<content> Element
This element defines a reference content file.
Parent Elements
Attributes
| Name | Type | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| fileName | string | The file name of the content file. If this is not specified as an absolute path (i.e., it includes a drive letter or UNC server name), then it is assumed to be relative to the directory configured via baseDirectory of <referenceContent> Element (for line). Variable placeholders and some wildcards are supported (see the remarks below). See the remarks below for a list of supported file types and other requirements. |
Yes |
| unitModelNum | string | The unit model number(s) to which this content file applies. Wildcards are supported. If this is not specified, this content file will apply to all unit model numbers. | No |
| unitSerialNum | string | The unit serial number(s) to which this content file applies. Wildcards are supported. If this is not specified, this content file will apply to all unit serial numbers. | No |
Child Elements
| Name | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| parameters | Defines additional parameters specific to each file type. | No |
Remarks
fileName can contain variable placeholders. The following variable placeholders are supported:
| Placeholder | Gets Replaced By |
|---|---|
@unitSerialNumber@ |
the unit serial number |
@unitModelNumber@ |
the unit model number |
@unitModelNumberAlias@ |
the unit model number alias |
fileName can contain the following wildcards:
| Wildcard | Matches |
|---|---|
* |
zero to many characters, not including directory separators |
** |
arbitrary directory depth |
When wildcards are used, the first matching file found will be used. If no matching file is found, then the result will be as if this content does not apply.
Reference content files must be referenced via one of two methods:
- The file can be stored at a location only accessible to Acuit Pinpoint Server, in which case client workstations will retrieve the file from Acuit Pinpoint Server via an Acuit Pinpoint API before it is displayed.
- The file can be stored at a location accessible to the client workstations, in which case the client workstations will access the file directly to display it.
The following parameter is supported by all content types and is used to specify which method is used for a particular content file:
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
retrieveFile |
boolean | Whether the file needs to be retrieved from the Acuit Pinpoint Server before displaying. If not specified, this defaults to true, unless a specific content type indicates otherwise below. When this is false, the file path for a reference content file is assumed to be location that is accessible to the client. |
When retrieveFile is true for a reference content file:
- The configured effective file path should be relative to Acuit Pinpoint Server.
- The account under which Acuit Pinpoint Server is running must have read access to the file.
- When a client workstation needs to display the content file, it will first retrieve the file from Acuit Pinpoint Server via an Acuit Pinpoint API call.
When retrieveFile is false for a reference content file:
- The configured effective file path should be relative to the client workstations. This will typically be a path on a network share or a web URL for web content.
- When on a network share, the account under which the client workstation is running must have read access to the file.
- When a client workstation needs to display the content file, it will access the file directly from the configured location.
Supported Content Types
The following content file types are supported. Usually, the appropriate file viewer is determined by the file extension of the reference content file, although exceptions are noted below.
Text (.txt, .log, .dat)
Files are displayed word-wrapped horizontally, with vertical scrolling.
This encoding of the text file will be automatically detected based on the presence of byte order marks. It automatically recognizes UTF-8, little-endian UTF-16, big-endian UTF-16, little-endian UTF-32, and big-endian UTF-32 text if the file starts with the appropriate byte order marks.
If the file does not contain byte order marks, then UTF-8 is assumed. Note that ASCII files are compatible with UTF-8.
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
The first page (by default) will be displayed, with the page scaled to fit the display region. Paging, panning, and zooming are supported via the mouse and keyboard. The following special parameters are supported:
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
horizontalScrollOffset |
floating-point | The initial position of the horizontal scroll bar, in device-independent pixels. If not specified, this defaults to 0, the leftmost position. |
page |
integer | Which page number to display. When this is specified, all other pages are removed before displaying the document. |
scale |
floating-point | The size of the PDF file being displayed relative to its original size. When not defined, the PDF will be sized to fit the PDF viewer. |
showNavigationPane |
boolean | Whether to display a navigation pane showing bookmarks in the PDF document. When not defined, the navigation pane will not be shown. |
showToolbar |
boolean | Whether to display a toolbar that allows adjusting the view. When not defined, the toolbar will not be shown. |
verticalScrollOffset |
floating-point | The initial position of the vertical scroll bar, in device-independent pixels. If not specified, this defaults to 0, the topmost position. |
Note: "device-independent pixels" are 96 pixels per inch, which may or may not reflect actual pixels or actual measurements on the screen, depending on device and system settings.
Open XML Paper Specification (.xps, .oxps)
Images (.bmp, .gif, .ico, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .wdp, .tiff, .tif)
HTML (.html, .htm, .mht, .mhtml, or a file path that starts with http or https)
The following special parameters are supported:
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
showNavigationControls |
boolean | Whether to show back and forward navigation buttons. If not specified, this defaults to false. |
Microsoft Edge is used to render the file content and must be installed on the workstation PC.
Rich Text Format (.rtf)
Multimedia (video/audio; e.g., .mpg, .wmv, .mp3, .wav)
Windows Media components are used, so all formats supported by Windows Media are supported; additional codecs can be installed on the Acuit Pinpoint Workstation computers as necessary. The following special parameters are supported:
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
autoPlay |
boolean | Whether to automatically start playing the media. If not specified, this defaults to true. |
Excel Workbooks (.xlsx, .xls, .csv)
The workbook content will be displayed using a built-in read-only Excel workbook viewer. The viewer is interactive, allowing users to switch between different sheets, scroll, and select cells. A status bar will be shown at the bottom allowing users to change the zoom level. Any attempt to edit the workbook will result in an error message saying that the sheet is protected.
The following Excel features are not supported:
- Shapes, icons, 3D models, text boxes, text art, equations, and objects from other applications. If an Excel document contains any of these, they will not be displayed.
Using Excel workbooks as reference content files is generally not recommended because the precise formatting of the output can vary depending on various settings at each workstation, and this can sometimes result in output that isn't completely readable, such as columns that are too narrow or rows that are too short to display cell content completely. While Excel can be used to author content, it is recommended to export to some file format more appropriate for presentation for use as the reference content. Exporting to HTML and then using the HTML content viewer is recommended.