App Builder User Interface

Sections of the App Builder

The App Builder contains four separate sections.

• General - covers basic information about the App

• Data - enables the attaching of data assets that can be swapped out

• Parameters - set configurable parameters that are sent as arguments to run the script

• Display Result After Run - choose output files to display in the main window

General

This section allows you to set the title for the application along with a short description of the App usage. Once this section is filled out, it will include an automatic link to anyREADME.mdfile contained within the capsule. It is recommended to create aREADME.mdfile along with the application to help users understand the functionality of the tool, the inputs and outputs of the application, and any additional necessary information.

The example below shows the completion of the General section. This capsule plots a sine function.

This description will not appear outside of build mode until data or parameters have been added to the capsule.

Data

Data consists of any data assets that can be attached to the capsule.

The capsule should be coded using data found in the mount point of the data asset selected in build mode.

Data assets that have been attached and set up outside the App Panel in the sliding window, can be replaced or swapped out. Edit access to the capsule allows the attachment of new data assets using Managing Data Assets in the Files tab.

Attaching Data Assets to the App

You can add a Data Asset that is already attached to the capsule to this session as a default dataset.

If there is no Data Asset attached yet, you will see a reminder for attaching a Data Assets.

• Click Add

• Provide the information for the:

  • Label

  • Default Data

  • Description

  
• Click Save

The data asset is not parameterizable via the app panel. If the capsule is a Release Capsule data assets cannot be added or removed using Managing Data Assets.

Parameters

App Panel supports three types of input parameters. The icons at the top of the Parameters panel represent each type:

Icon	Type	Functionality
	Text Parameter	Enter any string or number. Input files using the file parameter are not tracked in the same manner as data assets. it is preferable to add data as a data asset when possible.
	List Parameter	Select one value from a list
	File Parameter	Select an existing file under /data folder or upload a file from local machine

Text Parameter

Click on in the Parameters section to add a new Text Parameter. Fill in the fields: Label (required) should inform the viewer of the meaning of this parameter, for example, Title. Default Value (optional) is the value for the parameter for example, “Hello Code Ocean”. Description (optional) is a brief description of the parameter, this will appear as a hover-over explanation for the information icon, for example, This sets the title for the output plots. Click Save to create this parameter.
The result of the saved text parameter.

List Parameter

Click to add a new List Parameter section. Fill in the fields: Label (required) represents the number of cycles, for example, # of cycles. List Values (required) allows you to add a list of inputs, each in a separate line as the options of cycles. In this example, you can enter 3, 5, and 7. Default Value (optional) allows you to choose a default. In this example select 3 from the drop-down menu. Description (optional) is a brief description of the parameter, Sets the number of cycles to generate the sine plot. Click Save to create this parameter.
After you add the # of Cycles parameter, your Parameters panel should look like this

File Parametet

The third parameter value you set up goes to args[3], which is stored in the variable input_dataas the third argument. This parameter lets the viewer choose the input file. While both the File parameter type and the Text parameter type would be appropriate here, it is preferable to attach data assets with the input file. For this example, the text parameter is selected and the path set for the input file

Files uploaded to the /data folder will appear in the drop-down menu.

Click in the Parameter panel to create a new file parameter section. Fill in the fields: Label (required) should indicate the function of this parameter, for example, Input Points File". Default Value (optional) is the parameter value for example, /data/Sample_Input/sample-data.txt Description (optional) is a brief description of the parameter and will appear as a hover-over explanation for the information icon, for example, Path to the input file containing the points that will determine the length of the sine plot. Click Add to create this parameter.

After you add the Input data parameter, your Parameters panel should look like this

Swapping the Order of App Panel Parameters

To swap the order that the App Panel Parameters are displayed. In Build Mode select the six ellipses . Drag and drop the Parameters into the required order.

Display Result after Run

This allows you to set results to display to the user after running the capsule. These are static paths, so the outputs will need to have the same name for every run.

• Click on Add to add a file to display

• Select a file from the drop-down. The list is from the latest run.

A reproducible run must be done in order to see available results files to display after the run.