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FieldDescription
Basic Settings
NameThe name of the stream view. By default, a space will be included before each capital letter. For example, the name CustSpendAverage will be displayed in the column heading as Cust Spend Average.
Display TypeA number of chart types are available:
  • Barchart: plot a quantity as a set of bars against a set of categories along the horizontal axis.
  • 3D Barchart: a 3D version of the standard barchart.
  • Barchart (horizontal)
  • Grid: show stream data laid out in a table.
  • Line Chart (category horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a horizontal axis of 'categories'. The categories are printed along the horizontal axis, ordered alphanumerically.
  • Line Chart (numeric horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a numerical horizontal axis.
  • 3D Pie Chart: a 3D version of the standard pie chart.
  • Pie Chart: show a quantity as a pie chart, grouped by a category.
  • Pivot: show stream data laid out in a table, with data for values of one attribute broken out ('pivoted') into multiple columns.
  • Stacked Barchart: a bar chart where multiple series/multiple attributes per category are displayed in a stacked form.
  • Line Chart (times series horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a date/time value - a stream attribute of type Date or Datetime.

HELPDEVTODO: no file download button on form; is this still correct anyway? If display type is a chart and the user elects to output the chart to HTML (either via a File Exporter or from a chart, PhixFlow will output the chart to HTML as a picture (.PNG).

Default Sort OrderIf specified, the default order in which data should be displayed. See the Stream View Sort Order form.
Default FilterAny filter on the stream can be selected as the default filter for this view.
Default ActionThe action that will be applied when users double-click on a row in a data grid. Often this is an update action - that allows users (if they have permissions to run the action) to update the record. But you can make this open a read-only detailed view of the record if that is more useful for most users. See Action.
Form View

Tick this box to make this a form view. This can be used to accepting input from a user, for an insert or update action.

View Attributes

A list of attributes displayed in the view, or to build a chart. Press  to bring up a list of attributes for the stream, and drag the attributes you want to add to the view into this list.

For each attribute, the following fields are shown:

OrderThe order in which the attributes will appear in the view. For a grid view, this is the order of columns.
Name

The display name of the attribute in the view. By default, this is the same as the name of the attribute in the underlying stream.

Remember that if you are applying an Aggregate Function to the attribute, it is often useful to reflect that in the display name. For example: you are going to display the average monthly spend for each customer, by applying the aggregate function Average to the attribute CustSpend. You set the display name as CustSpendAverage.

Stream Function

You can specify an Aggregate Function on this attribute. As soon as you have specified a single aggregate attribute in your view, any other fields will be either aggregate attributes - if you also specify an aggregate function for them - or used as grouping attributes.

Role

This setting only shows if the view is a chart, i.e. not a data grid. This is the role that the field has in generating the chart.

HELPDEVTODO: are there fairly generic descriptions for roles that are worth putting in, or is it only worth describing these in context for each chart type?

Decimal PlacesThis field will only show if the underlying stream attribute has type Float. The number of decimal places to display.
Date/Time FormatThis field will only show if the underlying stream attribute has type Date or Datetime. See toString for a description of display formats.
Hidden

HELPDEVTODO: not shown for charts, should it be? If not, put in Grid Settings section

Whether the field is shown on the view. Sometimes you need to include fields in views so that they can be used in filters and Actions, but displaying them would make the view cluttered. Make the field hidden.

Stream Attribute Details

Name

The name of the underlying stream attribute.
TypeThe type of the underlying stream attribute. This cannot be edited here. It must be edited in the Stream.
Grid Settings
These settings are only available for view attributes for grid views
Grid Default Width (pixels)Set the default width of the column for this attribute. PhixFlow will create the grid with default column widths - you only need to specify a value in this field if the width you want is different from this default.
Label

An optional label for the resulting column header. If left blank, this is the Name of the stream view attribute.

The label gives you more options for setting the column header - for example, control over the white space in the column heading - but you can also make this an expression. For example, to that the column contains transactions for the currently logged in user, you could use: 

Code Block
"Transactions for " + _user.username

For user pchevalier, this would give the column heading:

Code Block
Transactions for pchevalier

To use an expression in this field, tick the box Label is Expression

Label is ExpressionTick this box if you want to set the Label using an expression.
Changes Row ColourIf ticked, the row colour changes whenever the value in this field changes.
Alignment

Set the alignment of values in this column to:

  • Left
  • Right
  • Centre
Formatting Rules

A list of the formatting rules that apply to this field in the view.

