AX1242

Customizing the Axiom ribbon tab

Axiom Software provides a built-in Axiom ribbon tab to provide access to Axiom functionality. By default, this tab is assigned as a startup file for the Everyone role in security, and is configured to display to all users in all circumstances. If desired you can do any of the following:

  • Customize the contents of the Axiom Designer ribbon tab
  • Create different versions of the tab and assign them to different users and roles
  • Disable the tab for certain users and roles

IMPORTANT: If you choose to customize the Axiom ribbon tab, it is possible that you could inadvertently create an environment where no users can access a certain feature, because that feature is no longer available on any menu. You should take care to ensure that administrators always have access to the full set of Axiom features. If you are customizing a version of the Axiom ribbon tab that is meant for administrators, and you choose to remove a feature from that tab, you should make sure that feature is available to administrators in some other way—either in another custom ribbon tab or task pane that is available for administrator use, or in the Axiom right-click menu.

Default behavior

When a new system is created, or when an older system is upgraded, a copy of the Axiom ribbon tab is placed in the root of the Ribbon Tabs Library, using the file name AxiomMain.AXL. This copy is listed as a startup ribbon tab for the Everyone role.

NOTE: You can rename the file and/or move it into a subfolder without breaking the existing startup configuration. For example, you may want to create a Startup subfolder in the Ribbon Tabs Library to hold all of the ribbon tabs that are configured to open at startup.

This custom ribbon tab replaces the old system-controlled Axiom ribbon tab. Using a custom ribbon tab for the Axiom tab allows clients to fully customize the Axiom menu as desired. If you do not want to customize the Axiom menu, then you can leave the ribbon tab as is.

Customizing the contents of the Axiom tab

You can customize the contents of the Axiom ribbon tab by modifying the AxiomMain.AXL file, or by copying the file and creating different versions for different user audiences. You can add features to the tab, reorganize the tab, or remove features from the tab. For more information on creating and editing ribbon tabs in general, see Ribbon tabs.

The built-in Axiom ribbon tab is designed using Axiom Managed Group commands. These group commands correspond to the groups (sections) on the default Axiom ribbon, such as Administration, File Options, and File Output. When a group command is used, all features that are part of that group are automatically included on the ribbon. For more information, see Axiom Managed Group commands.

NOTE: A few groups in the default Axiom ribbon tab are not built using group commands. The File Groups group is always customized per installation and therefore does not have a defined set of commands. The Reports group and the Exit group do not have group commands because there is only one button in each group.

The benefit of using managed group commands is that the contents of the group will remain in sync with the default Axiom ribbon. This means that if Axiom Software adds a new feature to the File Options group in a future release, then any custom ribbon tabs (or task panes) that use the managed File Options group will automatically update to display that new feature. If instead you decide to customize your ribbon tab so that the File Options group consists of individual commands instead of the managed group command, then your ribbon tab would not automatically update for the new feature. You would have to manually edit your ribbon tab to add it.

Keep in mind the following when customizing the contents of the Axiom ribbon tab:

  • It is recommended to use Axiom Managed Group commands whenever it makes sense to do so, because this will make it easier to access new features in the future.

  • Use caution before removing entire groups from the ribbon tab. Remember that if a user does not have any access to any items in a particular group, then that group will not display on the ribbon.

    For example, it is not necessary to remove the Administration group from a ribbon tab if you do not want end users to see it, because by default it will not display to those users anyway. But if you choose to remove it, then any end users who do have special security permissions to certain administration features will now have no way to access those features. You should either leave the Administration group on the ribbon and rely on security permissions to hide or show it as necessary, or make sure that you identify those end users who need special access to certain features and assign them a different version of the ribbon tab that contains those features.

  • If you absolutely need to customize the contents of a group, then the easiest way to begin is to "convert" the group to its individual items. You can convert a group by right-clicking it and selecting Convert group to individual items. This conversion process removes the group command from the ribbon and replaces it with a collection of individual commands that are configured to match the way those commands display in the group. You can then remove individual commands from the group, or change the configuration of these commands, or add different commands to the group.

Example customization

Many clients have requested the ability to create different menus for administrators versus end users. You can do this by creating different versions of the Axiom ribbon tab and then assigning them to different users and roles.

Imagine that you do not want your end users to have access to the Snapshot feature on the default Axiom ribbon tab. You can do the following:

  • Create a copy of AxiomMain.AXL and name it something like AxiomEndUser.AXL.

  • Modify AxiomEndUser.AXL to remove the Snapshot feature:

    • Right-click the File Output group, then select Convert group to individual items.

    • A warning message informs you that the group will no longer be system-managed. After clicking OK to continue, there is now a regular top-level item with a Group Name of File Output, followed by child items for each feature in that group.

    • In the converted File Output group, right-click the items for Snapshot and E-mail and then click Delete. (The E-mail Workbook feature also allows taking a snapshot, so you would need to remove both items if you wanted to completely remove the feature from the ribbon.)

  • Modify Axiom security so that end users are now assigned the AxiomEndUser.AXL ribbon tab as a startup file instead of AxiomMain.AXL.

    The way that you do this will depend on how your security is set up. If all of your end users belong to certain roles, then you can assign AxiomEndUser.AXL to those roles. You can then modify the configuration of the Everyone role so that AxiomMain.AXL only displays to administrators. Or, you could remove AxiomMain.AXL from the Everyone role entirely, and instead assign it to an administrator role or individual administrator users.

When you assign a ribbon tab as a startup file, remember to set the Axiom Tab Name. If you do not define the Axiom Tab Name, then the tab will use the file name (in this case, AxiomEndUser).

Restoring the default Axiom ribbon tab

If you modify the default AxiomMain.AXL file and then later you decide that you want to restore the file to its original configuration, a copy of the default file is always available in \Axiom\Axiom System\Document Templates\Sample Ribbon Tabs.

Keep in mind that if you delete the copy in the Ribbon Tabs Library and then replace it with a copy from the sample folder, you will need to reconfigure your security settings to point to the new file (because startup shortcuts are based on document ID, not on file name and location). Alternatively you can import the default file over the copy in the Ribbon Tabs Library. To do this in Axiom Explorer:

  • Right-click the default file in the Sample Task Panes folder, and select Export to save it to your local file system.
  • Right-click the Task Panes Library and select Import Files to import the file from your local file system. This will overwrite the existing file if they both have the same name, and retain the document ID.

IMPORTANT: If your system is accidentally put in a state where an administrator cannot access necessary system features using the Axiom ribbon tab (or if the Axiom ribbon tab does not display at all for an administrator), administrators can correct the situation by accessing Axiom Explorer from the File menu in the Windows Client: File > Launch Axiom Explorer. From here an administrator can perform actions such as editing their assigned ribbon tab to add the necessary features, or they can create a temporary task pane to provide access to features such as Security (for example, if the administrator does not currently have an assigned ribbon tab and cannot access Security to assign one).

Disabling the Axiom tab for certain users and roles

In rare cases, clients may want to disable the Axiom tab entirely for certain users or roles. Typically this would only be done if you intend to provide access to all necessary functionality using a custom task pane instead of a ribbon tab.

To do this, you would remove AxiomMain.AXL from the Everyone role and instead assign it only to the users and roles that need it (or you could adjust the configuration on the Everyone role so that the ribbon tab only displays to administrators). Any users and roles who are not assigned a ribbon tab would need to be assigned a custom task pane that is set up with all of the functionality they need.