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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, 

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 it:

  • either using the toolbar 
  • or right-click anywhere in the screen to display the pop-up menu.

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

See Also

Properties

Property Pane Toolbar

For information about the toolbar options, see the Common Properties page, Toolbars and Controls section.

 The toolbar includes the button to  Display Screen.

Parent Details

If this item is within or belongs to another, it's parent name is shown here. See the Common Properties page, Parent Details section for more details.

Sections on this page

Basic Settings

FieldDescription
NameThe name of the dashboard.
Open Maximised

 Tick to open the dashboard maximised.

 Untick to open the dashboard as a pop-up window.

Allow User to Resize

 Tick to enable the application user, when running in  Application Mode, to resize the dashboard.

 Untick to keep the dashboard size fixed when running in in  Application Mode.

This option does not affect resizing the dashboard in  Design Mode.

Show Toolbar
 Design Mode always has a toolbar with the dashboard name on the left and toolbar icons on the right. 

 Tick to also display the toolbar in  Application Mode. The dashboard name is displayed. Toolbar icons are not displayed.

 Untick is the default as the toolbar is usually not required in  Application Mode.

Show Window Button Bar

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

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

Always On Top

 Tick to keep the dashboard on top of other dashboards. This is useful for a pop-up window that you want a user to complete before returning to another dashboard.

 Untick to allow other dashboards to be displayed in front. 

Keep Data

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

 Untick is the default. The dashboard data is not required once the dashboard is closed.

Preload

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

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

 Untick is the default. The dashboard does not need to be preloaded.

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

Cache Locally

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

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

 Untick is the default. The dashboard does not need to be cached.

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

Position

By default, new dashboards are set to Floating. If you want a dashboard 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

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

Width

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

For dashboards that are not set to Open maximised, specify a dashboard height in pixels, for example 150px for a small confirmation window. The default size of a pop-up dashboard is approximately 500px. 

Top

Available when Position is Floating.

For dashboards that are not set to Open maximised, set an offset value in pixels to position the dashboard where it is required. For example, to display a dashboard as a pop-up window towards the top left of the screen, set:

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

Dashboard Elements

This section has a toolbar with standard buttonsThe grid contains a list of the Dashboard Elements on this dashboard.

To add dashboard elements, on the dashboard, use the pop-up menu Add Area... options to divide up the dashboard. When you add a component to a part of the dashboard, PhixFlow automatically creates a container dashboard element for it. This means different parts of the dashboard can be bound to different data views.

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 or Forms.

To delete a dashboard element, on the dashboard right-click components on part of the dashboard and select Delete. When the dashboard element is empty, right-click it and select  Delete Element

Menu Items

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons and:

  •   Show stream-actions
  •  Filter

The grid contains a list of menu items. To add a menu item to the list, click  Add New

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

To remove a menu, use the toolbar button  Delete.

Mappings

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons

Components on the dashboard, such as buttons or data-components, can have actions or stream-item actions. Stream-item actions can take data from attributes in different streams (tables) or views. Where the attributes have different names, you must map the attribute, so that the stream-item action recognises the data. This grid contains a list of mappings for the components on this dashboard. 

To configure a mapping, in the dashboard, right-click a component and select  Add Mapping.

Unreachable Actions

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

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-item-actions that are linked to the dashboard.

Actions and stream-item-actions were the way to configure dashboard functionality before PhixFlow version 9.0.0; see Using Stream Actions and Stream Item Actions


 Security Tab

Access Permissions

See the Common Properties page, Access Permissions section.

Description

We recommend that you always enter a description to explain the purpose of this item.

 Audit Tab

Audit Summary

See the Common Properties page, Audit Summary section.

Menus and Toolbars

Screen Toolbar

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

List options

 Table

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

 ScreenOpen the repository showing the list of available dashboards for your application.
 ActionflowOpen the repository showing the list of available actionflows for your application.
 PaletteOpen the list of palettes.
 StyleOpen the repository showing the list of available styles for your application.
Canvas options
 HelpOpen the help topic with details about working with dashboards.
 PropertiesOpen the properties tab for the dashboard.

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or 

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Unlock a dashboard to edit its layout.

Lock a dashboard to prevent accidental edits and to display the data content.

 Refresh

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

Screen Pop-up Menu

Right-click on a screen to display its pop-up menu. The options available depend on where you click. If there are many options, some are moved onto the sub-menuscreen Screen Options.

Menu optionDescription
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Unlock a dashboard to edit its layout.
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Lock a  dashboard to prevent accidental edits and to display the data content.
 Show Context Parameters
For dashboards created in PhixFlow versions 8.3 and earlier, open a window listing the context parameters in alphabetical order.
 Show Element DetailsFor dashboards created in PhixFlow versions 8.3 and earlier, open the properties for the dashboard element.
 Add Area Above

Use these options to divide a dashboard 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 menu options  Delete Pane.

 Add Area on Right
 Add Area Below
 Add Area on Left
 Lock WidthFix the height or width of the selected pane. You will no longer be able to resize a pane by dragging its dividing line.
 Lock Height
 Delete

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.

 Delete 

Delete options depend on the selected item. Examples are:

  •  Delete selected objects
  •  Delete pane
  •  Delete form 
 Delete ElementDelete a dashboard element.
 Create New FormCreate a new form in the current area.
 Pin/Unpin Selected Objects

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

 Palette

Open the palette to drag in components.
 Turn Auto Size Off/On

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

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

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Options to arrange the selected components within a pane:

 Align Objects to Left

 Align Objects to Right

 Align Objects to Top

 Align to base

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 Find in Repository

Open the repository with to see the selected component in the list. This can be useful if you want to move a component.
 Screen PropertiesOpen the properties tab for the dashboard.
 Show Record Details

Display information about the stream and its stream-items.


Terminology changes in progress

As part of the redesign of PhixFlow, we are changing the following terms:

dashboard → screen   
stream → table
stream attributes → attributes
stream item → record
stream set → recordset
stream view → view
stream item action → record-action 
stream action → table-action
driver class → database driver

 Add MappingOpens a new mapping element properties tab where you can map attributes with different names to components.
 Select All ChildrenFor the selected parent container, select all the child components.
 Table Properties
or Show the Stream Configuration
Open the properties for the stream (table).

 Show Attributes...

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:

  •  Show Attributes for stream (table)<name>
  •  Show Attributes for view <name>

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