XIML blog

Blend mode can be applied to any element.

Usage example:

<el elem=”examp_el_set” x=”37%” y=”20″ w=”10%” blendMode=”darken” />

Available blend modes and descriptions:
add Commonly used to create an animated lightening dissolve effect between two images.
alpha Commonly used to apply the transparency of the foreground on the background.
darken Commonly used to superimpose type.
difference Commonly used to create more vibrant colors.
erase Commonly used to cut out (erase) part of the background using the foreground alpha.
hardlight Commonly used to create shading effects.
invert Used to invert the background.
layer Used to force the creation of a temporary buffer for precomposition for a particular movie clip.
lighten Commonly used to superimpose type.
multiply Commonly used to create shadows and depth effects.
normal Used to specify that the pixel values of the blend image override those of the base image.
overlay Commonly used to create shading effects.
screen Commonly used to create highlights and lens flares.
subtract Commonly used to create an animated darkening dissolve effect between two images.

Filters can be applied to any element.

Available filters are : BevelFilter , BlurFilter , DropShadowFilter , GlowFilter
(more…)

Here is the list of all major datatypes to date with usage examples.
Some older examples may have a bit different attribute, please ignore and use as here.

Datatypes example:

example DX:

<homepage ex_attr=”attr val”>
<ex__data__subxml>sub node text</ex__data__subxml>
  <ex__data>
    <somepath>
      <somepath2 someattr="xpath and attribute text">
        xpath and value text
      </somepath2>
    </somepath>
  </ex__data>
<homepage>

usage in CX:

	datatype=”static” dataval=”actual value”

value hardcoded in CX (text – ”actual value”)

	datatype=”attr” dataattr=”ex_attr”

value located at the attribute of the main tag (text – ”attr val”)

	datatype=” subxml” subname=”ex__data__subxml”

sub xml tag with specified name
(xml tag – <ex__data__subxml>sub node text</ex__data__subxml>)

	datatype=” subxmlval” subname=”ex__data__subxml”

value of sub xml tag with specified name (text – ”sub node text”)

	datatype="xpath" dataxpath="/*/ex__data/somepath/somepath2"

sub xml tag with specified Xpath
(xml tag – <somepath2 someattr=”xpath and attribute text”>xpath and value text</somepath2>)

	datatype="xpathNval" dataxpath="/*/ex__data/somepath/somepath2"

value of sub xml tag with specified Xpath (text – ” xpath and value text”)

	datatype="xpathNattr" dataxpath="/*/ex__data/somepath/somepath2" dataattr="someattr"

value of sub xml tag with specified Xpath (text – ” xpath and attribute text”)

<el          …. … …   datatype="concat”          >
  <datavals>
    <d	datatype=” subxmlval”  subname=”ex__data__subxml”	/>
    <d	datatype=”static”		dataval=” --- :: --- ”		/>
    <d	datatype=”attr”			dataattr=”ex_attr”			/>
  </datavals>
</el>

concatenated values (text – ”sub node text — :: — attr val”)

Element eltype="rect" just been upgraded!

The new functionality includes the ability to specify gradient – changing color.

To use single-colored rectangle, keep using the old format:

<el eltype="rect" x="0" y="0" x2="R" y2="B" r="5"
c="0x006699" a="100" />

For gradient, use:

<el eltype="rect" x="0" y="0" x2="R" y2="B" r="5"
	c1="0x006699" c2="0x003366" dir="90" a="100" />

where:

• c1 – starting color
• c2 – ending color
• dir – direction of gradient (in degrees) – 0 is left to right, 90 – top to bottom, etc

When page has defined closing animation (<clanim> tag) it needs some time for it to execute.

To specify a time for page to close before it disappears, use close_time=”1″ in the page definition (the time in seconds).

For example see http://ximl.com/site/exanim
configuration – http://ximl.com/sites/exanim/conf.xml

We had some animation effects that were executed on the element creation or removal but we hugely extended the possibility by allowing you to much more control over what you can achieve.

Now you can specify what parameter you would like to tween, what is the starting value, ending value, when the tween suppose to start and for how long it should work! And you can specify any number of such commands!!!

To do that, add node <opanim> (for opening animation) and <clanim> (for closing) to any element you would like to apply it to.

for example:

<el eltype="rect" x="100" y="100" w="300" h="200" c="0x456789" a="100" >
	<opanim>
		<ae par="_alpha" fr="0" to="100" st="0" ln="1" />
		<ae par="_xscale" fr="10" to="100" st="2" ln="2" />
		<ae par="_xscale" fr="100" to="10" st="1" ln="1" />
	</opanim>
</el>

We added additional general attributes that could be applied to any element.

• _alpha=”80″ : defines transparency on the entire element (in %)
• _rotation=”30″ : rotates the entire element (in degrees)

We looking forward to see some fancy angled design you’ll come up with.

Our examples are coming soon.

XIML has an option to display (or not) some areas based on content in data file.

The element that used for that is eltype=”if_cond” and it is acting as “elem_group” if displayed or completely ignored otherwise.

