Page in draft: this should be the concept page for screen layouts
Overview
- lay out application screen using themes, palettes and components; see
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Select a Screen
- From the application Home window, select Design.
- Either select one of the listed screens; Remember you can change the view from card to list.
Screens tabs
- Palettes
- Component Categories
- Templates
- Styles
- Menus
- Images
Create
- Click Create New to create a new screen.
- Select a screen template. This will give you pre-set layouts such as:
- full screen or popup
- Basic screen layout, such as data grid or form
- desktop or mobile
- Enter the name for the screen and it's description, then click Confirm.
- PhixFlow opens a new screen canvas on the left and the palette on the right.
- To add components to the screen, drag them in from the palette.
Make sure the ERD and Screen incontext screen text is OK and following the same standards
Use the palette to add components; see link
You can set up data to back all or part of a screen.
In the palette Data Components section, drag in one of the data icons, grid, chart, graph or card.
In the popup, Sselect the table or view that contains the data for this screen then click Confirm / OK
PhixFlow adds the data component to the screen, with its properties.
This goes intow Data Views.
Table popup has Show View, Show Table and Show properties
Alternatively, if the table does not already exist, click Create, then enter the name and description and click Create.
Screen options - Windows control
How do you select Full screen or popup
Layers icon
As you add components to the screen, some are nested. Parents and children. You can see this in the layers panel on the left. Click the layers tab on the left to show the layers list. 
For example on the right.
Select something on your screen to see it/them highlighted in the layers list.
Selected items outlined in blue
Parent item outlined in orange.
On the screen, the parent, container component is also highlighted.
Links
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Overview
Screens allow users to interact with an application, such as viewing data or being guided through a process. They can be anything from simple data entry forms, through to fully interactive screens with dynamic layouts. PhixFlow makes it quick and easy to create screens by providing a palette of preconfigured items that can be customised and combined to create the screen you need. Simply drag palette items or data tables onto the screen canvas to start creating a screen.
Screen Window Layout
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Opening and Creating Screens
- On your application's home page, click the Screen tile.
- Alternatively, click
from the header bar.Insert excerpt _screen _screen nopanel true
- Alternatively, click
- To create a new screen, click the
button.Insert excerpt _add_screen _add_screen nopanel true - To open an screen, double-click it.
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Palette
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Palettes contain templates (reusable Components and Layouts) for creating screens. PhixFlow provides a template package called Serene Grey, which contains a complete palette containing all you need to create your screens. Alternatively, custom palettes can be created. See Using a Palette and Changing or Creating a Palette.
To open the palette, click
on the toolbar. Insert excerpt _palette _palette nopanel true
Customising Default Templates
You can customise a palette by adding new components and changing the appearance of existing templates, for example, to use corporate colours. When making customisations, consider:
- Should this change affect all existing instances of this template?
- For example, applying a corporate logo and colour scheme using a shared style.
- Should this change only affect future instances of this template?
- For example, altering the layout of a contact card without breaking any existing instances.
- Do we want an entirely new template added to our palette?
- For example, a new template with an amended colour scheme.
See Changing or Creating a Palette which explores these issues and provide solutions.
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Screen Position
You can position your screen so that it is Floating, or Pinned (to the top, bottom, left or right of your window). For example, you may want to fix your screen to the top of the window to make it the main menu of an application. If you choose to pin your screen to the top or bottom, a height can also be set. If pinning to the left or right, a width can be set. If you choose a floating position, then a width, height, etc. can be set.
This is set by clicking
on the toolbar, then click the Insert excerpt _property_settings _property_settings nopanel true
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Components and Layouts
are the smallest basic building blocks of a screen. Components can be found in the Basic Layouts section of the PhixFlow Insert excerpt _components _components nopanel true
. These can be added to a screen by dragging them onto the canvas. Insert excerpt _palette _palette nopanel true
Typically, components are combined together to create more complex items referred to as Layouts. You can create your own layouts or you can use the template layouts from a palette (recommended) which can be found in any of the palette sections. See 5. Adding Content to a Screen.
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Screen Structure
Screen structure defines how items are laid out on a screen, where they are placed and how the screen displays on different devices. The structure of any screen is displayed in the
panel. Click on the image below to see an overview of a typical screen template provided by PhixFlow. See Screen Structure.Insert excerpt _layers _layers nopanel true
Sizing and Position
Setting the size and position of content on a screen is key to producing a great screen. When designing a screen, we must consider how we want it to respond to the device it is being viewed on and the content it is displaying:
- Do we want items to be a fixed size?
- Do we want our content to expand to take the space available on a screen?
- Do we want the items on the screen to expand to the size of their content?
- Do we want our screen fixed to the top or edge to make it the main menu of an application?
This topic is explored in Sizing and Positioning Screen Content.
