Although Omniscope is a locally-installed application, many aspects of the installation can be customised to suit specific requirements of defined groups of users. These changes affect each local installation, are persistentant across all IOK files opened in the same installation (until further changed or modified) and are easy to share accross installations by exporting and importing the resources using Omniscope ILF files.
The fonts used by Omniscope are fully configurable on an installation by installation and file-by-file basis. Organisations wishing to customised fonts availbale to meet/match corporate standards can easily do so by following instructions for customising fonts [1]. Not all fonts will support all languages. In particular, the default Omniscope Tahoma font does not support Japanese or Chinese, so the installation and/or file fonts need to be changed to fonts for non-Western data [2].
Omniscope installations include a list of editable, shareable application styles that underlie every file using that style. Each installation choices are available under:
Style > Application styles > {choose style from menu}
You can make changes to any of these pre-configured application styles by clicking on [Edit] and you can re-name and save the new style settings by clicking on [Save].
Once you have created one or more custom styles, you may wish to share these with others using the Export option:
Style > Application styles {select custom-edited application style} [Export]
The Export option will encapsulate the settings for your custom style in an Omniscope Deployable Resource file (with file extension .ILF) which you can save and share. This .ILF file can be saved in a shared location and/or attached and e-mailed to members of your workgroup with whom you wish to share/update each new custom style. All the recipients need to do is double click on the .ILF attachment and the new custom style will automatically be added to the drop-down list of available application styles in their Omniscope installation.
By default, Omniscope installations, including free Viewers, are installed without a folder in the installation directory named "branding". In the absence of such a folder with specific contents, the default Visokio screens and branding are displayed each time Omniscope install or opens.
The branding folder installed on a specific reference installation can be customised to contain various custom images, text settings and Welcome\Library.IOK files in a specified sub-folder called 'File library', as described here [3]. If the branding folder is copied to another installation, the incoming contents will take precedence over the default Omniscope settings on that installation as well.
Settings > {Application-wide} Advanced > Tools > Create distributable branding pack
Licensing permitting, for version 2.8+, the custom branding folder from the reference machine can be shared with other installations as either an .ILF file automatically installed by Omniscope, or Bundling Partners may also include the custom branding .ILF file in a bundled installer, as described here [4].
Bookmarks are used to make data sources such as specific database tables available to activated users across all their files via drag-and-drop from their DataManager Data Bars. Fully-configured (with hidden authentication) bookmarks from a reference installation can be shared and updated across multiple installations by exporting them as .ILF files which can be mailed to recipients who need new bookmarks installed or previous ones updated.
Settings > {Application-wide} Advanced > Tools > Create distributable bookmarks
Omniscope will automatically download and install any offline vector maps required for a given IOK file that are available from the Omniscope online library. You can find these maps and use them in shareable IOK files from here:
Map View Toolbar > Map: > Other vector maps
You can also download and share these maps using the Omniscope .ILF format, and may soon also be able to include them (and boundary layer files) in bundled installers (contact us).
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By default, Omniscope uses Tahoma as the application-wide font face, unless customised. It is possible to change this font face throughout the Omniscope interface - both for interface elements such as menus, dialogs and buttons, and for data elements such as bar view labels. You may wish to do this to comply with your organisation's corporate font standards, or to enable Omniscope to support a different character set for a different language, in particular, non-Western languages.
The default Tahoma does not support some non-western languages such as Chinese and Japanese. Omniscope will automatically switch to another font such as Arial Unicode MS if the Omniscope Settings > Language is set to a language requiring such characters. For more information on changing fonts to fully support certain non-Western languages, see Using Omniscope with Non-Western Languages [2].
You can use Omniscope itself to customise your own default font setting using the Settings menu. Use the Settings > Application font menu to choose the default font face for your own Omniscope installation. This application font will then be used regardless of which IOK file you have open, unless you have also further customised a file-specific font override using Settings > File font to choose a file-specific font to use in that file only.
Note that if you make the change this way, it willl only apply to your own installation, and cannot be shared with others because the changes will not be exported as part of your own shareable version of the branding folder (see below).
If your own branding folder is to be exported and shared or bundled for wider deployment, you must change your font settings by manually editing your own copies of the configuration properties files which will be exported with your own sharable branding folder.
(If you are using Vista/Windows 7 or later, you should create and edit the file in a different location such as your desktop, then move the file into the installation folder afterwards)
Once you have edited your own 'model' installation files, you can create a distributable branding folder in Omniscope .ILF format that, when clicked by users with Omniscpe already installed, will update those existing installations such that your changes to fonts are automatically installed on all recipients' machines.
