Getting Started

Config Tool 2.0 allows users to easily customize the look and feel of their Panasonic InFlight Entertainment (IFE) system.

Customization of the IFE system through Config Tool 2.0 is done by:

• Maintaining UI properties independently from the software applications that use them. Text or display properties can be updated independently of a software release.

• Supporting multiple copies of a schema called themes. Using themes, the same UI page can be customized for different audiences.

Workflow

The output from the tool is a series of content loadable files containing UI properties that aircraft IFE interactives consume. The content loadable files are specific to the aircraft type and the interactives used by the aircraft type.

The following illustrates how Config Tool 2.0 components combine to create content loadable files:

Roles

Config Tool 2.0 defines two primary roles: developers and airline users.

Airline Users

Airline users can access and interact with the following in the tool:

For functionalities specific to airline users, refer to the Airline User Guide.

Developer Users

Developer users can access and interact with the following in the tool:

For functionalities specific to developer users, refer to the Developer User Guide.

Components

The following are the components of Config Tool 2.0.

Interactives

An interactive represents an application, such as the interactive or virtual keyboard. Each interactive includes the following:

• An interactive definition, which includes the interactive name, version, target LRUs and other metadata.

• A theme schema that is copied to individual themes to customize the application appearance and behavior as needed. Each theme schema contains properties.

• At least one theme name. Theme schema properties are copied to one or more themes that can be managed by airline users.

• At least one micro app.

A minimal interactive requires the following:

• Creating a new interactive element. This step includes importing a theme schema.

• Adding one or more themes in the interactive.

• Adding one or more micro apps to the interactive.

Only developers can set up and manage interactives. For interactive functionalities, refer to Interactives.

Theme Schemas

A theme schema is a template on which themes are based. Each interactive is associated with a theme schema. The theme schema is a schema used by the interactive software.

The values for the properties in the theme instances can be maintained independently of the theme schema or other theme instances.

Only developers can set up and manage theme schemas. For theme schema functionalities, refer to Theme Schemas.

Themes

A theme is a copy of a theme schema intended for a particular audience or purpose. For example, an interactive can display the same user interface using three different themes for three different users, such first class passengers, business passengers and economy passengers, using the same UI page. The property values in each theme can be set and maintained independently.

A theme contains a set of properties that control the display and behavior of an application or keyboard. Each interactive includes at last one theme schema, which defines the properties used by the application or keyboard.

Themes can be copied and properties can be assigned different values. For example, different Welcome page themes can be created for first class and economy and assign different background colors for each class.

For standard theme functionalities, refer to Themes.

Micro Apps

Micro Apps are applications with limited user interaction, commonly used for display-only pages, such as About Our Airline or Contact Us pages.

A micro app displays static content and images, similar to a webpage. It may provide simple user interaction, such as page navigation and selectable content display options. An example of a micro app is a city destination guide displaying content about the city history, local dining venues and options for entertainment.

Micro apps contain child apps, which are secondary components of a micro app.

Config Tool 2.0 provides developers a downloadable example of a micro app. To access the example, select Examples in the left navigation menu to download the SSTA Micro App.

For standard micro app functionalities, refer to Micro Apps.

Tables

Tables can be used to display data, such as strings, integers, images or enums.

For standard table functionalities, refer to Tables.

Aircraft Configurations

Aircraft configurations define which interactives are used with a specific aircraft type. Configurations are set up during interactive development and are used when creating content loadable files.

Only developers can set up and manage aircraft configurations. For aircraft configuration functionalities, refer to Aircraft Configurations.

Content Loadables

A content loadable is a set of digital files that can be distributed to an aircraft. In Config Tool 2.0, content loadable files contain properties and values used by the onboard inflight entertainment applications.

Several of the tool's components are required to create the content loadable files:

• Content Loadable Package — Identifies themes, micro apps and child apps included in the content loadable files.

• Content Loadable Job — Executable job that creates the files. Triggers and target information are added to the content loadable package.

Triggers — Conditions that must be met for the content loadable files to upload. Trigger information is predefined for micro apps, but you can adjust it as needed when you run the content loadable job.

For standard content loadable functionalities, refer to Content Loadables.

Versions

A version is a copy of properties at a given point in time. You can create versions of themes, micro apps and tables. This allows you to revert values of properties to previous values of a past saved version, if necessary.

Config Tool 2.0 offers a batch versioning option you can use while creating content loadable files. This option automatically creates a version of the themes, micro apps and tables contained in the loadable files. Panasonic recommends creating a batch version each time you prepare final content loadable files.

The available versioning options depend on the Config Tool 2.0 component you are working with.

Jobs

Background jobs are run for different builds, such as creating content loadable packages and exporting themes.

For more information on jobs, refer to Jobs.

Previews

The preview feature is an optional Windows PC program package that Panasonic supplies. This shows you how an interactive, micro app or child app displays using a specific theme.

There are two preview options available: theme and micro app. Both previews work in the same manner.

Panasonic provides two emulators: one for Android and one for Qt. The Preview Manager application uses the correct emulator for the type of theme or micro app you are previewing.

For standard preview functionalities, refer to Previews.

Examples

Examples are provided for developer users to use as resources for building interactives and setting up components for airline users. These examples include themes, micro apps, a Preview Manager package, and a GUI Config Assistant screenshot template spreadsheet.

Only developers have access to examples.

Uploads

Developers can upload files that other users can download as needed. For uploading functionalities, refer to Uploads.

For more information on downloads, refer to Downloads.

Downloads

The download feature allows developer users to upload and distribute files and updates among Config Tool 2.0 users.

For more information on downloads, refer to Downloads.