This page explains how to open a screen or create a new one, as well as how to add components to a screen.

Open an Existing Screen

Click the Design menu item from the top menu

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To create or edit a screen, load your application then in the header bar, click

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. PhixFlow opens the screens window.

Screens

Opening an Existing Screen

To open an existing screen:
- either, in the header bar, click
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or

- and in the list, click on the screen name you want to open
- or in the repository, expand your application's Screens section and double-click a screen name.

Double

- Alternatively, right-click the

desired Screen to open it

- name and select Display.
PhixFlow opens

the Screen on the left.Right

the screen in the canvas with the screen locked.
To unlock the screen for editing, right-click anywhere on the

Screen

screen to open the

pop-up

popup menu and select
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_layout

_unlock

_layout

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.
PhixFlow displays the toolbar for the screen

indicating it is ready to edit

so that you can begin to make changes.
Click
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to display the palette on the right

and you can begin editing

. Drag components from the palette into the screen.

Add

Unlocking and Locking a

New

Screen

Click the Design menu from the top menu

for Editing

When you first open an existing screen in

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screen_screennopaneltrue or in the repository, expand your application's Screens section.Click Insert excerpt_add_add

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,

PhixFlow opens the properties for a new Screen.

Enter a Name for the screen.

Specify the setup for the screen such as should the screen open maximised or as a floating pop-up.

Here are some example setups:

Pop-up screen:
- tick Always on top
- tick Allow user to resize
- Set Position to Floating and if desired set the position setting such as the size and location of where the screen should open.
Full-screen properties
- tick Open Maximised
- untick Always On Top
- if you intend to make your own navigation or screen controls, untick Show Window Button Bar.
- optionally, untick Allow user to resize

(Recommended) Scroll down to the Description section and add a useful description.

In the properties toolbar, click Insert excerpt_finish_finish

The Screen Canvas and Options

PhixFlow has several areas of the screen with features to help you.

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The central area is the canvas where you design your screen.
Along the top of the canvas is the toolbar
On the left is the layers panel, which shows how the components are nested; see Screen Design and Layers, below.
On the right is the palette. Drag components from the palette onto the canvas.
Above the toolbar, you can find quick access to lists of:
- other palettes
- component categories
- templates: components that can be added to a palette
- styles
- menus
- images.

Unlock a Screen Canvas

To prevent accidental editing of a screen, PhixFlow opens an existing screen with the canvas locked:

when you first open an existing screen in

it is locked so that you do not accidentally move any of the components. There is no canvas toolbar visible. To edit the screen, you must unlock it. Right-click on the canvas and select

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.

PhixFlow opens a new, unlocked, Screen canvas on the left.

In the toolbar (or in the pop-up menu), click Insert excerpt_palette_palettenopaneltrue to display the palette on the right.

To add components to the screen, drag them into the canvas from the palette.

An unlocked screen has all the toolbar and pop-up menu options that you need to move components and edit their properties. If you click on a component, such as a button, PhixFlow opens its properties.

Creating a New Screen

To create a new screen:
- either, in the header bar, click
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design_mode

- screen
  _

design_mode

- screen
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when you switch between

- .
  PhixFlow displays the list of available screens with an
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design

- add_

mode

- screen
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design

- add_

mode

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and

- button on the left.
- or in the repository, expand your application's Screens section, which includes an
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app_mode

- addIcon
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app_mode

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  button.

To unlock the canvas, right-click on the canvas and select

Click
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layout_unlock

addIcon
_

layout_unlock

addIcon
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.

Using the Palette

The way a screen is made up of layered components is reflected in the way components are grouped in the palette. At the top level are the pre-built items, such as:

Complete Screens- drag in a single tile that has all the components to create a full screen.
Form Elements - drag in several components or tiles to design your own screen. These have layers of components, such as an area with headers, fields and labels.

If you want more control over the design of your screen, use partially prepared components:

Tile containers - drag these in to be the containers. Containers create distinct areas on the screen, with padding and margins so that child items can be automatically positioned.
Tiles - drag in composite components called tiles.

If you want to go right back to the basic screen components and fields, use the last 2 palettes.

Base Components - build up the different things you want on the screen from the base up.
Data Components - add components designed to display data.

Creating Forms Easily

If your screen is going to be a form to display individual data records for a user to edit, it's easier to start with the data rather than creating lots of individual fields. The page see Showing Data on a Screen explains how to:

Select the attributes you want to appear in a form.
Drag the attributes onto the parent container.
Let PhixFlow create default form fields in which to display data records.

If you have already created form fields fields, they are displayed with a broken link icon. Drag on attributes to bind them to the field.

For your selected template, PhixFlow displays a palette. This has all the components you need to build a screen.

Tip

The easiest way to move components around is in the layers panel, rather than in the screen itself. This means you can be specific about how the component relates to other components on the screen. In the layers panel you can drag a component:

into another component, creating a parent-child relationship
next to another component, creating a sibling relationship.

If you are using PhixFlow's palette, most components will resize into the space that is available to them; see Using Size and Position for Responsive Design.

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Screen Design and Layers : AnchorlayerlayerA typical screen has a nested structure, in which the main areas are the parents for other components. This structure, combined with appropriate styling, can create a responsive design that can adapt to both desktop and mobile devices. The nested structure is illustrated below:

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Another way to show these layers is as a heirarchy. For example:

Screen

Controls area

Menu 1

Menu 2

Main area

Header

Tile container area

Sub-header

Tile Body

Area 1

Grid

Area 2

Form

Button Bar

Footer area

Button 1

Button 2

To show the parent/child hierarchy for a screen, click Insert excerpt_layer_slider_layer_slidernopaneltrue. There is an example on the right.

