have scores and pass status determined.

sectionNode Test Sections

Tests can be made up of one or more test sections, which are another type of pages. Test sections can only be added inside tests, and contain the pages participating in the test. Similar to chapters, sections can be configured to be skipped from the project’s navigation in their properties.

Resources

The resource tree is a repository of different resources which can be used and reused by the project’s outline documents.

Resources can be one of the following types: master layers, dynamic layers, widgets, and standalones. Any resource type can be designed like any other document, and can contain any type of content supported by Composica.

masterNode Master Layers

Each document of the project can have a master layer assigned to it, either directly or inherited from its parent (see document properties). The master layer is shown behind the document, and can contain common project-wide elements, such as background, title, navigational elements and more.

If your project uses one of the system styles, it already has one of that style’s master layers. You can add more master layers from the system styles by using Project Manager > Manage > Add System Style.

As master layers can be reused by multiple documents, they can save precious development time in not having to make the same changes in multiple places. Any changes made to the master layer are immediately reflected in any document which uses it.

menuNode Dynamic Layers

Additionally to the master layer, each document of the project outline can have a dynamic layer assigned. A dynamic layer can either be shown behind or in front of the document, and has special settings which allow it to be applied only in specific scenarios, allowing it to be used to complement the master layer.

For example, a dynamic layer can be created with a tree menu, set to apply to chapter pages only, and assigned to the entire project. Such a simple setup would quickly add menus to all chapters and sections in the project, managed from a central document.

As dynamic layers can be reused by multiple documents, they can save precious development time in not having to make the same changes in multiple places. Any changes made to the dynamic layer are immediately reflected in any document which uses it.

widgetNode Widgets

Widget documents give the ability to create template document configurations, and can contain one or more elements, or an entire document, including all contents, formatting and properties.

Widgets can be quickly applied to the current document using Home > Apply Widget. Applying a widget copies it to the current document, and any changes made to the original widget will not be reflected after the widget has been applied.

popupNode Standalones

Standalone documents are normal documents, but they don’t participate in the project’s outline tree, don’t appear in navigation, and aren’t counted as part of the project’s completion objectives. Standalone documents can only be navigated to directly, using a Navigation Button set to the custom <Operation>, or opened in a lightbox or new window pop-up via the Popup Button.