Developing new Components

The easiest way to write a new component is to copy an existing component and change the properties according to your needs. The question now is: which component to choose as a starting point? There are a few questions to be answered before this decision can be made:

• is the new component a static or dynamic component?
• should the new component append or replace the existing global output?
• should Python functions be added as well? After these questions are answered, it's much easier to choose an existing component as blueprint for the new component. That doesn't mean that a new component can't be written from ground up. The chances that something essential is forgotten is smaller though if an existing component is taken as the start.

Nevertheless, the individual parts of each component are explained in the section Overview over a Component for further reference. In the part Design Patterns, some patterns are displayed which can be helpful in common problems.