Application Delivery Management

StyleBook groups

StyleBooks in Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) can be grouped in two ways. They can be grouped as either default StyleBooks or custom StyleBooks. Or, they can also be grouped as public or private StyleBooks. In Citrix ADM, you can view all the StyleBooks that are present in the system. Citrix ADM also allows you to sort and view the StyleBooks. You can also view a graphical display of how StyleBooks are connected with each other.  

This document also tells you how to download and delete custom StyleBooks. You can download a custom StyleBook to make modifications or to create a new StyleBook based on the earlier one. You can also delete a custom StyleBook.

Default and custom StyleBooks

  • Default StyleBooks are the StyleBooks that are present in the Citrix ADM file system and they allow you to create configurations you can deploy on your Citrix ADC instances.
  • Custom StyleBooks are your own StyleBooks that you can write and import to Citrix ADM, and create configuration objects.

Both default and custom StyleBooks can be either public or private.

Public and private StyleBooks

StyleBooks from which you can create configuration packs to be deployed on the Citrix ADC instances can be categorized as “public” StyleBooks. That is, they are all available for your direct usage to create configurations.

But, some StyleBooks are used as building blocks for other StyleBooks. These building blocks are the built-in StyleBooks that the default StyleBooks are composed of. Such StyleBooks are called “private” StyleBooks. Though they are not directly used to create configuration packs on the instances, you might want to display these StyleBooks on the Citrix ADM. To mark a StyleBook as private, you can use the private attribute to prevent a StyleBook from being listed on the Citrix ADM.

name: basic-lb-config
description: This StyleBook defines a simple load balancing configuration and is a building block to build other load balancing configurations.
display-name: Load Balancing Configuration
namespace: com.example.stylebooks
private: true
schema-version: "1.0"
version: "0.1"
<!--NeedCopy-->

Viewing StyleBooks

The number of StyleBooks - both default and private are increasing in Citrix ADM. You might want to search for the particular StyleBook that you want to access. You might also want to view both types of StyleBooks separately.

In Citrix ADM, when you navigate to Applications > StyleBooks, you can view a list of StyleBooks that are present in the system.

A default public StyleBook has the following icon on its panel:

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Whereas, a default private StyleBook has an icon that declares it as a private StyleBook:

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While you can view the definition and dependencies of a private StyleBook, you cannot create a config pack from a private StyleBook. You can still use a private StyleBook in your own StyleBook.

A custom-built public StyleBook has a different icon as shown in the following image:

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While, a custom-built private StyleBook appears with this icon:

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At the top right-side of the page, you can see an option to sort the StyleBooks. There are three options - all, public, or private StyleBooks. Click one of the options.

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You can also search for a particular StyleBook by clicking the search icon. The three search options available are name, namespace, and version. The search operation is not case-sensitive.

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Viewing StyleBook dependencies

Citrix ADM allows you to view a graphical display of how StyleBooks are connected with each other.

In Citrix ADM, you can either use the default StyleBooks to create configurations for your deployment. You can also design your own StyleBooks and import them to Citrix ADM.  

An important and powerful feature of StyleBooks is that they can be used as building blocks for other StyleBooks. You can import a StyleBook into another StyleBook. An imported Stylebook is declared as a type and is used by components or parameters of the second StyleBook.

A StyleBook used by other StyleBooks cannot be removed from the system. However, a graphical display of StyleBooks allows you to know which StyleBooks are preventing the removal of a StyleBook. By looking at the graph, it is possible to see the relationships among multiple StyleBooks.

To view StyleBook dependencies

In Citrix ADM, navigate to Applications > StyleBooks. The StyleBooks page displays all the StyleBooks available for your use in Citrix ADM. Scroll down and find your StyleBook. The StyleBook panel displays links to create a configuration, to view the StyleBook definition, and to view the StyleBook dependencies. Click View Dependencies.

Forward dependencies

The Forward Dependencies tab allows you to view the different default StyleBooks that your StyleBook is using. Follow the arrows to find the StyleBook that a StyleBook is using. When you point your mouse to one of the arrows, the arrow and the StyleBooks that are connected to one another are highlighted. You can also click the StyleBook names to view the definition of that StyleBook.

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Reverse dependencies

The Reverse Dependencies tab allows you to graphically view the StyleBooks that are using your StyleBook. If you follow the arrows, you can see that all StyleBooks in the display point towards your StyleBook. Some StyleBooks might be directly using the StyleBook and some StyleBooks might be using the StyleBook through another StyleBook.

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Downloading custom StyleBooks

To download custom Stylebooks from Citrix ADM, navigate to Applications > StyleBooks > Configurations. In the list of StyleBooks that are displayed on the right-side panel, the custom-defined StyleBooks have an option to download them. Click Download. If the StyleBook has dependent custom StyleBooks, even those StyleBooks are downloaded to your system.

Note

You cannot download default or custom StyleBooks that are marked as either public or private.

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Note

You cannot download Citrix ADM default StyleBooks. You can, however, view their definitions and dependencies by clicking View Definition and View Dependencies links on the StyleBook panel.

Deleting custom StyleBooks

You can also delete custom StyleBooks by clicking “X” icon in the right-side of the StyleBook panel. A pop-up window prompts you to confirm if you want to remove the StyleBook from Citrix ADM. If the StyleBook uses other custom StyleBooks (that are not used by other StyleBooks), you can choose to remove them also by selecting the checkbox.

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Note

You cannot delete a custom StyleBook that has other StyleBooks in Citrix ADM that depend on it.

StyleBook groups