Portals

[Context: HL Kit … Basic Concepts and Terminology … Visual Building Blocks]

Overview

Portals are the finest level of control within a visual presentation. They provide access to individual fields within things and picks. Fields are hooked up to portals, thereby allowing the user to view and/or modify the contents of those fields. For example, a "label" portal could be associated with the "damage" field for a weapon, thereby allowing the contents of the field to be displayed to the user via that portal. If an "edit" portal were used instead, then the contents of the field could potentially be modified by the user.

Each of the different types of portals is summarized in the sections below. Complete details on each portal type will be found within the Kit Reference section of this documentation.

Label Portals

Labels are the simplest type of portal and allow the display of information to the user. There are different types of label portals, depending on what the label contains and how it is to be displayed to the user.

Literal	Literal label portals display a fixed string of text.
Field-Based	Field-based label portals show the contents of a specific field.
Script-Based	Script-based label portals synthesize their contents via a script, with the results being displayed.
Titles	Title label portals present their contents with special formatting for use as a title.

Image Portals

Image portals enable the display of images to the user. There are different types of image portals, depending on what the portal contains and how it is to be presented.

Literal	Literal image portals always display the same, fixed image.
Field-Based	Field-based image portals show the image dictated by the contents of a specific field.
User	User image portals present the image that has been selected by a user.
Reference	Reference image portals allow a user-added image to be dynamically adapted for use at run-time (such as using a tiny version of the first character portrait on the Tactical Console).

Edit Portals

Edit portals enable the user to edit the contents of a specific field. There are different types of edit portals, depending on what the portal contains and how it is to be presented.

Simple	Simple edit portals provide direct editing of a numeric or text field.
Date	Date edit portals offer structured editing that ensures the contents of the field always subscribe to specific rules (e.g. four digits for year, two digits for month, etc.).

Incrementer Portals

Incrementer portals provide the ability to edit the contents of a specific numeric field. An incrementer includes visual elements like a "+" and "-" button that allow the user to easily increase and decrease the value shown within the portal. Incrementers are typically used for attribute values, damage tracking, charges, and other similar mechanisms.

Checkbox Portals

Checkbox portals allow the user to toggle the state of a specific field between values of zero and one. The user sees the portal as an either/or toggle state.