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nimble-components

README.md

ni | nimble | components

Nimble Components

NPM Version

NI-styled web components for web applications.

Getting Started

Framework Support

If you are using one of the following frameworks see associated wrapper documentation:

  1. Angular: See the nimble-angular documentation.
  2. Blazor WebAssembly or Blazor Server: See the nimble-blazor documentation.

Using in a Webpack Application

If you have an existing application that incorporates a module bundler like Webpack but doesn't include one of the above frameworks, you can use @ni/nimble-components directly. Exact instructions will depend on your application, but here are some common steps:

  1. Install the package from the public NPM registry by running npm install @ni/nimble-components.
  2. Import the component you want to use from the file you want to use it in. For example: import '@ni/nimble-components/dist/esm/icons/succeeded';
  3. Add the HTML for the component to your page. You can see sample code for each component in the Nimble Storybook by going to the Docs page for the component and clicking Show code. For example: <nimble-icon-succeeded></nimble-icon-succeeded>.
  4. Nimble components are standard web components (custom elements) so you can configure them via normal DOM APIs like attributes, properties, events, and methods. The Storybook documentation for each component describes its custom API.

Prototyping in a static webpage

If you have a static webpage without a bundler, you can use @ni/nimble-components by including one of the bundled distribution files. For example:

<html>
    <head>
        <script src="https://unpkg.com/@ni/nimble-components/dist/all-components-bundle.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <nimble-theme-provider theme="light">
            <nimble-button>Hello</nimble-button>
        </nimble-theme-provider>
    </body>
</html>

Alternatively, to use the minified bundle: https://unpkg.com/@ni/nimble-components/dist/all-components-bundle.min.js. To specify a specific version see the instructions on unpkg.com.

Note: Production applications must not rely on the unpkg.com service. The service is a useful tool for prototyping or reporting issues.

Note: It is recommended that production applications use build tooling to create optimized builds using only required components instead of importing all components via the all-components-bundle files.

Theming

This package contains a theming system which enables changing the appearance of controls based on user preferences or application designs.

The theming system is built on a set of design tokens that define different properties such as fonts, colors, etc. The Nimble components are configured to use these theme-aware design tokens. An application should use the same theme-aware design tokens for parts outside of the components.

The theming system is composed of:

  1. Theme-aware design tokens that are used in your stylesheets.
  2. A <nimble-theme-provider> component that is added around your page contents and is configured for a theme.

Using the Theming System

  1. Include the <nimble-theme-provider> element on your page and set its theme attribute. The theme provider has no appearance of its own but defines tokens that are used by descendant components. It will typically be at the root of the application:

    <body>
    <nimble-theme-provider theme="light">
        <!-- everything else -->
    </nimble-theme-provider>
</body>

  2. Include one import in your styles for the Nimble fonts. Nimble recommends using SCSS for capabilities such as build-time property checking.

    @import '@ni/nimble-components/dist/fonts';

  3. As needed, add Nimble components as descendants of the theme provider and they will inherit the theme.

  4. As needed, import the theme-aware design tokens in each SCSS file that will leverage the tokens for other parts of your application (for colors, fonts, etc).

    @import '@ni/nimble-components/dist/tokens';

.my-element {
    font-family: $ni-nimble-body-font-family;
    font-size: $ni-nimble-body-font-size;
    color: $ni-nimble-body-font-color;
}

Customizing

The goal of the Nimble design system is to provide a consistent style for applications. If you find that Nimble does not expose colors, fonts, sizes, etc. that you need in an application get in touch with the Nimble squad.

Localization

Most user-visible strings displayed by Nimble components are provided by the client application and are expected to be localized by the application if necessary. However, some strings are built into Nimble components and are provided only in English. An application can provide localized versions of these strings by using design tokens set on label provider elements.

There are currently 2 label providers:

  • nimble-label-provider-core: Used for labels for all components besides the table
  • nimble-label-provider-table: Used for labels for the table (and table sub-components / column types)

If a client is localized, it should:

  • Add the label-provider element(s) as children of their root theme provider: 
    <body>
    <nimble-theme-provider theme="light">
        <nimble-label-provider-core></nimble-label-provider-core>
        <!-- if using nimble-table, include nimble-label-provider-table: -->
        <nimble-label-provider-table></nimble-label-provider-table>
        <!-- everything else -->
    </nimble-theme-provider>
</body>
  • For each label token on the label provider API, localize the English string, and set the corresponding HTML attribute or JS property on the label provider to the localized values. A list of all label tokens for each label provider (and their corresponding attribute/property names and English strings) can be found in the Tokens/Label Providers section of Storybook.

Accessibility

For accessibility information related to nimble components, see accessibility.md.

Contributing

Follow the instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md to modify this library.