Adding on, this is all done without any events being specified on the milestone management client? I know that MS Smart Client defines the items in setup with a user defined event but can the same effect also be achieved without any events being defined at all?
If you create a plugin for the Smart Client it can receive messages through MIP messaging which it could then react on to change the color of a user control.
MIP messages can be send by both other plugins and standalone applications. Have a look at the Chat sample for an example of how to do MIP messaging.
No Management Client setup is required to achieve this.
So in light of the MIP messaging being able to send messages to the plugin on the Smart client, can we create customized user controls of say a rectangle bar icon that is able to react to receiving say 3 types of status messages, 1. working, 2. tamper, 3. faulty upon receiving of this MIP messages? Bearing in mind that the customized user control does not require any dependancies (like for add events on tools of smart client setup, it requires a user defined event of sorts to be defined first before allowing the option to be present for selection) and can be freely selected and placed on the map (or smart map) yet being able to react accordingly to the type of MIP messages received?
You can create such controls in side panels, plugin view items, workspace buttons and other places (have a look at the documentation for more examples), but unfortunately not on the map and smart map.
Items on map and smart map are defined in an event server plugin and thus does not have active code running in the Smart Client, but for the map items (not smart map) it is possible to change the icon shown in Smart Client on the fly - see the Sensor Monitor sample for an example of how to do this.
thank you so much for your help!