ENHANCEMENT CMS panels restructured to use two new types of "tools" templates, fetched through LeftAndMain->Tools() and LeftAndMain->EditFormTools(). Requires less overloading of template markup.

admin/code/LeftAndMain.php

@@ -476,9 +476,11 @@ class LeftAndMain extends Controller {
 	 * Return a list of appropriate templates for this class, with the given suffix
 	 */
 	protected function getTemplatesWithSuffix($suffix) {
+		$templates = array();
 		$classes = array_reverse(ClassInfo::ancestry($this->class));
 		foreach($classes as $class) {
-			$templates[] = $class . $suffix;
+			$template = $class . $suffix;
+			if(SSViewer::hasTemplate($template)) $templates[] = $template;
 			if($class == 'LeftAndMain') break;
 		}
 		return $templates;
@@ -1017,6 +1019,46 @@ class LeftAndMain extends Controller {
 	public function EditorToolbar() {
 		return Object::create('HtmlEditorField_Toolbar', $this, "EditorToolbar");
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Renders a panel containing tools which apply to all displayed
+	 * "content" (mostly through {@link EditForm()}), for example a tree navigation or a filter panel.
+	 * Auto-detects applicable templates by naming convention: "<controller classname>_Tools.ss",
+	 * and takes the most specific template (see {@link getTemplatesWithSuffix()}).
+	 * To explicitly disable the panel in the subclass, simply create a more specific, empty template.
+	 * 
+	 * @return String HTML
+	 */
+	public function Tools() {
+		$templates = $this->getTemplatesWithSuffix('_Tools');
+		if($templates) {
+			$viewer = new SSViewer($templates);
+			return $viewer->process($this);	
+		} else {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Renders a panel containing tools which apply to the currently displayed edit form.
+	 * The main difference to {@link Tools()} is that the panel is displayed within
+	 * the element structure of the form panel (rendered through {@link EditForm}).
+	 * This means the panel will be loaded alongside new forms, and refreshed upon save,
+	 * which can mean a performance hit, depending on how complex your panel logic gets.
+	 * Any form fields contained in the returned markup will also be submitted with the main form,
+	 * which might be desired depending on the implementation details.
+	 * 
+	 * @return String HTML
+	 */
+	public function EditFormTools() {
+		$templates = $this->getTemplatesWithSuffix('_EditFormTools');
+		if($templates) {
+			$viewer = new SSViewer($templates);
+			return $viewer->process($this);	
+		} else {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
 	
 	/**
 	 * Batch Actions Handler

admin/javascript/LeftAndMain.Content.js

@@ -37,7 +37,13 @@
 					var url = $(node).find('a:first').attr('href');
 					if(url && url != '#') {
 						if($(node).find('a:first').is(':internal')) url = $('base').attr('href') + url;
-						$('.cms-container').loadPanel(url);
+						// Reload only edit form if it exists (side-by-side view of tree and edit view), otherwise reload whole panel
+						if(self.find('.cms-edit-form').length) {
+							url += '?cms-view-form=1';
+							$('.cms-container').loadPanel(url, null, {selector: '.cms-edit-form'});
+						} else {
+							$('.cms-container').loadPanel(url);	
+						}
 					} else {
 						self.removeForm();
 					}

admin/javascript/LeftAndMain.js

@@ -95,8 +95,13 @@
 			redraw: function() {
 				// Move from inner to outer layouts. Some of the elements might not exist.
 				// Not all edit forms are layouted, so qualify by their data value.
+				
 				this.find('.cms-edit-form[data-layout]').redraw(); 
-				this.find('.cms-preview').redraw();
+				
+				// Only redraw preview if its visible
+				var preview = this.find('.cms-preview');
+				if(preview.is(':visible')) preview.redraw();
+
 				// Only redraw the content area if its not the same as the edit form
 				var contentEl = this.find('.cms-content');
 				if(!contentEl.is('.cms-edit-form')) contentEl.redraw();

admin/templates/Includes/LeftAndMain_Content.ss

@@ -1 +1,7 @@
-$EditForm
+<div class="cms-content center" data-layout="{type: 'border'}"  style="display: inline-block;">
+
+	$Tools
+
+	$EditForm
+	
+</div>

admin/templates/Includes/LeftAndMain_EditForm.ss

@@ -23,44 +23,40 @@
 			<!-- <div class="cms-content-search">...</div> -->
 		</div>
 	</div>
-	
-	<% if Tools %>
-		<div class="cms-content-tools west cms-panel cms-panel-layout collapsed" id="cms-content-tools" data-expandOnClick="true" data-layout="{type: 'border'}">
-			$Tools
-		</div>
-	<% end_if %>
-	
-	<div class="center cms-panel-layout" id="center-container-here" data-layout="{type: 'border'}">
-		<div class="cms-content-fields center">
-			<% if Message %>
-			<p id="{$FormName}_error" class="message $MessageType">$Message</p>
-			<% else %>
-			<p id="{$FormName}_error" class="message $MessageType" style="display: none"></p>
-			<% end_if %>
 