Settings > {Application-wide} Advanced > Tools > Create distributable branding pack
Note that if your recipients do not already have Omniscope installed, either they must install it first before they can click on .ILF files, or you have to create a bundled installer that includes your .ILF branding pack. For more information, see Bundling Installers
This allows you to create a folder of only certain fonts which will limit the fonts available from the Omniscope font menus. You would use this to ensure all your IOK files have a standard set of fonts, preventing your users from creating IOK files departing from your corporate style guidelines.
These instructions are for a Windows PC:
The default application-wide font used by Omniscope is Tahoma, which does not have the Unicode character set necessary to support non-western language text such as for Chinese and Japanese. However, you can easily configure Omniscope to use a different font that does support non-western text. There are three ways to do this, each of which is described below. The first two options are available on an installation by instalation or file-by-file basis. The last option can be used to share the change such that they persist across any number of installations from the time they are installed or updated (2.8+).
Change the default application font that is used whenever your Omnscope installation is used to open any/all files:
Settings > {Application wide} Application font
Making the change this way cannot be shared with other installations.
Change a file specific font; changing this setting will mean only the particular file will have this font, any other files you open will use the application font setting.
Settings > {This file} File font
Making the change here will travel with the file, ensuring others open only this file with the same font). If the font is not available on a given recipient's machine, then the file will revert back to opening with their default application font.
Edit the default configuration file in the reference machine used to export shareable branding packages, as described here [1]. Then export the deployable branding pack from the reference machine and either distribute as an .ILF file to existing installations, or use the Bundled Installer [4].
The following fonts are recommended for Japanese
Windows - MSPGothic recommended (you can also try: MS Mincho, MS Gothic, MSPMincho, MSUIGothic, Meiryo)
Mac OS X - AquaKana, Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro W3,W4,W6,W8, Hiragino Pro W3,W6, Osaka, Osaka Mon
For all other non-western languages "Arial Unicode MS" can be used. Other fonts can be used if they are available. However, "Arial Unicode MS" is known to work well and is included with Windows and Mac OS X10.5. For more information please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287247 [6]
By default, all Omniscope installations, including free Viewers, are installed without a folder in the installation directory named "branding". In the absence of such a folder with specific contents (see below), the default Visokio screens and branding are displayed each time Omniscope install or opens. The branding folder on one specific reference installation can be customised to contain various custom images and text settings that, if present, take precedence over the default Omniscope settings.
Licensing permitting, Omniscope permits power users to create/test on their own installations, then share (or remotely deploy in a Bundled Installer) copies of their own branding folders, enabling them to change appearance and features available in other installations that install or includes their branding folder.
Beginning with version 2.8, branding folders can be deployed and periodically updated as installable .ILF files either on their own (to modify existing installations), or as part of a Bundled Installer [4]that creates new, re-branded installations from a single click on the executable.
To create a custom branding folder, first choose a reference machine installation and download this sample branding folder as a starting point:
Sample default branding folder [7] (.ZIP)
Examples of all the elements that can be rebranded on full Omniscope installs are available in this download. Add your branding to the images as necessary (some images are size sensitive) then edit the config.properties file appropriately as documented in the example file itself.
If you have a bundler version of Omniscope installed on the reference machine, you can also download and click on a sample .ILF branding package to have Omniscope install it automatically:
[8]Bundler default branding package [9] (.ILF)
The location of the branding folder once installed will depend on the version of operating system on the refernce machine, and whether Omniscope has been installed on that machine for All User accounts, or only the Current User account:Windows OS: Omniscope installed for all users (default):
The branding folder contains sub-folders and files that can be used to determine the behavior of all installations having the branding folder installed in the required location. Sub-folders include:
Category & Continuous DataColourPresets: These folders contain XML files that define the coloring menu options visible in the Omniscope menu under:
Style > Data Colours > {Categories} and also {Continuous}.
Deleting one or more of these XML files will eliminate them from the Omniscope menu, and adding customised colour pallettes will add new, bundler-specific pallette options to the Omniscope menus. You can use tools available inside Omniscope to create and export customised colour pallattes in XML format ready to be copied into these sub-folders to add them to the menus available in the rebranded installations.
