Management Center user interface

Here is the Management Center user interface at a glance.

Each part of the Management Center user interface, as well as the areas that you can customize are defined following the screen capture:

1. Management Center menu. You can use this menu to open each Management Center tool, as well as access the Management Center Preferences dialog, getting started information, and WebSphere Commerce Accelerator. You can customize the Management Center menu by rearranging the layout or creating a new tool.
2. Tool tabs. Each Management Center tool opens in a separate tab.
3. Banner. The banner is the top area or header of the user interface, and identifies the Management Center user, the log out link, and the branding logo. This area also displays the names of the task and workspace when you are working on a task or content. You can customize the layout of the banner area. You can also customize the branding logo that is displayed within the banner area.
4. Store list. Switch to another store by selecting the down arrow next to your current store name. This list also contains a search option, which you can use to find a store. You cannot customize the Store list.
5. Find area. Search for objects by typing a keyword and selecting a search object type from a list. You can also select the advanced search option to refine your search. You can customize the search list indirectly by declaring search definitions. You can directly customize the advanced search option.
6. Menu bar. The Management Center includes four menus within the menu bar: File, Edit, View, and Help. All actions supported by the Management Center are within the menu bar. You cannot directly customize these menus. The items that appear in these menus are dependant on the object definitions declared for the Management Center tool that you are currently working in. You can add a new item to the New submenu; an option will appear for each creatable primary object definition. If you define custom services (wcfCustomService) or client actions for an object definition, those actions will appear under the Edit menu when an object of that type is selected. If you declare a navigation list for an object definition, those options will appear under the View menu when an object of that type is selected.
7. Toolbar. Click a button on the toolbar to quickly perform a task. The toolbar actions are a subset of the most common tasks you can perform using the Management Center. You cannot directly customize the toolbar, but you can declare a wcfPrimaryObjectDefinition to indicate the object type that you want to be available on the toolbar and the New submenu. You can also use wcfNavigationListDefinition to customize toolbar buttons to display different views of selected objects in the explorer view or the list view.
8. Explorer filter. You can customize the filter in the explorer view to display your top-level object. wcfTopObjectDefinition is the invisible root under which you can have organizational objects. You can also use wcfGetChildrenService to return a list of business objects that are children of the current business object. The filter affects the visibility of the child objects within the top object and determines which business objects are displayed in the explorer view. Even if you do not have a filter list, you must still declare a filter to indicate what to display in the explorer view. If there is only one filter, then no drop-down list is displayed. When defining the explorer view for a Management Center tool, you can customize the Filter list to provide a list of filter options that impact the types of objects displayed in the explorer view.
9. Explorer view. The explorer view allows you to navigate the objects with which you want to work. The entire frame is the explorer view. You can expand and collapse the nodes in the explorer tree to view and work with objects. For example, you can expand a catalog until you reach the SKU level. The explorer view always includes the Search Results node (to allow you to return to a list of results at any time) and Active Work node (to show the objects you currently have open). You cannot customize the Active Work node, but you can customize all of the items within this node.
10. Main work area. The Management Center main work area is controlled by what you have selected in the explorer view and is displayed in the middle (largest) area of the user interface. The main work area can display information in two views: list view or properties view. You can only split the main work area if a list view is open; if you only have a properties view open, no split is visible. If you split the main work area (horizontally or vertically), the list view and the properties view of the primary selected object are displayed.
11. List view. One of the two views displayed in the main work area. A list view lists objects in the form of a table. You can view the list and select a specific row to see more details. You can also reorder, hide, or show columns. If information is editable, you can click the cell and edit on the spot. To customize a Management Center list view, you can add a new column, change the name of an existing column, or delete a column. You cannot change the order of columns in the list view or customize the headers. You can add new widgets to display new properties in a list view.
12. Properties view. One of the two views displayed in the main work area. A properties view shows details about an object and is where you can edit the object. The properties view can contain entry fields, check boxes, radio buttons, lists, tables, pull-down sections, and tabs. You can access the properties view when you create a new object or open an existing object. For example, when you open an object from a list view or from the Browse tab in the utilities view. To customize the properties view, you can reorganize the contents, such as tabs, sections, or widgets and add or change options in drop-down lists. You can also add a new tab or remove a tab from the properties view and move content from an existing tab to a new tab. You can include various widgets within a Management Center properties view, such as a field, a rich text editor, a radio button, and so on. You can customize a properties view with a new or changed widget label (for example change a field called Name to say Description). To display new properties in the properties view you can add new widgets. You cannot customize headers in a properties view.
13. List view filter. You can filter a list view to display only specific information. For example, list only SKUs, or list everything but SKUs for the catalog. You can customize the items in the Filter list by adding or changing a list option used in an existing Filter list within a Management Center list view.
14. Status bar. The status bar is the bottom area or footer of the user interface, and includes messages, access to the messages console (by clicking the actual message), and a progress indicator. You can rearrange the layout of these elements in the Management Center status area.
15. Utilities view. The utilities view allows you to locate and use objects that you want to reference or use with your current object, without navigating away from the current view. For example, while editing a product, you want to include a reference to another product as a cross-sell item. Use the utilities view to search for merchandising association items, and then drag an item from the utilities view to merchandising association tab of the source product. The utilities view includes three functions: search (to find objects by a system search), browse (to find objects by looking within a directory structure or hierarchy), and clipboard (a container to hold objects for later use). In the Find tab, you can indirectly customize the table of search results by changing the name of the second column. You cannot add new columns or reorder the columns in this table. You can directly customize the Browse tab to control which items are displayed in the results list, based on the currently selected object. You cannot customize the look and order of the objects in the list, but you can customize the icon that is displayed for the objects.