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This page is provides the reference information for dashboard properties.

Overview

Create application screens by starting with a dashboard; see Creating or Opening a Screen.

PhixFlow opens existing screens locked, to prevent accidental editing. To edit a screen,  Insert excerpt_layout_unlock_layout_unlocknopaneltrue it:
  • either using the toolbar 
  • or right-click anywhere in the screen to display the pop-up menu.
This page has the reference documentation for dashboard

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This page is for application designers who want to create screens for application users.

Overview

This page explains the screen properties. For information on how to divide a screen into different panes, and how to add things components to a screen, see Drag-and-Drop Techniques.

See Also

Properties

Insert excerpt_property_toolbar_property_toolbarnopaneltrue The toolbar includes the button to it, see Splitting a Screen.

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Basic Settings

FieldDescription
NameThe name of the screen.
Open Maximised

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 to open

the screen

the screen maximised.

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 to open the screen as a

pop-up

popup window.

Allow User to Resize

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 to enable the application user, when running in 
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_app_mode
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, to resize the screen.

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 to keep the screen size fixed when running in in 
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_app_mode
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.

This option does not affect resizing the screen in 

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.

Show Toolbar
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 always has a toolbar with the screen name on the left and toolbar icons on the right. 

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 to also display the toolbar in 
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_app_mode
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. The screen name is displayed. Toolbar icons are not displayed.

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 is the default as the toolbar is usually not required in 
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.

Show Window Button Bar

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 to display a Windows-style bar at the top of the screen. This has a maximise/restore button and a close button.

Image Modified

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 to have no Windows-style bar at the top of the screen.

Always On Top

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 to keep the screen on top of other screens. This is useful for a

pop-up

popup window that you want a user to complete before returning to another screen.

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 to allow other screens to be displayed in front. 

Keep Data

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 to allow screen data to be referenced even after the screen is closed. This is useful if an application user needs access to global data available in the system.

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 is the default. The

screen data

screen data is not required once the screen is closed.

Preload
Screens

screens , especially complex screens, can take some time to open, which can feel slow to the application user. Use this option when you need a screen to open quickly. Preloading screens adds to the time it takes PhixFlow to initially start up.  For this reason we recommend you only preload screens that an application user will always want to open.

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 to preload the screen when PhixFlow first starts.  When the user then opens the screen , it displays immediately. The data itself may still take time to load.

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 is the default. The screen does not need to be preloaded.

Preloading relates to the screen itself. Any data backing the screen is only loaded when the screen opens, and this may also take time to load.

Cache Locally

If an application user is likely to require the same screen in different stages of a task. Use this option so that, when the user closes and reopens the screen, it loads immediately. 

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 to cache the screen on the application user's client computer when the screen first opens.

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 is the default. The screen does not need to be cached.

Caching relates to the screen itself. Any data backing the screen will be reload each time the screen is opened.

Position
For screens that are not set to Open maximised.

By default,

pop-up

new screens are

opened floating centrally

set to Floating. If you want a screen to open with a fixed position, select one of the Pinned drop-down options:

  • Pinned to top
  • Pinned to bottom
  • Pinned to left
  • Pinned to right
Floating (default)
  • Floating

Use the Pinned options to create a permanently visible screen. This is useful for a navigation area or toolbar that you want to be visible for all other screens. Floating screens do not overlap with pinned screens. When the user maximises a Floating screen, it expands only to the remaining space. 

Width

For screens that are not set to Open maximised, specify a screen width in pixels, for example 500px for a small confirmation window. The default size for a
pop-up
popup screen approximately 800px.
Height

For screens that are not set to Open maximised, specify a screen height in pixels, for example 150px for a small confirmation window. The default size of a

pop-up

popup screen is approximately 500px. 

Top

Available when Position is Floating.

For screens that are not set to Open maximised, set an offset value in pixels to position the screen where it is required. For example, to display a screen as a

pop-up

popup window towards the top left of the screen, set:

  • Top: 60px
  • Left: 60px
Left
Right
Bottom
Dashboard

Screen Elements

This section lists the Dashboard Elements on this screen.

