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This page is for application designers who need to create views of data and bind them to components on screens.

todo - check GUI is finalised. Revise following pages:

Overview

PhixFlow stores data in streams. Streams can contain more data than you want to show to a user on the screen. For this reason, whenever you show data on a screen, you first compile a view of the data. A view is made up of:

  • Attributes
    • The base stream.
      You can hide attributes from the base stream that you do not want to display.
    • Selected attributes from related streams.
      Relationships between streams are configured in ERDs; see Understanding ERDs.

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  • Records:
    • select whether to include all or the latest streamsets
    • apply sorting, filtering and ordering
Components:
The following components are specifically designed to display a view.
You can add these components directly onto a dashboard or dashboard element, or onto a container component: Insert excerpt_grid_gridnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_graph_line_graph_linenopaneltrue Insert excerpt_graph_vertical_graph_verticalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_graph_horizontal_graph_horizontalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_chart_chartnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_card_cardnopaneltrue: todo - check is a card container automatically created or is it the card container you are adding?For views with no specific format, you can bind the view to a container component on a dashboard, then drag specific attributes onto contained components, such as fields. Container components are:
  • area: can contain any component
  • form: designed to contain data fields and their labels
    • card container: designed to contain individual cards.

    Views can include attributes from other streams because PhixFlow uses relational database SQL queries to combine attributes and records from different streams.

    For a stream that is also used in an analysis model, you can use the stream view, output via a File Exporter, Task Plans , or a Dashboard. todo

    How to Create and Display a View

    As views are designed to display data on a screen, creating a view includes binding it to a component.

    Step 1  Select a stream and data component

    1. Drag a stream onto a dashboard. This is the stream on which you want to base your view. You can drag:
      • a stream from the list in the repository
      • a stream's icon from its properties tab.
    2. PhixFlow prompts you to select a data component to display the view.

    Step 2  Select attributes

    1. Drag attributes from the Attribute Selection window onto a component.
      • Start with attributes from the base stream.
      • Optionally, click on related streams to show additional attributes that are available.  

    todo - check As you drag attributes, PhixFlow highlights the component you are binding to data, where you can drop attributes.

    When you have added

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    You have now created a data component and it is bound to data.

    Overview

    PhixFlow stores data in tables.

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    s are used to display the data in these tables, where only the information specified is shown.

    Views Consist of:

    1. Attributes
      1. Attributes from the base table
        Specify which attributes to include in your view. You can hide attributes that you want access to but do not necessarily want a user to see, such as the UID of a record.
      2. Attributes from related tables.
        These are the attributes available to the view as the table they originate from shares a relationship with the base table as defined in the ERDs; see Entity Relationship Diagrams. Views which contain these type of attributes are referred to as a relational view.

    2. Records:

      1. For each table, the view includes records specified in the tables default period. This can be all data (usually for transactional data) or only the latest.
    3. Sorting and Filtering
      1. You can filter and sort records. See Filtering and Sorting Data.

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    Components

    Data can be displayed in different ways.

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      : the attributes form the grid columns and data records are displayed in rows. PhixFlow can add scroll bars or paging where grids cannot be accommodated by the screen size.
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      : rather than using a form to display data, you can use a card. Any palette item can be added to a card which offered great flexibility.
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      : attributes are represented in different segments of a pie chart, with values aggregated to represent the segment size. 
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      : attributes are represented on the vertical axis, with values aggregated and represented in the bar length.
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      : attributes are represented on the horizonal axis, with values aggregated and represented in the bar height.
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      : attributes are represented as points on a horizontal axis, with values aggregated and setting the point position on the vertical axis.
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      : attributes are represented by different fields. Usually a form is linked to an action on a grid. For example, the application user selects a line on a grid, and the form displays the data from that record.

    Form and card components are special data components, as they can contain other elements, usually fields and labels.

    How to Create and Display Data

    For more information on setting up charts and graphs, see Creating Dashboards and Reports.

    Step 1: Select a Table

    1. There are several ways to show data on a screen:

      1. From an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), select a table and use the Create Screen option; see Creating a Screen from an ERD Table.
      2. Drag a Table from the repository or a tables icon from its properties directly onto a screen.
        1. A list of available tables is available by clicking the Tables button on the toolbar.
        2. This method will typically set the data for the backing form to that of the table.
    2. PhixFlow asks you how you want the data to be displayed, select the desired option:
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    3. The data is added to the screen.

    Step 2: Select the Attributes

    1. Drag attributes from the Available Attributes window onto the screen.
    2. Start with attributes from the current (base) table.
      1. Optionally, click on related tables to show additional attributes that are available.
    3. When you have dragged all the attributes you require, close the window.

