Programming Guide : 15. Writing a Template Assistant : How You Can Ensure Compatibility Between the Assistant and ApplyTemplate : How the Frame Creation Process Works
 
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How the Frame Creation Process Works
When a frame is created from a frame template with OpenROAD, the following steps are performed:
The frame template specified by the user is fetched from its library image file.
All of the static functions defined for the frame template—its form, menu, and 4GL scripts—are copied to the newly created frame.
If an assistant has been defined for the frame template, the assistant is then called and is passed the newly created frame for dynamic customization.
The static functionality provided by the frame template and the dynamic functionality provided by the assistant combine to create a frame that is immediately unique and usable. The ApplyTemplate utility provides a mechanism to perform these three steps on a frame that has previously been created.