Working With PhixFlow

Overview

PhixFlow comprises two parts:

• All the PhixFlow data and items (files) are stored in a database on a server
• As a user, you run the PhixFlow client in a web browser using the URL provided by your administrator.

You can work with PhixFlow in two ways.

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  : use this mode to work on data analysis models or design application screens.
  We recommend that you use design mode on a desktop computer as you require screen space to build analysis models and design application screens.

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  : use this mode to run your PhixFlow applications. Applications can be designed to be used on:
  • desktop or laptop computers
  • mobile device, such as tablet or smartphone.

Administrators can set up PhixFlow so that application users never see 

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, and can access only the applications and data that they need.

When you run the PhixFlow client in a browser, the PhixFlow window has:

• Optionally, a menu bar at the top of the screen. The menu bar includes:
  • the PhixFlow name and logo, which opens the Application Menu; see Application Mode, below.
  • any menu options for the loaded application
• A grey task bar at the bottom of the screen; see Task Bar, below.

Task Bar

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At the bottom of the PhixFlow window is the grey task bar. The task bar display varies for desktop and mobile devices.

On Desktop or Laptop Computers

For desktop or laptop computers, the task bar shows:

• on the left:
  • the 

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     button
  • the number of currently running actions
  • in design mode, the number of windows open in the workspace
  • the right of the grey status bar at the bottom of the screen shows the status of any actions, and lists how many items, such as models or dashboards, are open

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    When there are several model windows or dashboards open in the workspace you can Show/Hide Windows Bar; see 13 Using the PhixFlow Windows Bar. This displays icons for all the open windows (both open and minimised). Click on a link to maximise or bring a window to the front of the workspace. Each icon also has a context menu which allows you to close it.
• on the right: the user name of the currently logged in user, and the following icons. For information about these icons; see Menu Options and Toolbar Buttons.

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     –  the options available depend on your permissions.

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  • either 

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     or 

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    .
• In design mode, PhixFlow displays green, blue or red notification pop-ups on screen. You can click Dismiss notifications to close all green and blue notifications. You must close red error messages individually.

On Mobile Devices

PhixFlow applications are often deployed on mobile devices, such as tablets. This means team members can access and update data whilst in the field. As mobile devices have less screen space available, the task bar is simplified to show the icons:

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   –  the options available depend on your permissions.

Application Mode

Using the Application Menu

Your PhixFlow applications usually have a menu bar at the top of the screen. On the top left is the PhixFlow name and logo, which looks like this.

Application developers can configure PhixFlow to not display the menu bar. Instead the PhixFlow logo is displayed the bottom right of the screen.

Click on the PhixFlow name or logo to display the Applications menu. This shows the applications available to you as a set of cards. For example:

Click anywhere in a card to open the application. PhixFlow always asks if you want to confirm any action, including opening an application. Click Yes to continue. 

When you select an application:

• In 

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  , PhixFlow loads the application. This means the repository shows only the items for the application.
• In 

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   PhixFlow runs the application. An application has its own menus, to provide the application user with the options they need. 

Application Help

Application designers are responsible for providing help about how to use an application.

Accessing an Application Using a URL

An application user can also run an application and menu via a URL, by starting with the PhixFlow URL and adding:

?application=APP&menu=MENU

Where APP is the name of the application and MENU is the name of the menu the user requires.

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The PhixFlow instance for a company is  https://bigcorp.com/phixflow/. To open the Data Analysis application with the menu Options displayed, enter the following URL into a browser. https://bigcorp.com/phixflow/?application=Data%20Analysis&menu=Options Spaces in application and menu names should be represented using %20.

Design Mode

Design mode has a workspace on the left and the repository tab on the right. The repository lists the items in PhixFlow to which you have access. If the repository is not visible, click the 

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 icon in the bottom left of the window.

The Repository

When you open PhixFlow in design mode, PhixFlow opens the Repository tab on the right of the screen; see Using the Repository. 

Double-click on an item in the repository to open its properties tab. Here you can set the properties for modelling objects and application components. 

In addition to having properties, you can open and edit some items in the workspace on the left. These are:

•  Analysis Models: represent the flow and transformation of data.
•  Stream Views: display the data in streams as tables (called grids) and charts.
•  Dashboards: combine several stream views. Application screens are dashboards with more complex layouts, including menus and actions. 

To display and update these items:

1. From the repository, open the item's properties.
2. From the toolbar on the properties tab, click the icon for the item, which is its Display option.
3. PhixFlow opens the item in the workspace on the left. 

Property Tabs 

Click on the name of an item to open its properties tab. Usually PhixFlow opens each property tab in the same space and automatically closes any saved property tab. 

• To switch between tabs, click on the tab, which shows the name of the item.
• To keep a property tab open, click the 

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   icon in its tab. 
• To unpin a property tab, click the 

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   icon.
• To view tabs side-by-side, drag the property tab onto the workspace. This creates a second properties area. You can create several property areas and you can drag properties tabs between them.
• To close a property tab, click on the white cross on the tab.

Every properties tab has a toolbar at the top, next to the item name. If the item name is long, toolbar icons are condensed into a 

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 icon.

For information about the properties tabs and their toolbar options, see Menu Options and Toolbar Buttons.

Accessing Help

When you first log into PhixFlow in 

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, you will see a Help tab on the right, as well as the Repository tab. The Help tab provides links to the help and training.

If you do not want to show the help panel again, tick the check box at the bottom of the panel. To subsequently show the panel, go to 

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 and tick the Show the Help Tab on Startup check box.

To open the help about the options in a properties tab, click 

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 in the toolbar at the top of the tab.

Selecting Items

Either in the repository or in dashboards or models, you can click an item to select it. A selected item is highlighted. Also the highlighting on any previously selected items is cleared.

There are several places in PhixFlow where you can make a change to several items at the same time, for example deleting items. To select a continuous subset of items in a list,

1. Select the first item on the list.
2. Hold down the Shift key.
3. Then select the last item.

To select several items separately, press the Control (Ctrl) key as you click the different items. This will add each item to the list of selected items. If you click on an item that is already selected, it is removed from the selection list. 

Drag-and-Drop

The user can drag-and-drop many of the items in PhixFlow. What happens when you drag items depends on the context. In general:

• Items can only be dragged onto a compatible location. PhixFlow does not let you drop an item if it makes no sense for the item to be in that location.
• You can often drag multiple selected items to/from lists.
• Items can be reordered when dragged into ordered lists. For example, the order of the items is important in the Stream Attributes.
• In model windows, you can drag single or multiple modelling objects around the model; see Using the Model Window.
  To drag objects off the model and onto another location, select the object and then use Shift-drag.
• One or more Stream Views can be dragged onto Dashboards to display data.

Context Menus

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Right-click any item to display its context menu. You can display a context menu when you right-click:

• its name in the repository
• for modelling objects, its icon in a model
• for layout components, its representation in a dashboard

Analysis Model objects always have the context menu entry 

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. This displays a list of all the models in which the current object exists.

Deleting Items

When you delete a PhixFlow item it is deleted from the repository and from any model or dashboard that contains it. Deleting cannot be undone. For this reason, PhixFlow

• always asks for confirmation that you really do want to delete an item before actually deleting it. 
• will not delete an item when another object within PhixFlow still refers to it.
  PhixFlow notifies you about how many and what type of items still refer to the item you are trying to delete.

In analysis models, consider using the alternative pop-up toolbar option, 

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. This removes the modelling object from the model, but it remains in the repository.

To delete an item completely, right-click any item to display its context menu and click 

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.