Chapter 19
Adding a User Interface to Your Component
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?
- Outlining key steps to create a UI for your component
- Using the IDtsComponentUI interface
- Creating your first custom user UI
Now that you have learned how to extend the pipeline with your own custom components, the next step is to improve the user experience and efficiency by adding a user interface (Ul). This will be demonstrated using the Reverse String example from the previous chapter.
Pipeline Components do not require the developer to provide a user interface, because the components ship with a default interface called the Advanced Editor. Although this saves time and resources, the overall user experience can be poor. It can increase package development time and requires the user to have an intimate knowledge of the component in order to be able to correctly set the required columns and properties. Using the default interface can lead to data integrity problems, because the more complex the configuration required, the more acute the lack of suitable prompts and real-time validation becomes, making configuration tedious and error prone. For simple components, however, the built-in Advanced Editor, used by several stock components, is perfectly acceptable. For complex components with multiple inputs, the Advanced Editor will not be suitable.
If you want to add that extra style and guidance for the end user, though, this chapter is for you. You will learn how to add a user interface to a component, ...