For each formatting rule, set the following fields:

Rule Expression
StyleSelect a style from the drop-down list, or create a new style.
OrderThe order in which the formatting rules are applied.
EnabledStop if True
Excel Template

An excel template can be linked to the view to specify the format the chart data should be exported in.

The location that excel templates must be saved to is specified in the System Configuration.

Number of PeriodsNumber of processing periods from the stream to display on the chart. If a full set of data is generated in each period, then this will be 1. If the data is spread across processing periods in the stream - for example, each processing period only contains new data for that day, but we want to plot data across a number of days - then this number must be high enough to include all data of interest to show on a chart.
Background FilterAny filter on the stream can be selected as the background filter for this view. When the user opens this view the background filter is applied first and any other filter applied to the view (either specifically created/selected by the user or automatically applied as the default filter described above) acts in addition to the background filter.
All Users Can View DataIf checked, this specifies that all users can view this stream view by default (provided they have the basic privilege to view stream views). If this field is not checked, then access to the stream view is controlled by dropping user groups onto the stream's "User Groups" tab.
Default WidthThe default width of the Stream View. If empty, the View's width will be set to the system default value.
Default HeightThe default height of the Stream View. If empty, the View's height will be set to the system default value.
Form View

Check box to determine if this view is to be used as a Form View. When a user is entering or updating data using a form view, you can use the internal variable _form to use a value already entered in the form in the filter on a selection view. That is, the values that appear in a drop down list will be governed by values they have entered so far in the form. See selection view attributes for details of using selection views to create drop down lists.

HELPDEVTODO not yet in form

Height On Form (pixels)
This only applies on Form views: sets the height of the form field for this attribute. PhixFlow will create the form field with a default height - you only need to specify a value in this field if the height you want is different from this default.

HELPDEVTODO not yet in form

Width On Form (pixels)
This only applies on Form views: sets the width of the form field for this attribute. PhixFlow will create the form field with a default width - you only need to specify a value in this field if the width you want is different from this default.

HELPDEVTODO not yet in form

Multiline on Form
This tick box will only be shown when configuring a view attribute on a Form view. If ticked, users can press the Enter key to create multiple lines in this field, or copy multi-line text into this field. 

Values governing the appearance of charts are configured in the Chart Layout tab.

The following fields apply to Pivot views:

If Pivot Column Source == Expression, this expression must return either a list of values or a list of pairs of values (the values and corresponding labels). E.g.

['20150101', '20150201', '20150301']

or

[ [ '20150101', 'January 2015'], [ '20150201', 'February 2015'], [ '20150301', 'March 2015'] ]

The expression can refer to any lookup pipe that is an input to the Stream being viewed
FieldDescription
Pivot Column Source

The pivot column source determines how the the values that are converted to Pivot Columns are generated:

View Data

The pivot column values are read from the Column Attribute in the data being viewed.

If the Label Attribute is specified, the label values corresponding to the value attribute values are used as pivot column headers.

The is the simplest way to derive the pivot column values, but does not allow any control of the order of values, or the ability to handle missing values e.g. when generating standard reports

Expression

The pivot column values are the result of an expression.

If no labels are provided, they are derived from the pivot values using the formatting options set on the Column attribute.

Pivot Column ExprForm Settings
These settings are only available for form views - that is, grid views that have Form View ticked.
Read OnlyThis makes the field read-only in the form view.
Height On Form (pixels)Sets the height of the form field for this attribute. PhixFlow will create the form field with a default height - you only need to specify a value in this field if the height you want is different from this default.
Width On Form (pixels)Sets the width of the form field for this attribute. PhixFlow will create the form field with a default width - you only need to specify a value in this field if the width you want is different from this default.
Multiline on FormIf ticked, users can press the Enter key to create multiple lines in this field, or copy multi-line text into this field.
Selection View Attribute

This sets the dropdown list from which the user can pick a value. Drag the stream view attribute that you want to use for the dropdown list into this field. The Show the dropdown button option must be ticked to display the drop down.

When a user is entering or updating data using a form view, you can use the internal variable _form to use a value already entered in the form in the filter on a selection view. That is, the values that appear in a drop down list will be governed by values they have entered so far in the form. See Configuring Selection View Attributes below for an example of configuring selection view attributes.

If another stream view attribute has a Selection View Attribute set and has Show the dropdown button set to yes, then it is possible to set the current stream view attribute from the same selection view without a further dropdown list. Drag the stream view attribute that you want to use to set this stream view attribute into this field

Drag the attribute out of the field to delete the contents of the Selection View Attribute.

