Combining Kanzi Studio projects into a Kanzi application

You can combine the content of several Kanzi Studio projects into a single Kanzi application. This enables you to:

Distribute Kanzi application development across several teams. Each team can work on a different part of the same application at the same time.
Include in your Kanzi applications content available only in kzb files.
Use Kanzi Studio projects which only hold resources you want to use in multiple projects.
Simplify the structure of your Kanzi application by splitting it into several Kanzi Studio projects.

For example, when you are developing an in-vehicle infotainment application consisting of several applications, you can develop each of these applications in one or more Kanzi Studio projects. You then use one Kanzi application to combine these Kanzi Studio projects into a single Kanzi application.

To combine Kanzi Studio projects into a single Kanzi application:

Learn how to structure Kanzi applications which contain multiple Kanzi applications. See Kanzi solution structure.
Use prefabs and resources from Kanzi Studio projects. See Using prefabs and resources from Kanzi Studio projects.
Use prefabs and resources from kzb files. See Using prefabs and resources from kzb files.
Merge content from referenced Kanzi Studio projects. See Merging content from referenced Kanzi Studio projects.

Learn how to combine content from Kanzi Studio projects by completing a tutorial. See Tutorial: Combine Kanzi Studio projects into a single Kanzi application.

Kanzi solution structure

A Kanzi solution is a Kanzi application which you use to combine Kanzi applications into a single Kanzi application.

When you create a Kanzi solution, use these guidelines:

The solution project is the main project of your Kanzi application. You use it to build the application code of all Kanzi applications in the solution.
When you create a solution project, in Kanzi Studio use one of these templates that are most suitable for the type of application you are creating:
- Application template creates a Kanzi Studio project with a Kanzi Engine application.
- Application with Kanzi Engine plugin template creates a Kanzi Studio project with a Kanzi Engine application which contains a Kanzi Engine plugin.
- Application with data source plugin template creates a project with a Kanzi Engine application which contains a data source plugin template.
See Creating a project.
In the Visual Studio projects of the solution project add the application code where you define the logic of your Kanzi application.
If a Kanzi Studio project you want to add to the solution contains application code, add the Visual Studio projects of such projects to the Visual Studio solution of the Kanzi solution project.
Create or pick a project that is suitable for being a solution project where you combine Kanzi Studio projects and kzb files into a single Kanzi application.
For example, this can be a project that contains only application code and gets the nodes and resources from other projects or files, or an existing application that serves as a base for all other applications.
When you export kzb files for a Kanzi solution, Kanzi Studio exports the kzb files from all Kanzi Studio projects in the solution and copies them to the Application/bin directory of the solution project. You can set this location in the Project > Properties in the Binary Export Directory property of the solution project.

When you add Kanzi Studio projects to a Kanzi solution, use these guidelines:

For projects that you want to add to a solution use the Kanzi Studio project template and define the application logic of all such projects in the Visual Studio solution of your Kanzi solution. See Creating a project.
Place the projects you want to add to a solution in the root directory of the solution project. Do this even if these projects otherwise form a hierarchy.
For example, if you use one project to share resources and other projects refer to it, keep that resource project in the root directory of the solution project.
When you add to a Kanzi solution a project which refers to external files, copy such files to the directory set in the Preview Working Directory property in the project properties of the Kanzi solution project. By default this is the Application/bin directory of the Kanzi solution project.
Update the solution build scripts when you add new dependencies to a solution.
If you want to keep the application logic in a project that you add to a solution, when you create a project in Kanzi Studio use the Application, Application with Kanzi Engine plugin, or Application with data source plugin template and add the Visual Studio projects of such project to the Visual Studio solution of the Kanzi solution project. When you do this, make sure to:
- Update the solution build scripts to include the projects you added.
- Configure the Visual Studio project of the solution to build and copy the content of the Application/bin directory and dependencies used by the project to the Application/bin directory of the solution. In Visual Studio solution of the Kanzi solution add to the main project Property Pages > Configuration Properties > Build Events > Pre-Build Event > Command Line:
```
if not exist "..\..\..\bin" mkdir ..\..\..\bin
```
  and for each project you add to a Kanzi solution add:
```
xcopy ..\..\..\..\<ProjectName>\Application\bin ..\..\..\bin  /Y
```

