About Look and Feel Configuration Files

A custom look and feel extends a parent look and feel (e.g., Simple Look and Feel). In ADF UIX, a look and feel configuration file is an XML document (.xml) that defines the properties of a custom look and feel, including the custom style sheet, custom icons, and custom Renderers.

The main elements that you would use when creating a look and feel configuration file are:

<look-and-feel> - The root element in the Xml custom look and feel configuration file. The UIX look and feel namespace is http://xmlns.oracle.com/uix/ui/laf.
<renderers> - Defines the template-based or Java-based custom Renderers to use for the look and feel. By default a custom look and feel inherits the Renderers for all of its components from the parent look and feel. To override a Renderer, use the <renderer> element in the <renderers> section of the look and feel configuration file to specify a custom Renderer. You can add more than one <renderers> section, and more than one <renderer> element in each section.
<icons> - Defines the custom icons to use for the look and feel. By default, a custom look and feel inherits the icons that are provided by the parent look and feel. To override a customizable icon, add a custom icon by using the <icon> element in the <icons> section of the look and feel configuration file. You can add one or more <icon> elements in the<icons> section. For a list of customizable icons, see the UIX Customization Reference.

Note: If used, <renderers> and <icons> must be specified in this order in the look and feel configuration file.

You must include the following information in a look and feel configuration file:

The parent look and feel that the custom look and feel is extending. Use the extends attribute on <look-and-feel> to specify the id of the parent look and feel. The ids for the Base Look And Feel and Simple Look And Feel are "base.desktop" and "simple.desktop" respectively. For example, when extending the Base Look And Feel, the extends attribute should be set to "base.desktop"; when extending the Simple Look And Feel, the extends attribute should be "simple.desktop".
A name that identifies the family look and feel to which the custom look and feel implementation belongs. Use the family attribute on <look-and-feel> to specify the name, e.g., mycompany. Look and feel families are used to group similar look and feel implementations. For example, both the desktop implementation and PDA implementation of the Minimal Look And Feel are part of the minimal family. This family name is used to specify the preferred look and feel for an application in the UIX configuration (uix-config.xml) file. If a family contains multiple look and feel implementations, UIX will automatically choose the best implementation for the current user agent.
An identifier for the custom look and feel implementation. Use the id attribute on <look-and-feel> to specify the id of the custom look and feel, e.g., mycompany.desktop, mycompany.mobile.

If you're including a custom style sheet for the custom look and feel, then use the style-sheet-name attribute on <look-and-feel> to specify the name of the .xss style sheet document that defines the customs styles.

For more details about the above elements and other elements used in look and feel configuration documents, see " UIX Look and Feel" of the UIX Element Reference.