You can

Select something on your screen to see it/them highlighted in the layers list.
- Selected items outlined in blue
- Parent item outlined in orange.
In the layers panel, drag components around to change their position on the screen.

Where Can I Drop This?

Whenever you start to drag a component from the palette, or an attribute, PhixFlow highlights the area onto which you can drop something using light blue, as shown below.

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Testing Screens

To test an application screen, click Insert excerpt_app_mode_app_modenopaneltrue to interact with the screen as if you are an application user. HTML Comment

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Features to be implemented:

Select an Existing Screen

From the application Home window, select Design Screens.
Select one of the listed screens.

PhixFlow opens the screen canvas on the left and the palette on the right.

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Create a New Screen

If you have defined your data in an ERD, you can create a screen and its components based on that data; see Create a Screen From ERD Data. To create the screen first:

Click Insert excerpt_new_newnopaneltrue Create New to create a new screen.

Select a screen template. This will give you pre-set layouts such as:

desktop or mobile dimensions
full screen or pop-up
a data grid or form.

PhixFlow prompts you to:

Enter the name and description for the screen.
Select whether or not the screen will Open Maximised.
When you select this option, the screen will open "full screen" for the application user.
Otherwise, PhixFlow assumes the screen will be a pop-up window. It automatically selects the following options:
- Always on top
- Allow user to resize

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 into the canvas from the palette.

The Screen Canvas and Options

PhixFlow has several areas of the screen with features to help you. -Screenshot-

The central area is the canvas where you design your screen.
Along the top of the canvas is the toolbar
On the left is the layers panel, which shows how the components are nested; see Us L8213987396, below.
On the right is the palette. Drag components from the palette onto the canvas.
Above the toolbar, you can find quick access to lists of:
- other palettes
- component categories
- templates: components that can be added to a palette
- styles
- menus
- images.

Unlock a Screen Canvas

To prevent accidental editing of a screen, PhixFlow opens an existing screen with the canvas locked:

when you first open an existing screen

PhixFlow opens a window with basic options for your screen. These options are saved in the screen properties.
- Enter a Name for the screen.
- By default, the screen opens maximised in the PhixFlow window.
  Untick Open Maximised if you want a popup window.
- Select one of the screen layout templates. To design your own, screen, select the empty layout.
PhixFlow opens the new screen with the selected layout template and prompts for the details of the table that will be used to populate the screens data.
1. The screen is unlocked and the palette is open in the right panel.

More Screen Properties

There are additional screen properties that affect how the screen behaves. In the toolbar, click

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to open the Screen properties in the right panel. Here are some example screen setups.

For a popup screen, for example for data entry:

in
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→ Basic Settings:
- tick Always On Top
- tick Allow Manual Resizing
in
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→ Style Settings
- set Position to Floating
- PhixFlow has defaults for the size and position of a screen. To change these defaults, set:
  - the size of the window using Width and Height
  - the position of the window, using Top, Left, Right and Bottom.

For a maximised screen, for example to display data:

in
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→ Basic Settings:
- tick Open Maximised
- untick Always On Top
if you intend to make your own navigation or screen controls, untick Show Window Button Bar
optionally, untick Allow user to resize.

Creating a Menu

To create a menu for you application that is always present

To create a menu in the header bar, click
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.
PhixFlow displays the list of available screens.
Click the
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button on the left.
Enter a Name for the menu.
Select one of the menu layout options.
PhixFlow creates a new menu with the selected layout and will open the menu when your application starts.

Tip
A quick way to create menu options is to drag a screen from the repository directly onto a menu to create a button and actionflow that will open that screen. On the screens home page right-click on the

Testing Screens

When you are creating and editing screens that make up an application, you are working in

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.

PhixFlow runs applications in

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, with only essential PhixFlow options displayed in the header bar. All other PhixFlow options are hidden. Instead the application user interacts with the screens and menus you have created.

To switch modes, click the icon in the right of the header bar.

When you have configured part of a screen, you may want to test how it behaves for an application user. For example, you may want to click a button and run its action, or have a URL component display its content. To do this:

either, in
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when you switch between

, in the screen toolbar, click on
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design_mode

lock
_

design_mode

lock
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and

.
or, in the header bar on the right, click
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.To unlock the canvas, right-click on the canvas and select

to run your application as an application user.

Deleting Screens

Screen can be deleted from the Screens homepage or the

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by right-clicking and choosing

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layout_unlock_layout_unlock

permanentlyDelete
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.

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Deleting a screen containing an area only used by that screen also deletes the area.

Note:

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are unaffected.

Version	Old Version 48	New Version Current
Changes made by	Anthony George	Zoe Baldwin
Saved on	Nov 29, 2021	Aug 14, 2024

Versions Compared

Key

Open an Existing Screen

Opening an Existing Screen

Unlocking and Locking a

Screen

for Editing

The Screen Canvas and Options

Unlock a Screen Canvas

Creating a New Screen

Using the Palette

Creating Forms Easily

See Also

Where Can I Drop This?

Testing Screens

Select an Existing Screen

Create a New Screen

The Screen Canvas and Options

Unlock a Screen Canvas

More Screen Properties

Creating a Menu

Testing Screens

Deleting Screens

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Key

Open an Existing Screen

Opening an Existing Screen

Unlocking and Locking a

Screen

for Editing

The Screen Canvas and Options

Unlock a Screen Canvas

Creating a New Screen

Using the Palette

Creating Forms Easily

See Also

Where Can I Drop This?

Testing Screens

Select an Existing Screen

Create a New Screen

The Screen Canvas and Options

Unlock a Screen Canvas

More Screen Properties

Creating a Menu

Testing Screens

Deleting Screens