PhixFlow Help

Stream View

This page is for data modellers and application designers who want to select specific attributes to appear in a dashboard, and to format how the data will be displayed.

Overview

Stream views allow you to present data from a stream in the form you wish:

  • as a data grid or chart
  • sorted and ordered as required
  • showing data from the latest run, or across all time.

Reports can be sent out from PhixFlow by emailing the output of a File Exporter, Task Plans or a Dashboard.

Properties

For information about the properties toolbar, and about the sections Parent Details, Analysis Models, Description and Audit Summary, see Common Properties.  For a full list of all the PhixFlow property tabs and windows, see Property Tabs.

Basic Settings

Sections on this page


FieldDescription
NameThe name of the view. By default, a space will be included before each capital letter. For example, the name CustSpendAverage will be displayed in the column heading as Cust Spend Average.
Display TypeA number of chart types are available:
  • Barchart: plot a quantity as a set of bars against a set of categories along the horizontal axis.
  • 3D Barchart: a 3D version of the standard barchart.
  • Barchart (horizontal)
  • Grid: show data laid out in a grid.
  • Line Chart (category horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a horizontal axis of 'categories'. The categories are printed along the horizontal axis, ordered alphanumerically.
  • Line Chart (numeric horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a numerical horizontal axis.
  • 3D Pie Chart: a 3D version of the standard pie chart.
  • Pie Chart: show a quantity as a pie chart, grouped by a category.
  • Pivot: show data laid out in a stream, with data for values of one attribute broken out ('pivoted') into multiple columns.
  • Stacked Barchart: a bar chart where multiple series/multiple attributes per category are displayed in a stacked form.
  • Line Chart (times series horizontal axis): plot line, or lines, representing quantities against a date/time value - an attribute of type Date or Datetime.
Default Sort OrderIf specified, the default order in which data should be displayed; see Stream View Sort Order.
Default FilterAny filter on the stream can be selected as the default filter for this view.
Background FilterAny filter on the stream can be selected as the background filter for this view. When the user opens this view the background filter is applied first and any other filter applied to the view (either specifically created/selected by the user or automatically applied as the default filter described above) applied on top of the background filter.

Default Action

The action that will be applied when users double-click on a row in a data grid. Often this is an update action - that allows users (if they have permissions to run the action) to update the record. But you can make this open a read-only detailed view of the record if that is more useful for most users; see Action.

Drag TypeThe drag type that will be used when dragging data from this view; see Drag Types and Drop Targets.
Enable Filter Picker Tick to allow the filter picker to be used for filters created for this view; see Filters on Data Views.
Form View

 Tick to make this a form view. This can be used to accepting input from a user, for an insert or update action.

Include History Records Tick to include audit records in the view data. If set, superseded records will be identified by a grey background on the grid row. If not set, superseded records will be filtered out.
Pivot DetailsThis section only appears for pivot views; see Pivot Views, below.

View Attributes

A list of attributes displayed in the view. Click  to show the list of attributes for the stream. Drag the attributes you want to add to the view into this list.

In the list:

  • to edit the attribute's properties, double-click an attribute; see Stream View Attributes.
  • to delete an attribute, right-click and select  Permanently Delete  
  • to set pivot table options, right-click an attribute to open the pop-up menu, which has the options to:
    • Make Pivot Value
    • Make Pivot Column
    • Make Pivot Row
    • Make Pivot Label
    • Make Pivot Row Total

Refresh Actions

A list of refresh actions. These actions, following their execution, will cause this view to be refreshed.

To add a refresh action go to the Actions tab and drag actions into this tab. The stream does not have to be the parent of this view.

Drop Targets

A list of the drop targets that this view will contain. To add a drop target, click on the + button at the top of the grid.

For each drop target you set the following fields:

FieldDescription
NameThe name of the drop target.
Drag TypeThe drag type that this drop type is listening for.
Drop Action

The action that will run when something of the chosen drag type is dropped onto this view.

Menu Items

A list of the buttons, menus and sub-menus that will be presented on this view - which buttons are available to users depends on whether they have permissions to run these actions.

Only actions that belong to the parent stream can be added to a view.

There are three ways to add Lists and Buttons:

  • Click on the Actions icon at the top of the grid.
    • A popup window will appear listing all the available actions on the parent stream
    • Drag an action from this popup form onto the grid
    • If you drop onto an existing button you will be asked if you want to:
      • create a new button, or
      • create a list which will hold the new button and the button you dropped the new action on to
    • If you drop onto an existing list, the dragged action will be added to the list
  • Go to the Stream Details Actions tab and drag actions into this tab
  • Use the '+' icon at the top of the grid
    • You can decide if you want to create a button, menu or sub-menu.

For each button you set the following fields:

FieldDescription
Drop ActionSelect a drop action.
NameAvailable for sub-menus. The internal name of the action button. This name will be used to refer to this button in other configuration objects
Display NameThe name that will be presented to users when they open the form.
OrderThe order that the button will be shown in the banner of the form, or, if the button is on a list (a menu or sub-menu), the order the button will appear in that list.
Menu Items

Available for sub-menus.

Filters

The list of filters which will be available to users in the drop-down list of filters on the view.

