Configure a business view

Business view configuration

In addition to the structure based on business entities and transitions, the business view also includes options to configure how it appears in the application.

You typically configure the following:

  • In the Transition, you configure how the transition appears.

  • In the Business Entity, you configure how child records appear when displayed in a collection or individually.

  • In a business entity, you configure the action available in the menu by selecting an Action Set.

  • If a business entity uses a form with references to other entities, the Reference Browsing options define how to navigate these references.

  • If a business entity uses a form with embedded collections, the Embedded Collection options define how to navigate when clicking an item in these collections.

  • In the Business View Transition and Business Entity, you also configure the tree view showing the business view hierarchy.

Configure the transitions

To configure a transition:

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transition table.

  2. Select the transition in the table.

  3. In the Properties view, configure the following properties:

    • In Name and Definition, modify the Name, Transition Path, Filter and Target Business Entity of the transition.

    • Icons and Labels

      • Icon: Icon used to represent the child records of the transition.

      • Custom Label: Select this option to use a Label and a Plural Label different from those of the child entity.

    • Display Properties

      • Form Tab Condition: SemQL condition that must be met for the transition tab to appear in the business view.
        For example, you may only want to add the Contacts tab if there is a contact, which can be expressed with Any Contacts have ( 1=1 )

      • Display Form Tab: Select how the tab should appear. With the label, icon, or both.

Configure the business entities

To configure a business entity:

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transition table.

  2. Select the business entity in the table.

  3. In the Properties view, configure the following properties:

    • Name and Definition

      • Modify the Name and modify the selected Entity.

    • Display Properties

      • Customized Display Card: Display card used to represent one record in the editor header for this business entity.

      • Browsing Collection: Collection used to display a list of records.

      • Browsing Form: Form used to display one record.

      • Outline Visible: Defines whether the outline should be displayed for this business entity.

      • Display Record Count: Defines when the record count should appear, after the customized display card in the editor header, for this business entity.

    • Collection Configuration

      • Customized Sort: Select this option to sort the records in the browsing collection according to the Sort Expression. Note that records in the collection are sorted by default by their ID.

      • Sort Expression: Sort expression applied to the data in the browsing collection.

      • User-Defined Sort: Check this box to allow users to customize the sort.

      • Allow Table, Allow List, Allow Grid: Select the views available for the collection. These must be supported by the selected Browsing Collection.

Configure the available actions

To configure the actions available for a business entity:

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transition table.

  2. Select the business entity in the table.

  3. In the Properties view, select the Name and Definition finger tab.

  4. Select an Action Set that will define which actions are available to manage the data on that business entity.

Configure reference browsing

Reference Browsing options define how to navigate references appearing in the form defined for a business entity.

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transition table.

  2. Select the business entity in the table.

  3. In the Properties view, select the References Browsing finger tab.
    This table lists the references of the browsing form selected for the business entity.

  4. Click the Refresh References Refresh References button in the Properties view toolbar to refresh the list of browsable references.

  5. For each reference listed, select a Browsing Target:

    • Not Browsable makes the reference not navigable.

    • Form opens a popup with the selected Form when the reference is clicked.

    • Business View opens the selected Target Business View in the same editor.

A business view can be searched at every level. You configure the search capabilities for each business entity of your business view.

Semarchy xDM provides the following built-in search types to look for data in business views:

  • Text: The text search looks up all attributes of the business entity marked as Searchable in the model that match your search pattern. Users can use the % wildcard to match a number of characters or _ to match a single character.

  • By Form: This method shows a default form with all the business entity attributes available, and pickers to select values to filter these attributes.

  • Advanced Search: Advanced search allows users to specify which attributes to search on and the operators to use for comparison.

  • SemQL: SemQL search allows users to use SemQL queries to search. With SemQL, users can use attributes in parent entities or child entities, as well as the SemQL library of functions.

In addition to these search types, you can design your own Search forms.

The business entity search configuration defines the search methods (built-in search methods and search forms) available to filter the records of a business entity in a business view.

To define the search configuration:

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transitions table.

  2. In this table, select the business entity you want to enable search for.

  3. In the Properties view, select the Display Properties finger tab.
    The Search Configuration property lists the search methods enabled for this business entity.

  4. Click the Edit button to open the Available Search Methods selection dialog.
    This table lists the available search methods (built-in and search forms) available for the root business entity.

  5. Select the Available checkbox for each search method you want to make available.

  6. Order the search methods using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

Configure built-in filters

Built-in filters are pre-canned in the business view and made available to users by default in their list of filters. Users can enable or disable these filters, but cannot remove or edit them.

A built-in filter defined on the root business entity may be applied to the business view when it is opened using the Browse Business View Application Action. In that case, this filter cannot be disabled by the users. This feature allows you to define specialized views for a given business view.

To configure a built-in filter:

  1. In the Business View editor, scroll down to the Transitions table.

  2. In this table, select the business entity for which you want to create a built-in filter.

  3. In the Properties view, select the Built-In Filters finger tab.
    This table lists the built-in filters defined for this business entity.

  4. Click the Add Built-In Filter Add Built-In Filter button in the Properties view toolbar.
    The Create New Built-In Filter wizard opens.

  5. In the Create New Built-In Filter wizard enter the following values:

    • Name: Internal name of the filter.

    • Label: User-friendly label for this filter. This label appears to users in the list of built-in filters.

    • Condition: Enter the SemQL condition that must be true for a record to appear when the filter is applied. You can use the edit expression button Edit Expression button to open the SemQL Editor.

    • Visible: This option defines whether the filter appears in the list of built-in filters. A filter defined on the root business entity that is not visible may still be applied to the business view from a Browse Business View Application Action.

  6. Click Finish to close the wizard. The new filter appears in the table. You can edit filters from the table.