Using prefabs and resources from Kanzi Studio projects

To use prefabs and resources from Kanzi Studio projects:

Open or create a Kanzi Studio project in which you want to use content from other Kanzi Studio projects.
In the Library press Alt and right-click Project References, select Existing Project, select a Kanzi Studio project from which you want to use content in the target project, and click Open.
In the Library > Project References select the project reference you created in the previous step.
TIP
You can open a referenced project in a new instance of Kanzi Studio by double-clicking the project name in the Project References library.
In the Properties double-click the kzb file URL of the prefab or resource you want to use from that project, right-click, and select Copy.
You use the kzb URLs to access the content from another project.
Use the content from the referenced project:
- To use a prefab, in the Project create either a Prefab Placeholder or a Prefab View node where you want to use the prefab, in the Properties set the Prefab Template or Prefab Template property to <ResourceID>, and paste the kzb file URL you copied in the previous step.
  You can control prefabs from referenced projects. See Customizing and controlling prefabs from Kanzi Studio projects.
- To use a resource, in the Project select the node where you want to use the resource, in the Properties set the property where you want to use the resource to <ResourceID>, and paste the kzb file URL you copied in the previous step.
(Optional) Customize and control the appearance of prefabs. See Customizing and controlling prefabs from Kanzi Studio projects.

Using prefabs and resources from kzb files

To use prefabs and resources from kzb files:

Open or create a Kanzi Studio project in which you want to use content from a kzb file.
In the Library press Alt and right-click Project References, select Existing .kzb, select a kzb file from which you want to use content in the target project, and click Open.
If the kzb file refers to other kzb files, you must also add the references to those kzb files.
Use content from the kzb file:
- To use a prefab, in the Project create either a Prefab Placeholder or a Prefab View node where you want to use the prefab, in the Properties set the Prefab Template or Prefab Template property to <ResourceID>, and enter the kzb file URL of the prefab you want to use.
- To use a resource, in the Project select the node where you want to use the resource, in the Properties set the property where you want to use the resource to <ResourceID>, and enter the kzb file URL of the resource you want to use.

Customizing and controlling prefabs from Kanzi Studio projects

In a Kanzi solution when you use prefabs from a Kanzi Studio project, you can set the content and appearance of these prefabs. You can do this by using a property type in the root node of each a prefab which you bind to the prefab content that you want to control.

To control prefabs from Kanzi Studio projects:

Open or create a project and add to that project a prefab from a Kanzi Studio project. See Using prefabs and resources from Kanzi Studio projects.
From here on this project is referred to as the target project.
In the project which contains the prefab that you want to control, select the prefab and in the Properties next to the property with which you want to control the prefab click .
Kanzi Studio creates from that property a custom property, adds it to the root of the prefab, and creates a ##Template binding to the property in the prefab root. This enables you to edit the appearance of the prefab from the root of the prefab.
For example, if you want to control the progress bar of a music player using a property called Progress, click next to that property.
From here on this project is referred to as the source project.
In the target project, in the main menu select File > Import > Merge Project and select the Kanzi Studio project where you modified the prefab in the previous step.
In the Project Merge dialog select the property type with which you want to control the prefab and click Merge.
For example, select the Progress property.
In the target project select the node you use to instantiate the prefab from the source project that you want to control and in the Properties add the property you merged.
You can now use the property in the target project to control the prefab from the source project.

Merging content from referenced Kanzi Studio projects

When you want to bring content from referenced Kanzi Studio projects you can merge the items you need.

To merge content from referenced Kanzi Studio projects, in the Library > Project References right-click the source project from which you want to bring content and select Merge Project.
Merge Project allows you to import only the selected items to the target project. When merging you can select which project items you want to import and resolve conflicts for items that exist in both projects. Kanzi Studio merges nodes from the source project to a new prefab. Kanzi Studio creates the nodes and resources even if they exist in the target project and you have not merged it before from the same project reference (in which case it is marked as identical). See Merging projects.