View source for Documentation/Labs/CustomSlicerGenerator

== Goals ==

In many use cases it is desirable to provide customized versions of Slicer that remove clutter from the user interface and only expose the set of functionality that is needed.

== Ideas ==

Based on original design ideas from Bea, at [http://www.na-mic.org/Wiki/index.php/2015_Winter_Project_Week:SlicerModelGlyphs the 2015 Winter Project Week] Steve, Francois, and Jc brainstormed about what is needed and how we might accomplish it.

Some goals were:
* Single click download for end users, customized logo and application name
* Cross-platform support
* Ability to configure:
** Included extensions
** Excluded modules
** Application settings (layout, toolbar, home module...)
* Easy to generate and update and create new versions
** Interactively
** Batch

== Planned Steps ==

# Create Prototype ProfileWizard as scripted module in a custom Extension
## Offer a list of modules with checkboxes
## Create a new output application directory containing only selected modules
# Test this on the TMJ-OA craniofacial use cases
# Review how to map to batch mode
## Define configuration format
## Determine how to access all directories and other info in order to automate download and packaging cross-platform

== Issues to sort out ==

* How to make a custom application icon (currently app icons are stored as read-only resources inside the application executable).

* How to tell slicer to use the extensions.
** Could copy all extension executables and shared libraries into lib/Slicer-4.4/cli-modules, but on Mac the paths are 'fixed up' meaning they are hard coded to be in extension subdirectories.  They do not work if copied into the core.
** Could find a way to customize the settings file to set module path and mimic the behavior of the extension manager.
** Could provide a scripted module that finishes the installation of the Custom Slicer application the first time it is run on a client machine (this might be the best option).

* How to remove module menu groups like "Diffusion" when they are empty.

== Implementation Progress ==

A new extension has been created: https://github.com/pieper/CustomSlicerGenerator

As of late February 2015 it mostly works and creates a custom application with the modules specified by a configuration script.  The resulting custom application runs, but it uses the settings from Slicer because the application name is [https://github.com/Slicer/Slicer/blob/9ab851e646f7eb755d27e0fb9d367d97ee55ad08/Applications/SlicerApp/Main.cxx#L108 hard-coded in Slicer's Main.cxx].