Administering SAS Web Application Themes

Migrating Custom Themes

SAS 9.2 includes significant updates to the theme infrastructure. In addition to introducing the templating mechanism, changes were made to enable more SAS Web applications to support themes. To apply a custom theme that you developed for an earlier release to SAS 9.2 Web applications, follow these steps:

Create a new theme structure. For information about creating a work area in which to construct the new version of your existing theme, see Step 2: Create a Work Area for the Theme.
Migrate the cascading style sheets used in your theme.
Migrate the images used in your theme.
Migrate the theme templates.
Migrate the descriptors used in your theme.

Migrating Cascading Style Sheets

Before attempting to move any CSS files from an existing theme to the \themes\theme-name\styles subdirectory of the work area for the new theme, you should first review the specifications for the SAS 9.2 Default theme at SAS-configuration-directory\Lev1Web\Utilities\SASThemeExtensions\specs\Default\index.html. For any feature for which a component key has been defined, you should update the corresponding component key values in the CSS template (.vtl) files in the \Velocity\Stylesheets\Common\contexts\themes\theme-name, \Velocity\Stylesheets\Components\contexts\themes\theme-name, and \Velocity\Stylesheets\WRS\contexts\themes\theme-name subdirectories of the work area to achieve a compatible look and feel.

Custom style sheet files are required only if you need to provide theme support to features that are not covered by the CSS templates. For each style sheet file that you add, you must ensure that a corresponding STYLESHEET element is added to in the appropriate theme descriptor template (.vtl) file in the \Velocity\ThemeDescriptors\contexts\custom\theme-name subdirectory of the work area for the new theme. The STYLESHEET element must specify the value all for its PRODUCT= attribute.

Migrating Images

Before attempting to move any image files from an existing theme to the \themes\theme-name\images subdirectory of the work area for the new theme, see the image specifications for the SAS 9.2 Default theme at SAS-configuration-directory\Lev1\Web\Utilities\SASThemeExtensions\specs\Default\index.html. If the image from the existing theme replaces one of the images in the new theme, then you should ensure that the image from the existing theme is saved over the default image in the proper directory under the \themes\theme-name\images subdirectory. If the image from the existing theme does not replace an image in new theme, save it in the \themes\theme-name\images\Common subdirectory.

For each image file that you update or add, you must ensure that a corresponding IMAGE element is present in the appropriate theme descriptor template (.vtl) file in the \Velocity\ThemeDescriptors\contexts\custom\theme-name subdirectory of the work area for the new theme.

Migrating Theme Templates

Before attempting to move any theme template files from an existing theme to the \themes\theme-name\templates subdirectory of the work area for the new theme, you should consider carefully whether they are compatible with SAS 9.2 Web applications. SAS Web applications rely on the theme template structure being consistent with the versions that are shipped with the software. Theme templates must have the expected set of dynamic substitution variables in order for the applications to function properly.

Migrating Theme Descriptors

The theme descriptor template (.vtl) files in the \Velocity\ThemeDescriptors\contexts\custom\theme-name subdirectory of the work area for the new theme should represent the structure of the migrated theme resources. Review the files to ensure the following:

If you add cascading style sheet files to provide theme support for features that are not covered by CSS templates, ensure that you add corresponding new STYLESHEET elements to the STYLES section.
For each image file that you update or add, ensure that you update or add a corresponding IMAGE element in the IMAGES sections.
If you migrate existing theme template files, ensure that you update or add a corresponding TEMPLATE element in the TEMPLATES sections to reflect the change.

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