Show the dropdown buttonSee Selection View Attribute above.
Formatting Rules

A list of the formatting rules that apply to this field in the view.

For each formatting rule, set the following fields:

Rule Expression
StyleSelect a style from the drop-down list, or create a new style.
OrderThe order in which the formatting rules are applied.
Enabled
Stop if True








Excel Template

An excel template can be linked to the view to specify the format the chart data should be exported in.

The location that excel templates must be saved to is specified in the System Configuration.

Number of PeriodsNumber of processing periods from the stream to display on the chart. If a full set of data is generated in each period, then this will be 1. If the data is spread across processing periods in the stream - for example, each processing period only contains new data for that day, but we want to plot data across a number of days - then this number must be high enough to include all data of interest to show on a chart.
Background FilterAny filter on the stream can be selected as the background filter for this view. When the user opens this view the background filter is applied first and any other filter applied to the view (either specifically created/selected by the user or automatically applied as the default filter described above) acts in addition to the background filter.




All Users Can View DataIf checked, this specifies that all users can view this stream view by default (provided they have the basic privilege to view stream views). If this field is not checked, then access to the stream view is controlled by dropping user groups onto the stream's "User Groups" tab.
Default WidthThe default width of the Stream View. If empty, the View's width will be set to the system default value.
Default HeightThe default height of the Stream View. If empty, the View's height will be set to the system default value.








Values governing the appearance of charts are configured in the Chart Layout tab.

The following fields apply to Pivot views:

FieldDescription
Pivot Column Source

The pivot column source determines how the the values that are converted to Pivot Columns are generated:

View Data

The pivot column values are read from the Column Attribute in the data being viewed.

If the Label Attribute is specified, the label values corresponding to the value attribute values are used as pivot column headers.

The is the simplest way to derive the pivot column values, but does not allow any control of the order of values, or the ability to handle missing values e.g. when generating standard reports

Expression

The pivot column values are the result of an expression.

If no labels are provided, they are derived from the pivot values using the formatting options set on the Column attribute.

Row AttributesThe row attributes will be displayed on the left of the view.
Maximum Pivot ColumnsThis is the maximum number of pivot columns that can be displayed. If this is blank, the system-wide default in System Configuration is used.

Column attribute

Values in the Column Attribute are mapped to separate columns in the resulting view.

The formatting options on the attribute (decimal places, date/time format) can be used to automatically generate column headers corresponding to Column Attribute values.

Value Attribute

When the view is displayed, the value in this Value Attribute will be displayed in the column corresponding to the value in the Column Attribute.

A Pivot View is not automatically grouped. To make this a grouped view, you should set the value attribute's aggregate function (e.g. to SUM).

Label AttributeIf Pivot Column Source == View Data, this attribute provides the pivot column labels corresponding to the column values. In most cases, the number of values for the label attribute, should be exactly the same as the number of values for the column attribute.

 

The following fields apply to all graphs, that is, all display types other than Grid or Pivot:

FieldDescription
Default ResolutionSet the default resolution for the generated graph. Larger values will produce a more finely grained image, and equivalently smaller fonts, sometimes useful when using graphs containing a large amount of data. Smaller values will produce a bolder, less finely grained image, sometimes useful for producing a clearer graph when there is not much data to display.
Minimum ValueMinimum value along the vertical axis to be displayed. This value will be lowest point on the vertical axis if any value in the data plotted falls below this value. Otherwise, the graph will be automatically sized as normal.
Maximum ValueMaximum value along the vertical axis to be displayed. This value will be the highest point on the vertical axis if any value in the data plotted falls above this value. Otherwise, the graph will be automatically sized as normal.
Fixed ScaleIf fixed scale is turned on, the the maximum value and minimum value defined will always be used as the highest and lowest points on the vertical axis, regardless of the data plotted.
Horizontal Axis TitleThe label given to the horizontal axis.
Vertical Axis TitleThe label given to the vertical axis.
Include LegendWhen a series is used, if this is turned on then a box listing all lines shown, along with the corresponding values, is displayed on the graph.
Tick label angleThe orientation of the values displayed along the horizontal axis. Select a Pivot Column Expr

If Pivot Column Source == Expression, this expression must return either a list of values or a list of pairs of values (the values and corresponding labels). E.g.