-			<fieldset>
+	<% control Controller %>
-				<% if Legend %><legend>$Legend</legend><% end_if %> 
+		$EditFormTools	
-				<% control Fields %>
+	<% end_control %>
-					$FieldHolder
+	
-				<% end_control %>
+	<div class="cms-content-fields center">
-				<div class="clear"><!-- --></div>
+		<% if Message %>
-			</fieldset>
+		<p id="{$FormName}_error" class="message $MessageType">$Message</p>
-		</div>
+		<% else %>
+		<p id="{$FormName}_error" class="message $MessageType" style="display: none"></p>
+		<% end_if %>
 
-		<div class="cms-content-actions south">
+		<fieldset>
-			<% if Actions %>
+			<% if Legend %><legend>$Legend</legend><% end_if %> 
-			<div class="Actions">
+			<% control Fields %>
-				<% control Actions %>
+				$FieldHolder
-					$Field
+			<% end_control %>
-				<% end_control %>
+			<div class="clear"><!-- --></div>
-				<% if CurrentPage.PreviewLink %>
+		</fieldset>
-				<a href="$CurrentPage.PreviewLink" class="cms-preview-toggle-link ss-ui-button">
+	</div>
-					<% _t('LeftAndMain.PreviewButton', 'Preview') %> &raquo;
+
-				</a>
+	<div class="cms-content-actions south">
-				<% end_if %>
+		<% if Actions %>
-			</div>
+		<div class="Actions">
+			<% control Actions %>
+				$Field
+			<% end_control %>
+			<% if CurrentPage.PreviewLink %>
+			<a href="$CurrentPage.PreviewLink" class="cms-preview-toggle-link ss-ui-button">
+				<% _t('LeftAndMain.PreviewButton', 'Preview') %> &raquo;
+			</a>
 			<% end_if %>
 		</div>
+		<% end_if %>
 	</div>
 <% if IncludeFormTag %>
 </form>

admin/templates/Includes/ModelAdmin_Content.ss

@@ -6,39 +6,7 @@
 		</div>
 	</div>
 
-	<div class="cms-content-tools west cms-panel cms-panel-layout" data-expandOnClick="true" data-layout="{type: 'border'}">	
+	$Tools
-		<div class="cms-panel-content center">
-			<h3 class="cms-panel-header"><% _t('Filter', 'Filter') %></h3>
-		
-			<div id="SearchForm_holder" class="leftbottom ss-tabset">		
-				<% if SearchClassSelector = tabs %>
-					<ul>
-						<% control ModelForms %>
-							 <li class="$FirstLast"><a id="tab-ModelAdmin_$Title.HTMLATT" href="#{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">$Title</a></li>
-						<% end_control %>
-					</ul>
-				<% end_if %>
-
-				<% if SearchClassSelector = dropdown %>
-					<div id="ModelClassSelector" class="ui-widget-container">
-						Search for:
-						<select>
-							<% control ModelForms %>
-								<option value="{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">$Title</option>
-							<% end_control %>
-						</select>
-					</div>
-				<% end_if %>
-
-				<% control ModelForms %>
-					<div class="tab" id="{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">
-						$Content
-					</div>
-				<% end_control %>
-			</div>
-		</div>
-		
-	</div>
 
 	<div class="cms-content-fields center ui-widget-content">
 		$EditForm

admin/templates/Includes/ModelAdmin_Tools.ss

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<div class="cms-content-tools west cms-panel cms-panel-layout" data-expandOnClick="true" data-layout="{type: 'border'}">	
+	<div class="cms-panel-content center">
+		<h3 class="cms-panel-header"><% _t('Filter', 'Filter') %></h3>
+	
+		<div id="SearchForm_holder" class="leftbottom ss-tabset">		
+			<% if SearchClassSelector = tabs %>
+				<ul>
+					<% control ModelForms %>
+						 <li class="$FirstLast"><a id="tab-ModelAdmin_$Title.HTMLATT" href="#{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">$Title</a></li>
+					<% end_control %>
+				</ul>
+			<% end_if %>
+
+			<% if SearchClassSelector = dropdown %>
+				<div id="ModelClassSelector" class="ui-widget-container">
+					Search for:
+					<select>
+						<% control ModelForms %>
+							<option value="{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">$Title</option>
+						<% end_control %>
+					</select>
+				</div>
+			<% end_if %>
+
+			<% control ModelForms %>
+				<div class="tab" id="{$Form.Name}_$ClassName">
+					$Content
+				</div>
+			<% end_control %>
+		</div>
+	</div>
+	
+</div>

docs/en/reference/cms-architecture.md

@@ -74,11 +74,12 @@ This requires manual assignment of the template to your form instance, see `[api
 
 Often its useful to have a "tools" panel in between the menu and your content,
 usually occupied by a search form or navigational helper.
-In this case, you can either overload the template as described above,
+In this case, you can either overload the full base template as described above.
-or use the special `$Tools` placeholder on `LeftAndMain->getEditForm()`.
+To avoid duplicating all this template code, you can also use the special `[api:LeftAndMain->Tools()]` and 
-See `CMSPageEditController->getEditForm()` for sample usage.
+`[api:LeftAndMain->EditFormTools()]` methods available in `LeftAndMain`.
-As the base template is aware of this placeholder, it saves you from
+These placeholders are populated by auto-detected templates, 
-overloading a complex template.
+with the naming convention of "<controller classname>_Tools.ss" and "<controller classname>_EditFormTools.ss".
+So to add or "subclass" a tools panel, simply create this file and it's automatically picked up.
 
 ## Layout and Panels