PhixFlow creates dashboard elements when you use the pop-up menu Add Area... options to divide up the screen. In PhixFlow version 8.3 and earlier, dashboard elements enabled different parts of the screen to be bound to different sources of data, either a stream (table) or view.

Where dashboard elements are bound to data, you can link them, so that the data in one dashboard element drives the data in another; see Linked and Driving Views.

Screen elements are specific sections on a screen that posses their own properties, specifically each element can be backed by a different table.

To view a list of the elements for a specific screen, open the 

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available from the screen toolbar; see Screen Element.  

Menu Items

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons and:

  •  Image Modified Show
stream
  • Table-actions
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The grid contains a list of menu items. To add a menu item to the list, click 

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click 
  1. Click 
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  2. Select 
    • either Add a new sub-menu
    • or Add a new menu item; see 
Menu
  1. PhixFlow opens a new properties tab for a menu item or sub-menu; see 
Menu
  1. Startup Actions for details.

To remove a menu, use the toolbar button 

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.

Mappings

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons

Components on the screen, such as buttons or data-components, can have

actions

actionflows or

stream

record-

item

actions.

 Stream

 Record-

item

actions can take data from attributes in different

streams (tables)

tables  or views. Where the attributes have different names, you must map the attribute, so that

the stream

the record-

item

action

recognises

 recognises the data. This grid contains a list of mappings for the components on this screen. 

To configure a mapping, in the screen, right-click a component and select 

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.

Unreachable Actions

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons. The grid displays a list of actionflows that are linked to components on the screen, but do not exist yet.

Tip

Actionflows are a new way to configure actions, introduced in PhixFlow version 9.0.0; see Understanding Actionflows.

Actions

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons. The grid displays a list of actions and 

stream

record-

item-

actions that are linked to the screen.

Tip

Actions and record-actions were the way to configure screen functionality before PhixFlow version 9.0.0; see Using Table-Actions and Record-Action

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Menus and Toolbars

Screen Toolbar

There is a toolbar above the screen canvas. This provides the following options:

List options

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Open the repository showing the list of available tables for your application.

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Open the repository showing the list of available screens for your application.
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_actionflow
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Open the repository showing the list of available actionflows for your application.
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_palette
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Open the list of palettes.
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_styles
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Open the repository showing the list of available styles for your application.
Canvas options
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Open the help topic with details about working with screens.
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_property_settings
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Open the properties tab for the screen.

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_layout

_unlock

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or 

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lock
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Unlock a screen to edit its layout.

Lock a

screen to

screen to prevent accidental edits and to display the data content.

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Update the screen to reflect changes made elsewhere in PhixFlow, such as the screen properties, layer orders or shared styles.

Screen

Pop-up

Popup Menu

Right-click on a screen to display its

pop-up

popup menu. The options available depend on where you click. If there are many options, some are moved onto the sub-menu

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 Options.

Menu optionDescription
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Unlock a screen to edit its layout.
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Lock
a screen to
a  screen to prevent accidental edits and to display the data content.
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For
dashboards
screens created in PhixFlow versions 8.3 and earlier, open a window listing the context parameters in alphabetical order.
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_element_show
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For
dashboards
screens created in PhixFlow versions 8.3 and earlier, open the properties for the
dashboard
screen element.
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_area_above
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Use these options to divide a screen into multiple, resizable panes. Select the option to add a pane relative to the currently selected pane.

To remove a pane, use the

pop-up

popup menu options 

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 Pane.

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_area_below
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_area_left
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nopaneltrue
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_area_lock_width
_area_lock_width
nopaneltrue
Fix the height or width of the selected pane. You will no longer be able to resize a pane by dragging its dividing line.
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nopaneltrue
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_delete
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When a specific component is selected, delete the component.

Delete options depend on the selected item, for example:

  • Delete Selected Objects
  • Delete Pane
  • Delete Form 

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When a specific component is selected, delete the component.

