We all know that .xlf is the file extension for all Xcelsius source files. However, did you ever wonder what an XLF file is comprised of? How is it built behind the scenes? Here is an interesting post by Fernando Ferrer from Clear Peaks.
According to Fernando, the XLF file is made out of 3 different files/folders. You can extract them by simply renaming the file extension from .xlf to .zip and extracting the same into a folder.
On a bright Sunday morning, it just clicked to me and I thought, why not. I will leave this for you all to figure it out. Please use the comments section to let me know how would you create this simulation in Xcelsius. I will definitely share the code, however I would like to see your approach first. Just to give you a hint, I’m using the color binding property that came along with the new SP3. Here is a blown up version of the same.
Update: 13 Apr 2010
Here is an Austrian version of Traffic Lights. Thanks to Jesse Aden.
Here is a blown up version of the same.
Xcelsius SP3 was a major release from SAP. It is by far the best Service pack SAP has ever released for Xcelsius. It’s like a breath of fresh air for all existing Xcelsius developers who were working with alternative workarounds to achieve a specific functionality that was not out of box prior to SP3.
Although SP3 introduced a bunch of useful new components and features, there are few things that could have been better. One among them is Chart Data Labels. One of the major enhancements was with the Charting engine. Introduction of data labels was a great enhancement, however it is impractical without a fixed label size option. If you observe the below SWF, you will know what I’m talking about.
If you are an experienced Xcelsius developer, you know what I’m talking about when I say “Fixed Label Size”. However, If you are a novice in Xcelsius, don’t worry, here is a short intro. Continue reading →
Ever wondered how to create pop ups in Xcelsius? Here is a short video that I recorded to demonstrate the same. I was able to achieve this using the Push Button component which is one of the new components that came along with Xcelsius SP3. Although it looks like a simple selector component , the Push Button can be very powerful when put to good use. Prior to SP3, this could have been possible with a toggle button, however it was an alternative approach rather than a straight forward one.
Pop ups can be a great feature in Dashboards as you can save a lot of screen real estate and also shift the user focus when you want their attention to be drawn to a detail. Using pop ups you can make your dashboard even more interactive.
Video after the jump!
I’m sure you were all excited after exploring the new features and components of Xcelsius SP3 which was released later last year. It has been more than 3 months now and SAP had decided to release a Fix Pack for it. It’s the first Fix Pack for SP3 and is called Fix Pack 3.1. Like all other Fix Packs, you need to have Xcelsius SP3 already installed on your client machine before installing Fix Pack 3.1. If you don’t have SP3 installed, click here for instructions. Also, a word of caution while downloading the Fix Pack, make sure you download the correct version. When you go to the downloads page you will find 2 variants:
Please use the following instructions to download Xcelsius Fix Pack 3.1:
Once installed, the version number should change from 5.3.0.0 to 5.3.1.0.
SAP had not yet published any document on fixed issues or new enhancements yet. However, we will try our best to give you our first impressions in the subsequent post. Subscribe now and you will never miss it.
Update 03/22/2010: The fixed issues PDF is out there to download.
