Using the Repository
Overview
The Repository contains your Applications and all of its items, Packages, the Full Repository and Unallocated items. The repository is shown by default as a tab in the right panel.
- To show/hide all tabs in the right panel, click the Show/Hide Right Panel.
- To show/hide the context help panel only, click the Help tab.
- To close the repository, click X in the tab.
- To reopen the repository, in the PhixFlow toolbar at in top right, click Repository.
Items in the Repository
Items are grouped into branches which you can expand and collapse.
- Applications: This branch lists PhixFlow applications. Expand an application to see the items contained in it.
- Packages: Items in a package can be shared by different applications.
- Full Repository: This branch lists all items, grouped by type, from any application or package.
- Unallocated: This branch lists the items that are not included in any application or package.
Tooltips
If you hover your mouse pointer over an item in the repository, PhixFlow displays a tooltip for it, if one is available. The tooltip comes from the item's Description. We recommend you add a description for any item you create; see Common Properties.
Selecting Items and Opening Properties
To select a group of items, use Shift+click. To select several items individually, use Ctrl+click.
Double-click on an item in the repository to open its properties pane where you can configure options for it.
In addition to having properties, you can open some items to view and manage them. These are:
- Entity Relationship Diagrams, where you create tables and relationships
- Workflows, where you define tasks and processes for applications and their users
- Screens, which are made up of different components, including data, form fields, cards, and menus
- Actionflows, where you wire up functionality so that application users can interact with screens and data
- Analysis Models, where you configure the flow and transformation of data
There are many windows that pop up, for example, when you are creating views of data to display on a screen, PhixFlow opens the Available Attributes Window; see Displaying Data (Views).
To display these items in the workspace on the left, select Display:
- Right-click an item's name to show the popup menu and select Display:
- Or from the toolbar on the properties pane, click the Display option.
You may need to click More Options to see this option.
Finding Repository Items
When you are looking for items in the repository, it is important to check whether you are looking in an Application branch or in the Full Repository. In both branches, items are grouped by type under a collection header, in alphanumeric order. By default, items in packages are not grouped by type. To group items in a package, right-click on the package name and select Show the Collection Headers.
When any branches of the repository are open, you can quickly collapse them all. In the repository toolbar, click Collapse All.
Drag and Drop
When you are editing the properties for some items, you can open a repository tab containing a filtered list of items. You can then drag selected items from the repository into the properties. For example, this makes it easy to add a task plan to an action.
Searching
In the repository, most items are grouped by type under a collection header. For example all the analysis models are stored together. To find an item of a specific type, expand the collection header and scroll of search for the required item. Click the x to clear the search.
Some types of item "belong" to another item. For example you can expand any table to see that it can potentially have actions, record-actions, attributes, views, filters, sort orders and inputs. You can also search within these sub-collections.
Searching for an Item
Applications and Packages
Each item can only be part of one application or package. To move an item to another application or package, drag it onto the new application or package in the repository. When objects are moved into a package they are no longer included in the original application; see Package.
To remove an item from an application or package, right-click on it in the repository and select Remove from Container. This removes the item from the application or package, but it remains in the repository.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Create New | Creates a new item of the selected type. When you create a new application, PhixFlow automatically shows only this application in the repository list and asks if you want to load the application into Application Mode. To see the full list of applications again, clear the application's name from the Applications search field. |
Show a Detailed List | Opens a new window listing all the items with the selected. The window includes information about the key properties for each item. |
Display icon depends on item type | Opens a model, screen, ERD, workflow or actionflow diagram in the workspace. A palette opens in a popup window. |
Show Models | Opens a new window listing all the models that contain the item. |
Enable | The icon depends on the item. Enables the item without having to open its properties. |
Disable | The icon depends on the item and is overlaid with the stop icon. This disables the item without having to open its properties. |
Copy as template | For components, copies an existing component and saves it as a template. |
Edit | Opens the properties tab for the item, where you can change its settings. |
Delete | Deletes the item from the repository and from all the items that contain it. This option:
|
Remove from container | Removes an item from the current container, but keeps it in the repository. |
Set Audit Required | Sets whether or not PhixFlow records actions on this item in the audit log. |
Set Audit Not Required | |
Show Recordsets | Opens a list of the recordsets. |
Show view | Opens the default view of a table's data. |
Run Analysis | Runs analysis on a table. |
Load Application | In Design Mode, shows only the selected application in the repository and automatically loads it into Application Mode. |
Filter by Name | Shows only the selected application in the repository. To see the full list of applications again, clear the application's name from the Applications search field. |
For details of some other menus and toolbars, see Menu Options and Toolbar Buttons.