Resources

As was stated above, utilizing resources on a Calendar Display is similar to the idea of applying dynamic grouping. You identify a column to use as the resource and the calendar color-codes the calendar items based upon the value in that column.

To achieve this result, the builder sets a number of properties on the Display Wizard’s Resources page.

Resources column

The column to reference as the resources. This is set to None by default, but is often set to the Item Source List, Item Source Site, or Assigned To.

If you keep the default of None, all of the items are shown in the same color and the end user cannot dynamically filter using the checkboxes in the Resources area.

Resources title

The resources are shown on the user interface to the left of the calendar, with a default heading of the name of the column selected above. If you want to use a different heading, type the desired heading here.

Hide resources area

Select this checkbox if you do not want to show the resources listing on the left side of this view. The items can still be color-coded by resource, whether or not this checkbox is selected.

Hide resources section if only one resource

When this checkbox is selected and there is only one resource value, the resource will not be named in the Resources area on the left side of the calendar.

Resources Color Options

When the Theme radio button is selected and an option is made from the drop-down, each item on the calendar will be shown with a color background that corresponds to its resource value. A variety of themes are available.

When the One color radio button is selected, the single color selected here is applied to all of the items on the calendar, regardless of the resource value. The resources are still listed to the left of the calendar, so the end user can use the checkboxes in that area to dynamically filter the results.

Alternatively, v11 offers the ability to define a custom color set for Resources via a property called “Resources color XML or file location.” The builder can use this property to identify either the desired XML or a URL where the XML is located. Colors can be identified either by name or by hexadecimal value. Sample XML might look like this:

<dataset>

<table>

<value>Not Started</value>

<color>red</color>

</table>

<table>

<value>In Progress</value>

<color>#CCDDFF</color>

</table>

</dataset>

If you wish to identify a URL, the format is [file]=url. The full path must be identified. So, if the XML is located in a document library on your server, then the URL should look something like this:

[file]=http://yoursite.com/sitecollectionname/docLibraryName/yourxmlfile.xml

NOTE: The XML must be located at the same site as the Calendar Display.

Sort resources

The resource list shown to the left of the calendar is sorted in ascending order by default. The builder can change this to sort in descending order, or remove the mark from this checkbox and have the resources listed in the order in which they are found.

These properties allow you to achieve a number of different results on the user interface. The table below explains some of these.