We added more conditions recently and at the moment the full list is:

• cond_type=”eq_attr” cond_attr=”lazy” cond_val=”fox” : block displayed if attribute”lazy” of the current data node is “fox”
• cond_type=”ne_attr” cond_attr=”lazy” cond_val=”fox” : block displayed if attribute”lazy” of the current data node is NOT “fox”
• cond_type=”eq_nodeName” cond_val=”fox” : block displayed if node name of the current data node is “fox”
• cond_type=”ne_nodeName” cond_val=”fox” : block displayed if node name of the current data node is NOT “fox”

• cond_type=”isval_node” cond_path=”/*/fox” : block displayed if there is a node exist with XPath “/*/fox” relatively to the current data node
• cond_type=”isnotval_node” cond_path=”/*/fox” : block displayed if there is NO node exist with XPath “/*/fox” relatively to the current data node
• cond_type=”isval_attr” cond_attr=”lazy” : block displayed if attribute”lazy” of the current data node is exist and not empty
• cond_type=”isnotval_attr” cond_attr=”lazy” : block displayed if attribute”lazy” of the current data node is NOT exist or empty

usage example:

<el eltype="if_cond" cond_type="isval_node" cond_path="/*/cx" x="0"
yrel="prevrel+10" w="100%" h="100%">
	<el style="txt_pg_hdr_med" txt="Config"/>
	<el style="txt_pg_code" subname="cx"/>
</el>

Following elements can have scroll: text, sel_4state, elem_group.
To use it, specify attribute scrl=”yes” in the element.
Then you can use default scroll or fully configure it for your needs.
The default scroll is:

<scroll>
  <conf  scroll_step="50" scroll_step_time="0.3"/> 

  <bg eltype="elem_group"  x="R+3" y="12"  w="7" y2="B-12" >
    <el eltype="bord"  x="0" y="0"  x2="R" y2="B"  c="0xcccccc" a="100" r="0"  t="0.5" />
  </bg> 

  <sld  eltype="el__2state"  x="R+3" y="12"  w="7" y2="B-12" >
    <el>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="0" y="0"  x2="R" y2="B"  c="0x999999" a="100" r="0"  />
    </el>
    <elov>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="0" y="0"  x2="R" y2="B"  c="0x333333" a="100" r="0"  />
    </elov>
  </sld> 

  <bar eltype="elem_group"  x="R+3" y="12"  w="7" y2="B-12" >
    <el eltype="rect"  x="0" y="0"  x2="R" y2="B"  c="0x3333cc" a="0" r="0"  />
  </bar> 

  <btn_up eltype="el__2state"  x="R+3" y="0"  w="7" h="10" >
    <el>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="-2" y="-2"  x2="R+2" y2="B+2"  c="0xcccccc" a="0" r="0" />
      <el eltype="triang"  x1="0" y1="B"  x2="R" y2="B"  x3="C" y3="0"    c="0x999999" a="100" />
    </el>
    <elov>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="-2" y="-2"  x2="R+2" y2="B+2"  c="0xcccccc" a="0" r="0" />
      <el eltype="triang"  x1="0" y1="B"  x2="R" y2="B"  x3="C" y3="0"    c="0x333333" a="100" />
    </elov>
  </btn_up> 

  <btn_down eltype="el__2state" x="R+3" y="B-10" w="7" h="10">
    <el>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="-2" y="-2"  x2="R+2" y2="B+2"  c="0xcccccc" a="0" r="0" />
      <el eltype="triang"  x1="0" y1="0"  x2="R" y2="0"  x3="C" y3="B"    c="0x999999" a="100" />
    </el>
    <elov>
      <el eltype="rect"  x="-2" y="-2"  x2="R+2" y2="B+2"  c="0xcccccc" a="0" r="0" />
      <el eltype="triang"  x1="0" y1="0"  x2="R" y2="0"  x3="C" y3="B"    c="0x333333" a="100" />
    </elov>
  </btn_down>
</scroll>

<conf – scroll configuration (optional). By default, scroll_step is 50 (pixels) for sel_4state, elem_group and 3 (lines) for text. scroll_step_time is 0.3 sec by default.

<bg – graphics, background, etc.

<sld – slider. It will be resized to a required height.

<bar – specifies “operational” area for slider movement.

<btn_up – button for scroll up.

<btn_down – button for scroll down.

It is possible to apply a mask to any element.
It can be useful for creating non-rectangular shapes or prevent other elements to run out its borders.

To use:

• in the element definition add an attribute mask=”true”
• add sub xml to the element :

<el eltype="plugin" x="0" y="0" w="100%" h="100%" size="no" datatype="xml" attr="engurl" mask="true" >
  <mask>
    <el eltype="rect" x="0" y="0" w="100%" h="100%" c="0xcccccc" />
  </mask>
</el>

The element formed in the el/mask/ area will define a mask on the rest of the element its applied to.

For example, see source code at
http://ximl.com/sites/ximl_tabs1/conf.xml

It is possible to define custom elements once and use it through the entire site.
It is possible to use custom elements inside another custom element.
It is possible to use styles inside custom elements.

To define: in the configuration file, in /website/config/sys/elems, define custom element called TopNav_el_nrm

<TopNav_el_nrm eltype="elem_group" x="0" y="0" x2="R" y2="B" >
	<el eltype="rect" x="4" y="0" x2="R-4" y2="B" c="0xdddddd" a="100" />
	<el style="TopNav_txt_nrm" x="20" />
</TopNav_el_nrm>

To use:

<el elem="TopNav_el_nrm" />

As with styles, it is possible to overwrite any attribute when using the custom element.

For example, see source code at
http://ximl.com/sites/ximl_tabs1/conf.xml