['20150101', '20150201', '20150301']

or

[ [ '20150101', 'January 2015'], [ '20150201', 'February 2015'], [ '20150301', 'March 2015'] ]

The expression can refer to any lookup pipe that is an input to the Stream being viewed.

If no labels are provided, they are derived from the pivot values using the formatting options set on the Column attribute.

Row AttributesThe row attributes will be displayed on the left of the view.
Maximum Pivot ColumnsThis is the maximum number of pivot columns that can be displayed. If this is blank, the system-wide default in System Configuration is used.

Column attribute

Values in the Column Attribute are mapped to separate columns in the resulting view.

The formatting options on the attribute (decimal places, date/time format) can be used to automatically generate column headers corresponding to Column Attribute values.

Value Attribute

When the view is displayed, the value in this Value Attribute will be displayed in the column corresponding to the value in the Column Attribute.

A Pivot View is not automatically grouped. To make this a grouped view, you should set the value attribute's aggregate function (e.g. to SUM).

Label AttributeIf Pivot Column Source == View Data, this attribute provides the pivot column labels corresponding to the column values. In most cases, the number of values for the label attribute, should be exactly the same as the number of values for the column attribute.

 

The following fields apply to all graphs, that is, all display types other than Grid or Pivot:

FieldDescription
Default ResolutionSet the default resolution for the generated graph. Larger values will produce a more finely grained image, and equivalently smaller fonts, sometimes useful when using graphs containing a large amount of data. Smaller values will produce a bolder, less finely grained image, sometimes useful for producing a clearer graph when there is not much data to display.
Minimum ValueMinimum value along the vertical axis to be displayed. This value will be lowest point on the vertical axis if any value in the data plotted falls below this value. Otherwise, the graph will be automatically sized as normal.
Maximum ValueMaximum value along the vertical axis to be displayed. This value will be the highest point on the vertical axis if any value in the data plotted falls above this value. Otherwise, the graph will be automatically sized as normal.
Fixed ScaleIf fixed scale is turned on, the the maximum value and minimum value defined will always be used as the highest and lowest points on the vertical axis, regardless of the data plotted.
Horizontal Axis TitleThe label given to the horizontal axis.
Vertical Axis TitleThe label given to the vertical axis.
Include LegendWhen a series is used, if this is turned on then a box listing all lines shown, along with the corresponding values, is displayed on the graph.
Tick label angleThe orientation of the values displayed along the horizontal axis. Select a value from the drop down menu.
Show Horizontal GridlinesIf this is turned on, horizontal gridlines are displayed on the chart.
Show Vertical GridlinesIf this is turned on, vertical gridlines are displayed on the chart.
Show Values on ChartsIf this is turned on, then the y/data attribute values are also displayed on the chart for better clarity.

...

It is advised not to use dark colours as they may cause the grid data to be hardly visible.

Anchor
selectionViewAttributes
selectionViewAttributes
Configuring Selection View Attributes - setting up "drop down" lists

HELPDEVTODO - update screen shots and instructions as needed

Configuring Selection View Attributes is illustrated with an example:

You have a selection of items for sale, as below:

Image Added

You also have a form view that allows you to edit these entries - this pops up when the Edit button is clicked:

Image Added

You need to assign a tax band to each item. You also have a set of tax bands configured:

Image Added

To help with this task, you will set up a selection list to populate the tax band and tax rate values for the sales items, from the list of tax bands. To do this, open the configuration form for the form view 008 Edit Sales Item, then open the configuration form for the view attribute TaxBand:

Image Added

Then open the list of attributes for the view that gives the list of tax bands:

Image Added

From the list of attributes that pop up, drag the attribute BandDescription into the Selection View Attribute field, and tick the Show the dropdown button flag.

Image Added

Populating further attributes from the same selection view

Repeat the same process for the view attribute TaxRate, dragging the attribute BandRate from the view of tax bands into the Selection View Attribute field. This time, do not tick the Show the dropdown button flag.

The form view will now appear as:

Image Added

If you press the button next to the TaxBand field the list of tax bands will appear - you can select a row from this list by double-clicking it. This will populate the TaxBand and TaxRate fields for the sales item with the selected tax band details:

Image Added

Controlling drop-down lists with other form values

You can use values that users have already entered into a form to control the values that appear in a drop down list. This is done by using the internal variable _form. Add a background filter on the view used in the selection view attribute, and include a clause which uses the value _form.formAttributeName to match values in the selection view with the value entered by the user in the attribute formAttributeName.

Model Ref: 008

Form Icons

 

The form provides the standard form icons.

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