Navigation items in the WMC are identified by Navigation Paths. These paths describe the hierarchy of how the item is arranged with respect to other nodes. The root node of the Navigation Path (called the domain) indicates the type of navigation item.
| Node | Description |
|---|---|
| NAVIGATIONTREE | A Navigation Path that identifies an item in the navigation tree |
| HELP | A Navigation Path that identifies help pane content |
| TASKLIST | A Navigation Path that identifies a group or item in the task list. |
| MESSAGEBAR | A Navigation Path that identifies an item in the navigation bar at the top of the WMC |
e.g. NAVIGATIONTREE\ControlPanel\Events refers to the Events item that sits under the Control Panel node in the navigation tree. TASKLIST\Data\ResetValue refers to the task ResetValue that lies under the Data task group.
NavInsertItem takes a Navigation Path and uses it to create an item for that path. The domain with which an item sits is defined by the root level subpath and levels in the hierarchy are specified by the path separator '\'. Paths can effectively be any depth you wish.
Aliases
Navigation Paths can have aliases that are used to quickly reference an item without having to know the entire underlying path. NavInsertItem allows you to specify an alias when you add the item. It must consist of a '{' character followed by the (case sensitive) alias name and then a '}'. e.g {ControlPanel} references the Control Panel node in the navigation tree whose real Navigation Path is NAVIGATIONTREE\ControlPanel
Using aliases makes it easier for developers of other components to use your Navigation Paths without you having to publish the entire hierarchy. You can then change the hierarchy in later versions of your component and so long as you have kept the alias the same, their code will continue to work correctly.