The skins are scripts that render the objects. They are programs that take the data from objects and use it to create the code (HTML, JavaScript, CSS) that web browsers can render and display.
Skins are based on the objects types and can be applied only for the specified object type. If there is a Text skin it will be applicable only for text object and it will be not possible to be applied to another type of object, let’s say an Image for example.
For most of the components there are default skins that are applied by default when the object is created. If there are other skins for that type of object, they will be visible and can be chosen from the top right dropdown menu in Object manager. That makes SEEEMS very flexible to change layouts or add new layouts.
List with skins for Text object
Skins can be viewed and edited in BackOffice Layout section. They are placed inside the Skins folder of the different templates.
List with skins in Layout section
Skins are used for rendering template objects as well as content objects.
There are Handler skins that are used to handle Ajax calls and can be configured to return JSON or XML.
Handler/Ajax skins
Skins can be modularized into sub skins. This means that a skin can call and execute other skins.
SEEEMS supports Apache Velocity and Razor as Skin languages. Velocity is a very simple scripting language that can be used with very basic programming skills. Razor is part of the Microsoft development environment. Using it requires basic knowledge of Microsoft programming technologies. Technically speaking, the advantage is that it executes very fast as it is compiled to .Net code and not interpreted at runtime. This means Razor skins are much faster than Velocity skins.
SEEEMS objects provide an interface for Skins to access their data. Additional utilities are provided in so called Helpers. The property editor for Velocity skins provides menus to add these methods and Velocity directives. In addition to the standard directives SEEEMS provides custom directives that provide for debugging. For efficient Razor skin development SEEEMS can be run in context of Visual Studio.
Skin Methods and Helpers menus
SEEEMS contains a set of standard skins that are delivered with the base system and can be used as they are to create a website with sophisticated layout and functions.