Module Designer User Interface (Standard 8)

  • Article

7/8/2014

Review the user interface of Module Designer (MOD) in Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8).

The Module Designer user interface walks you through a series of pages in order to guide you through the creation of your own Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) module.

The Module Designer user interface is described in the following sections:

  • Module Designer Title Bar
  • Module Designer Panes
  • Module Designer Buttons
  • Module Designer Pages

Module Designer Title Bar

The Module Designer title bar will display the name of the application, followed by:

  • The name of your currently active module. If the module has not yet been named or saved, Untitled Module will be displayed instead.
  • An asterisk (*) if your module has not been saved since it was last modified in Module Designer.

Module Designer Panes

The Navigation pane lists all pages of Module Designer. You can click on each page title to navigate to that page after the required fields in the Begin and Module Details pages are completed.

Content Pane

The Content pane displays the fields and information for the active Module Designer page.

Module Designer Buttons

Save Button

The Save button allows you to save your currently active module without losing your place in Module Designer. This button is inactive until the required fields in the Begin and Module Details pages are completed.

Previous Button

The Previous button allows you to return to the prior Module Designer page.

Next Button

The Next button allows you to proceed to the next Module Designer page.

Create Button

The Create button allows you to create your module. This button is not active until content has been added to your module.

Cancel Button

The Cancel button exits Module Designer without saving your new module or changes to your existing module.

Module Designer Pages

Module Designer will walk you through the process of creating your own module. You can progress from one page to the next by clicking the Next button. You can return to the previous page by clicking the Previous button. Additionally, you can select the page you want to navigate to in the Navigation Pane after the required fields in the Begin and Module Details pages are completed. Pages whose titles are grey in the left-hand pane are not yet able to be navigated to.

Create / Edit

The Create / Edit page requires you to select whether you want to create a new module or edit an existing module. An option must be selected in order to proceed. Until an option is selected, the navigation buttons are inactive.

  • Create new module
    Select this option to create a new module.
  • Edit existing module
    Select this option to edit an existing module. When you select this option, you must either enter the path to the module you want to edit or browse to it.

Module Details

The Module Details page allows you to enter information about a new module or edit selected information about an existing module. If you have chosen to edit an existing module, the fields on this page will be populated with the existing module details.

  • Specify Catalog
    Enter the path or browse to the catalog you want to save this module to. This is a required field.

  • Enter friendly name
    Enter a friendly name for your module. The friendly name cannot be blank and is displayed in Image Configuration Editor (ICE) and Image Builder Wizard (IBW). This is a required field. If you are editing a module within a catalog, this field is not editable.

  • Primary architecture
    Select the primary architecture for your module. The available selections in this field will be populated based on the catalog you specified. This is a required field.

    Note

    The architecture selected for this module will be locked and not subject to modification after leaving the Module Details.

  • Supported architectures:
    Select the architectures your module will support. The check boxes will be pre-selected based on the architectures found in the selected catalog.

    Note

    The architecture selected for this module will be locked and not subject to modification after leaving the Module Details page.

  • Minimum supported OS version
    Select the minimum OS version of the Standard 8 your module will support. The available selections in this list will be populated based on the catalog you specified. This is a required field.

    Note

    The minimum OS version selected for this module will be locked and not subject to modification after leaving the Module Details page.

  • This module’s version number
    Enter the version number you want to assign to your module.

  • Category
    Select the category this module belongs to. You can browse to the category list and, if necessary, add a new category for your module. Your module can only belong to one category. The default value for this field is Feature Packages/Custom Modules. This is a required field.

Additional Module Information

The Additional Module Information page allows you to enter basic module information, link to online support information and include a public key token as part of the ID and file name of your module.

  • Module description
    Enter your module’s description in this box. This description will be available to users of your module in some Standard 8 tools.
  • Author/Company
    Enter the name you want displayed as the author or originating company of your module. This description will be available to users of your module in some Standard 8 tools.
  • Link to online support information
    Enter a link to any online documentation for your module. Note that this must be in a valid URL format and must include the http:// preface.
  • Public key token
    Enter a 16-digit, public key token that will be used with the unique name, the version, and primary architecture type to form your module's ID (as seen on the Property tab of Image Configuration Editor and file name. If you leave this field blank, a string of 16 zeroes are used as part of the ID and file name.

Add / Edit Files

The Add / Edit Files page allows you to add files and driver files to your module as payload items.

  • Files and Destination Path table
    When non-driver files are added to your module as payload items, these files will appear in the Files and Destination Path table. The destination path will default to the local path used to add the payload but can be manually edited.

    Note

    Both of the following common environment variables are supported as part of the destination path:

    • %SystemDrive%
    • %SystemRoot%

  • Driver table
    When driver files are added to your module as payload items, these driver files will appear in the Driver table.

  • Add Payload
    Opens a Windows Explorer dialog box to allow you to browse to the location of the files or driver files you want to add to your module as payload.

  • Remove Payload
    Removes the selected file or driver file from the module. This button is unavailable unless a file or driver file is selected.

Install Commands

The Install Commands pane allows you to add any commands that must be executed during your module’s installation. These commands are shown in the order in which they will be executed.

  • Installation Commands table
    This table displays all commands to be executed by your module during install in the order the commands will be executed.
  • Add Payload Command
    Opens a dialog box to allow you to choose which of your payload files to base a command off of that will be executed when your module is installed.
  • Add Custom Command
    Creates a new item in the Installation Commands table and allows you to enter the custom command you want to execute when your module is installed.
  • Remove Command
    Removes the selected command from the Installation Commands table. This button is not available unless a command is selected.
  • ꜛ
    Moves the selected command up in the Installation Commands table and, thus, earlier in the order of execution. This button is not available if the selected command is already at the top of the table.
  • ꜜ
    Moves the selected command down in the Installation Commands table and, thus, later in the order of execution. This button is not available if the selected command is already at the bottom of the table.
  • Reboot
    This field allows you to select the reboot required after the commands in the Installation Commands table are executed. If a reboot is selected, it will take place after all the commands in the Installation Command table are executed. Restarts are not able to be selected per command.
    • NoReboot
      Your device will not be restarted after your module is installed.
    • Immediate
      Your device will be restarted immediately after your module is installed.
    • Delayed
      Your device requires a restar but it can be delayed.

Dependencies

The Dependencies pane allows you to specify any modules on which your new module is either dependent upon or conflicts with, what type of dependency exists and what the default module is, if applicable.

  • Dependencies pane
    The Dependencies pane displays the name and dependency type for all dependencies selected for your module.
  • Import Dependencies List
    Opens a Load a Dependency List dialog box to allow you to select a file generated by Dynamic Dependency Analyzer (DDA). After import, a Dependency Scan Results page is displayed to allow you to select which of the detected dependencies are added to your module.
  • Add
    Opens an Add/Edit Dependency dialog box to allow you to add new dependencies or edit existing dependencies for your module.
  • Edit
    Opens an Add/Edit Dependency dialog box to allow you to edit the selected dependency.
  • Remove
    Removes the selected dependency.

Save Module

The Save Module pane allows you to save your module and your module configuration file as well as the option to import the module into your catalog.

  • Save Module Configuration File
    Select this option to save the model configuration file for later use in modifying your module.
  • Create and save module to disk
    Select this option to save your new module.
  • Create and import module to a specified catalog
    Select this option to save your module and import it immediately into your catalog.

Finish

The Finish pane allows you to view any errors or warnings encountered when the save commands selected on the Save Module pane are executed.

See Also

Other Resources

Module Designer Technical Reference