Directions/Flow
The direction items are laid out on a screen is control by the direction of flow. If you are familiar with CSS this is the Flexbox model. Where applicable, palette items have a direction applied already and this is typically indicated in its name and/or by an arrow showing the direction of flow on its icon. For example, the Button- Column tile, adds content in a vertical column:
The direction of flow is set in the
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Styles
Styles affect the look and feel of components and layouts on a screen, from simple colour changes to how a screen dynamically responds to user interactions. Styles can be applied in several places, and each has a different impact:
- Shared
(Recommended) - a style that can be applied to multiple components to give your application a consistent look and feel. To change an aspect of styling, you only need to change the shared style. All components that use the style are automatically updated when the style is updated. It is recommended that all styles be applied using a shared style, where possible.Insert excerpt _styles_ccs _styles_ccs nopanel true - Style Settings - set common formatting options for the component. This is component-level styling. It is useful to use this when you are experimenting with styles or you want to apply a one-off style.
- CSS Properties - a set of specific styles, defined using CSS tags and their associated values. This is component-level styling. This is more advanced styling and is useful if you have previous CSS knowledge.
- Formatting Rules - apply a shared style when the conditions of a rule are satisfied. Formatting Rules are applied at the component-level. See Applying Formatting Rules
See Screen Styling.
Moving Content
Move an item by dragging it onto another component in the Layers section. This will place the component next to the component on which you dropped onto, creating a sibling relationship.
To move a component into another component, or out of one component and into another component, creating parent-child relationship, hold shift while dragging and dropping.
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Data Bound Components
These are special components designed to display data:
- form: a container bound to a table. Add fields and select the data you want to display. Fields can display dynamic text depending on what the application user has selected.
- if a form does not have a backing table set, the
icon will show in theInsert excerpt _add_backing_table _add_backing_table name icon nopanel true
(PhixFlow version 11.1.1+)Insert excerpt _layers _layers nopanel true 
- if a form does not have a backing table set, the
- card: a container that displays an individual card for each record in its backing table. Each card can show data using dynamic text or form fields, see Making a Card Container.
- grid: displays data in columns and rows. Each column corresponds to an attribute, for example, Name, Address, Phone number. Each row is a data record, see Creating a Grid.
- chart: displays data in a chart or graph, see Creating Dashboards and Reports.
Adding Data to a Screen
Data is added to a screen by dragging a table or table attributes onto it. This initiates the process of how to display the data and what data to display, for example as a grid, chart or form fields.
Presenting Data
How data is presented, filtered and sorted depends on your objectives. The following are useful resources that will help guide you in setting up different types of views, such as grids and charts:
- Designing Views and Reports: See Creating Dashboards and Reports.
- Filtering and Sorting: See Filtering and Sorting Grids and Charts.
Locking and Unlocking
When a screen is
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- To
a screen, click theInsert excerpt _lock _lock nopanel true
button on the toolbar.Insert excerpt _lock _lock nopanel true - If this is not visible the screen is already locked.
- To
a screen, right-click on the canvas and selectInsert excerpt _unlock _unlock nopanel true
from the popup menu.Insert excerpt _unlock _unlock nopanel true - If there is no toolbar visible this indicates a screen is locked.
Actionflows
s control the interactions a user has with an application, such as saving input data or opening a new screen. They can be applied to different types of screen items, such as buttons and grids. See Understanding Actionflows.Insert excerpt _action_actionflow _action_actionflow nopanel true
Startup Actions
Startup actions are actionflows which run when your application initially opens. They can be used to open the default navigation menu and a specific screen, such as a landing page.
- From the Screens home page, right-click on a screen and select Open Screen on Startup.
- To remove a screen from the Startup action, right click on a screen and select Remove from the Application Startup Action.
See Startup Actions.
Tabs for Screens
In the header menu there is a chevron which will show or hide tabs that allow you to switch between open screens in your application. This is available in both Design and App mode.
- Hide: Tabs can be hidden by default, see Application properties → Basic Settings → Hide Window Tabs.
- Display: Tabs to be visible by default, see Application properties → Basic Settings → Display Window Tabs by Default.
Example Screen
The following screenshot shows the type of screen that you can create in PhixFlow. Everything you see is a prebuilt layout from palettes in the Serene Grey package. It is worth spending some time familiarising yourself with the palettes to see what is available. You should find that the palettes include everything you need. Later you can learn how to modify a layout or its styles, or even design your own from basic components.
You can find some example screens in the package associated with your application. Look in the repository → Packages, for example repository → Packages → Serene Grey → Screens.
Glossary
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What's Next?
The PhixFlow Fundamentals course provides a practical guide to using PhixFlow, including the design and creation of screens in our applications.
Already started PhixFlow Fundamentals?
Return to Screens Fundamentals
Further Reading
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