    Step 4  Select the data component

    When you start by dragging a data component from the palette, or you drag onto an existing data component, PhixFlow knows how what type of view you are creating. 

    When you start by dragging an attribute onto an area or container, PhixFlow does not know the view type. In this case, when you drop the attribute, PhixFlow prompts you to select the type.
    Image Removed

    Click an option to add a component for a grid, graph, chart or card, which will fit the available space in the parent component. Select Form to set the parent as a form component, which is bound to the data view. PhixFlow adds a field to display the attribute being dropped.

    Step 5  Apply filtering and sorting for records

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    2. These attributes can be changed by selecting the 
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       button in the toolbar to add new attributes or right-clicking and selecting
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       to change existing attributes
      1. See Available Attributes Window for details.

    Step 3: Apply Filtering and Sorting

    Optionally, specify if you want to

    create or

    apply any filters or sort orders to the data

    records; see Filtering and Sorting Data.

    Click Finish.

    Select a data component from the popup menu:

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    In the Attribute Selection window:

    • on the right select related streams
    • on the left, select specific attributes from the stream. 
      todo - 1. replace the image with a sensible onw
      2.  check window name and either change image or change name occurrences
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    :

    1. Select the component you have added.

    2. On the

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      , in the Background Filter Rules section filters can be added by filters can be added by pressing 
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      1. For Grids, Sort Orders and Default Filters can be added by right-clicking on the grid and selecting 

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        , then select an existing Sort Order or Filter, or create a new one in the Data Retrieval Options section, see Sort Order and Filter for more detail.

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    4. Save all your changes and PhixFlow applies the filters.

      Tip

      Users can remove a Default Filter, where as Background Filters are permanent.


    Reusing Views

    Once you have created a view, you can reuse it in multiple locations. In the repository navigate the the table which owns the view, the base table, open the table and in the views section drag the desired view onto your screen. Be aware however that changes made to the view will affect all instances of that view.

    Form Field

    Names

    Name

    When you drag attributes from the Attribute Selection window or table onto a form, PhixFlow adds a field and label for each attribute. By default, the label is the attribute's name. However, for an attribute

    in

    from a related table,

    this depends on

    the Display Name

    option. 

    will be shown and not the foreign key value.

    For example:

    Primary key         →   Foreign key
    table.attribute     →   related-table.attribute
    Company.UID     →    Supplier.Company-Name 

    Where Supplier.Company-Name has Display Name:

  • selected, PhixFlow uses "Company-Name" as the label.
    • not selected, PhixFlow uses "UID" as the label.

    ExampleBase TableRelated TableValue DisplayedForm Field Label
    syntaxtable.UIDRelatedTable.ForeignKeyRelatedTable Attribute set to DisplayName-
    Example SyntaxCompany.UIDSupplier.RelatedCompanySupplier attribute set to RelatedCompanyNameRelated Company Name
    Example Values 10241024"Cloud and Pixel Ltd"Related Company Name

    For information about primary and foreign keys and the Display Name option; see 

    Understanding ERDsClick Insert excerpt_data_bind_data_bindnopaneltrue.When the component has data bound to it, the  Insert excerpt_attributes_show_attributes_shownopaneltrueand Insert excerpt_filter_filternopaneltrueicons become available.

    Step 2  Select a parent table

    1. Enter a name for the view.
    2. Select a table from the list. This table forms the basis for the data view.
      Alternatively, create a new table. 
    3. Click Next.
      PhixFlow creates a view and open's its properties.

    Step 3  Select attributes

    • To add attributes individually, drag each attribute from the Attribute Selection window onto a component.  As you add attributes to the data component, PhixFlow ticks them in the Attribute Selection window.
      • Start with attributes from the base table.
      • Optionally, click on related tables to show additional attributes that are available.  
    To create a grid with multiple columns, select multiple attributes:
  •  Tick the base stream attributes that you want to be available in the view.
  • Optionally, click on related streams to show additional attributes that are available.  Again, tick the attributes you want to be available in the view. 
  • Drag attributes into the parent area, or empty data component.
    • PhixFlow adds all the attributes to the data component

    Entity Relationship Diagrams.

    HTML Comment

    Step 1  Starting Points

    Option 2

    1. From the palette, (specific palette tbc) drag a data component, such as a grid or chart onto the screen canvas.

    Option 2

  • On the dashboard canvas, select a component to which you want to bind data to show the pop-up toolbar. This is usually an area component that will become a parent component.
    Image Removed The red exclamation icon shows that a component has no data bound to it. 


    • Tip

    If a form field or dynamic text field exists on a screen, it will link to an attribute in the data backing the screen by name, however you can also right-click on these components and select Change Backing Attribute to link it to any available attribute.