File library sub-folder and files: This sub-folder optionally contains at least one 'welcome' IOK file configured by the brander/bundler intended to open from the re-brander's desktop shortcut icon placed on the users' desktops by a Bundled Installer. A specified 'welcome' IOK file is usually configured to act as a starting point or 'index' with heavily styled Omniscope Opening and Closing screens, Web and Content Views (usually containing links to all the files in the File library sub-folder), Help screens and other network/web content links to provide Bundled installation users with an overview and next steps to take once they have installed Omniscope for the first time. Any number of files can be included in the File library sub-folder and can be linked to from links within the specified 'welcome' IOK file.
Images sub-folder and files: Report IOK file templates often contain many types of images which are not part of the data set, but are used throughout the file, and therefore need to be available for the creation of new files. Standard versions of company logos, background images, Blank View images, banner ad images, etc. can all be distributed (so that they are always available to report authors) by saving the latest copies in the Images sub-folder of the branding folder, such that they become part of the exportable, shareable branding .ILF, and through that, part of all the bundled installers featuring that particular verion of the branding ILF.
Themes: This sub-folder contains the custom XML files that determine which pre-defined Application Style options are visible from Omniscope under:
Style > Application Styles .
The visible style list will also include any user-specific custom application styles to be added to the Omniscpe menu, for example corporate styles to be shared with all corporate users. Additional Application Style files can also be shared on a user-by-user basis by exporting the modified styles as .ILF files and sending them to the users who need them.
Application display images: The various start-up, welcome screen and other branding image files in the top level of the branding folder are documented within the folder itself using text files with the same name as each image file. All of these image files can be replaced with custom images of the same size (in some cases), or of any size (in other cases) to create a re-branded installed version of the Omniscope.
This file should contain either the default, or the Style > Edit Style Presets custom settings. Use Tools > Export in the Edit Modes dialogue to save a copy of the customised settengs as an XML file. Share this XML file with others either by sending it to them for import, or by renaming the customised XML file to overwrite the default 'LayoutModes.xml' and saving it in the branding folder as shown above. This will ensure that all installations sharing the branding folder will dsisplay the customised presets, ensuring that chaging between Modes will not change any branding-specific styling or colour pallettes that have been established as standard.
Within the branding folder, many aspects of the installed application behavior can be customised by following the instructions inside the 'config' properties text file. Each option is documented within the 'config' properties file itself. You can comment/uncomment the changed 'config' properties text file using # characters. An example of the settings available in this file is shown here [10].
Corporate environment and bundled installers install Omniscope for all user accounts on the machine, rather than for each individual user account. If you are working on a Windows machine with a version later than Vista, you will need to work on files in the branding folder from an editable location such as My Documents, then drag the edited versions with Vista+ Windows UAC confirmation into the program branding folder when you want to see the results. This is only true if Omniscope has been installed for all users, as it will be for bundled installs by default. If you are working from a current user installation, you can edit the files in the branding folder directly. In Windows XP, you can edit the file directly in the program folder.
To preview your results, install Omniscope normally and put the work-in-progress branding folder inside your Omniscope program folder, or click on a Branding ILF exported from a reference installation, then start Omniscope. Deleting the branding folder will return an installation to the default settings.
(see full documentation of the branding folder installation config.properties file here [10])
Disable Free trial - You can disable free trial prompts on start-up and from the Omniscope Help menu for custom installs by adding the following line in the config.properties file:
DisableFreeTrial=true
Disable automatic update check - You can change the default Omniscope setting to always check for the latest updates by adding the following line:
CHECK_UPDATES_AUTOMATICALLY=false
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Please note that further customisations may be available other than those specified in this example of the config.properties file - contact us [11] for more information.
Within the Branding folder, a text file called config (.properties) is used to change the appearance and behaviors of the re-branded Viewer when installed with the branding folder. Below is a copy of an example and the documentation text avauilable inside the file itself:
Links:
[1] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/custom-fonts
[2] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/non-western-data
[3] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/rebranding
[4] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/bundling-installers
[5] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/installconfig
[6] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287247
[7] http://kb.visokio.com/files/Resources/KB/KBInstallation/CustomInstallations423/Branding folder example.zip
[8] http://kb.visokio.com/files/Resources/KB/KBInstallation/CustomInstallations423/Example Branding Pack 2013-08-16.ilf
[9] http://kb.visokio.com/files/Resources/KB/KBInstallation/CustomInstallations423/ExampleBrandingPack.ilf
[10] http://kb.visokio.com/kb/branding-config-settings
[11] http://kb.visokio.com/contact