User Interface – Dash Application Guide
=======================================

Overview
--------

This user interface is designed to allow users to **explore, process, and validate lidar data**. The application runs in a web browser and provides a streamlined workflow using dropdowns, calendar selection, and step-by-step navigation.

Main Layout
-----------

The interface is divided into three main sections:

1. **Sidebar (left)**:
   - User selection
   - Parameter file selection (XML format)
   - Date selection (year, month, calendar-based day picker)
   - Navigation links to processing stages
   - Validation / Rejection buttons

2. **Main Content Area**:
   - Displays dynamic content depending on the selected processing stage

3. **Footer**:
   - Shows version info, author credits, and project ownership

Data Selection Workflow
-----------------------

The typical steps a user follows:

1. **User Selection**
   A dropdown allows the user to identify themselves. This enables access to the rest of the interface.

2. **Parameter File Selection**
   Choose a configuration XML file from a list.

3. **Date Selection**
   - Select year and month from dropdowns
   - A calendar grid displays the days of the month
   - Color-coded day buttons indicate data availability and processing status:
     - **Gray**: data available, not yet processed
     - **Green**: data already validated
     - **Red**: data rejected
     - **Light color**: no data available

4. **Navigation to Processing Stages**
   Once a valid day is selected, the sidebar links become active. These include:

   - **General informations**: basic metadata
   - **Background**: background noise removal (:ref:`background-page`)
   - **Saturation**: saturation handling
   - **Filtering**: signal filtering
   - **Merging / Aerosols / Ozone**: various data merging and corrections
   - **Domain validity / Parameters**: advanced parameter tuning and validation scope

Data Validation or Rejection
----------------------------

After reviewing and processing the data, the user can:

- **Validate** the dataset using the *Validation* button
- **Reject** the dataset using the *Rejection* button

This action generates a validation file and copies the processed data to its appropriate location.

Navigation Tips
---------------

- The **“C”** button opens the parameter file editor directly.
- Sidebar links remain disabled until the necessary selections are made (user, parameter file, date).