Canvas Developer Guide

Getting Started
Using Force.com Canvas
Force.com Canvas SDK
Canvas Apps and Visualforce Pages
Visualforce Page Code Examples
Visualforce Considerations
apex:canvasApp Component
Using Events between a Visualforce Page and a Canvas App
Canvas Apps in a Page Layout or a Mobile Card
Canvas Apps in the Publisher
Canvas Apps in the Chatter Feed
Canvas in the Salesforce App
Customizing Your App Lifecycle
Reference
PDF

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Canvas Apps and Visualforce Pages

In addition to standard canvas apps, Force.com Canvas also lets you expose a canvas app on a Visualforce page. This means you can display a canvas app anywhere you can display a Visualforce page.

Developers can use Visualforce pages to:
  • Override standard buttons, such as the New button for accounts, or the Save button for contacts
  • Override tab overview pages, such as the Accounts tab home page
  • Define custom tabs
  • Embed components in detail page layouts
  • Create dashboard components or custom help pages
  • Customize, extend, or integrate the sidebars in the Salesforce Console (custom console components)

To host a canvas app on a Visualforce page, use the <apex:canvasApp> component.

The Force.com Canvas framework includes methods that you can use to circumvent the navigational limitations of the iframe that contains a canvas app, without using Visualforce pages. These methods offer a streamlined alternative for controlling navigation to or from canvas apps in the Salesforce app. For details, see Salesforce App Navigation Methods for Use with Canvas Apps.

Note