Other delete options that may be available relate to specific types of component in the selected pane

 Element

Remove the selected item from the screen, whilst leaving it in the repository.
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Delete
options depend on the selected item. Examples are:
a screen element.
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item
new
_
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item
new
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 selected objects
Create a new form in the current area.
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pin_
item
unpin
_
delete
pin_
item
unpin
nopaneltrue
 pane

Pin a component to fix its position; see Pinning and Unpinning.

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palette
_

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palette
nopaneltrue

 form 
Open the palette to drag in components.
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autosize
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autosize
nopaneltrue
Delete a dashboard element

Toggle whether or not the currently selected component is automatically auto sized when an application window is resized by the user.

Note

Using this option, or manually resizing a component may change the state of the Layout → Style Settings → Auto Size property.


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Create a new form in the current area.

Options to arrange the selected components:

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left
_

pin

align_

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left
nopaneltrue

Pin a component to fix its position; see Pinning and Unpinning

: Align the left edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the left.

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palette

right
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palette

right
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Open the palette to drag in components

: Align the right edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the right.

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autosize

align_top
_

autosize

align_top
nopaneltrue

Toggle whether or not the currently selected component is automatically auto sized when an application window is resized by the user.

NoteUsing this option, or manually resizing a component may change the state of the Layout → Style Settings → Auto Size property

: Align the top edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned highest.

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bottom
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Options to arrange

: Align the bottom edges of the selected components

within a pane:

to the component that is positioned lowest.

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left

horizontal
_align_

left

horizontal
nopaneltrue
: Equally distribute the selected components horizontally in the available space.

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right

vertical
_align_

right

vertical
nopaneltrue
: Equally distribute the selected components vertically in the available space.

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find
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align

repository_

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find
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Open the repository with to see the selected component in the list. This can be useful if you want to move a component.
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Open the properties tab for the screen.
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show
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record_show
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Display information about the table and its records.

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mapping
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mapping
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Opens a new mapping element properties tab where you can map attributes with different names to components.
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Open
For the
repository with to see the selected component in the list. This can be useful if you want to move a component
selected parent container, select all the child components.

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or Show the Table Configuration

Open the properties
tab
for the
screen
table.

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record

attributes_show
_

record

attributes_show
nopaneltrue

Display information about the stream and its stream-items.

...

Show the list of attributes that are bound to the component. The attributes can be from a table or view. This is shown in the option:

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tables
  • show
    _
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  • attributes_
tables
  • show
    nopaneltrue
     
    for table 
    <name>
  • Insert excerpt
    _
mapping
  • attributes_show
    _
mapping
  • attributes_show
    nopaneltrue
Opens a new mapping element properties tab where you can map attributes with different names to components. Insert excerpt_children_childrennopaneltrueFor the selected parent container, select all the child components
  •  
    for view <name>


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Unreachable Actions

A workflow can have placeholder actionflows linked to a screen. If the actionflow has not been wired then it is listed here.

Open on Startup

You may have a screen that acts as your application's welcome window. Use this option to open a screen whenever the application starts.

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tick
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or Show the Stream ConfigurationOpen the properties for the stream (table)

 to open the screen when the application starts.

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show

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...

Show the list of attributes that are bound to the component. The attributes can be from a stream or view. This is shown in the option:

Insert excerpt_attributes_show_attributes_shownopaneltrue for stream (table)<name> Insert excerpt_attributes_show_attributes_shownopaneltrue for view <name> HTML Comment

Unreachable Actions

A workflow can have placeholder actionflows linked to a dashboard. If the actionflow has not been wired then it is listed here.

Open on Startup

You may have a screen that acts as your application's welcome window. Use this option to open a screen whenever the application starts.

Insert excerpt_check_box_tick_check_box_ticknopaneltrue to open the screen when the application starts

 is the default. The screen is opened by a user interacting with the application. 


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Learn More

For links to all pages in this topic, see Designing Screens.

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 is the default. The screen is opened by a user action within the application.