There are two ways to add a filter to this list:

  • Click on the filter button in this section
    • A popup window will appear listing all the available filters on the parent stream
    • Drag a filter from this popup into the list
  • Go to the parent stream's filters and drag filters into this list; see Filter.

Access Permissions

For details about how to control access to a view, see Common Properties → Access Permissions.

Advanced

FieldDescription
Selection AttributeThis attribute will be used to determine the record selected. This is important when the data will be refreshed while users are looking at it - for example, if they run actions that run task plans to update the data, and which are set as refresh actions (see above). Setting this using a key field of the data means that after the refresh, the same record will be selected as before.
Auto Save

 Tick to save the edited row after another row is clicked. 

If a user makes a change to a view with Auto Save selected, then clicks  Refresh, PhixFlow runs auto save first.

Auto Save ActionVisible only if the 'Auto Save' flag is ticked. Allows the user to define custom Auto Save action which is fired after an another row is clicked.

Row Selection Style

The style that will applied to rows in this view when they are selected. If set, this will override the default selected row style set in the System Configuration.
Select First Row By Default

 Tick to automatically select the first row shown in the view when the view is opened.

Show Paging Bar

Available when Display Type is Grid.

 Tick to show the paging bar by default.

Show Records Count

 Tick to calculate the total number of rows. Users do not have to click the '...' symbol to see this information.

Show Row Number Tick to display the row number on the grid.
Always Show the Column Filter Icon

 Tick to always display the a filter icon on this grid's column headers. This means users can quickly select values on which to filter the grid.

PeriodsNumber of processing periods from the stream to display on the chart. If a full set of data is generated in each period, then this will be 1. If the data is spread across processing periods in the stream - for example, each processing period only contains new data for that day, but we want to plot data across a number of days - then this number must be high enough to include all data of interest to show on a chart.
Default WidthThe default width of the view. If empty, the view's width will be set to the system default value.
Default HeightThe default height of the view. If empty, the view's height will be set to the system default value.
Allow Multi-Select Tick to enable users to select more than one row in the grid.
Frozen ColumnsNumber of columns frozen while scrolling the View horizontally.
Excel Template

An Excel template can be linked to the view to specify the format the chart data should be exported in.

The location that excel templates must be saved to is specified in the System Configuration.

Style Settings

Options for styling grids; see Style.

Chart Layout 

Available when Type is one of the chart view options. PhixFlow only shows options that are relevant for the type of chart selected.

To configure attributes for horizontal and vertical chart axis,

  1. Drag the stream or stream view onto a dashboard.
  2. Select the chart option you want.
  3. Select the attributes you want to use on the chart.

PhixFlow displays a chart builder. Drag attributes from the view properties onto the chart builder boxes:

  • Series, and Series (right axis)
  • Y attributes, Y attributes (right axis)
  • X axis
  • Label attribute.

Behind the chart builder you can see the chart. To show the chart without the chart builder overlay, either lock the layout or switch to  App Mode


FieldDescription
Show Legend

When a series is used,

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 to display a box listing all lines, along with the corresponding values.

Display Legend Below The Chart

 Tick to display the legend below the chart.

 Untickto display the legend above the chart.

Show Controls

Available when Display Type is Barchart.

  Tick to display a Grouped/Stacked switch on the chart.

Mark Selection

Available when Display Type is Barchart.

 Tick to add a visible border around the currently selected bar.

Tooltip Number FormatSelect or add a number format to be applied to a chart tooltip.
Colour MapSelect or add a colour map.
Group Spacing

Available when Display Type is Barchart.

Specify a value between 0 and 1 to define custom spacing between bar groups.

Chart Axis Options

Horizontal Axis SectionVertical Axis SectionDescription
Show Horizontal AxisShow Vertical Axis Tick to display the axis on the chart.
Horizontal Axis TitleVertical Axis TitleAvailable when Show Horizontal/Vertical Axis is ticked.
The label to appear below the axis.
Title StyleTitle Style

Available when Show Horizontal/Vertical Axis is ticked.
Select or add a style with properties to specify the format of the axis title text.

Label Angle-Available when Display Type is Barchart, Barchart (stacked) and all Line Charts.
The orientation of the values displayed along the horizontal axis. Select a value from the drop-down menu.
Horizontal Axis IncrementVertical Axis IncrementSpecify the interval between tick marks on the axis. For example if the data values have a range from 1 to 100, specify a value of 5 or 10.

Force Horizontal Axis Ticks

-

 Tick to force ticks to appear on the horizontal axis.

-Logarithmic ScaleAvailable when Display Type is any type of Line Chart.
 Tick to scale the vertical axis logarithmically.

Minimum Value

Only for
Barchart (horizontal)

Minimum Value

For charts except
Barchart (horizontal)

Specify a minimum value to show on the axis. If the data includes lower values, they will not be plotted.

If no minimum is specified, PhixFlow scales the chart from the lowest data point.

Maximum Value

Only for
Barchart (horizontal)

Maximum Value

For charts except
Barchart (horizontal

Specify a maximum value to show on the axis. If the data includes higher values, they will not be plotted. 

If no maximum is specified, PhixFlow scales the chart up to the highest data point.

Fixed Scale

Only for
Barchart (horizontal)

Fixed Scale

For charts except
Barchart (horizontal

 Tick to always use the Maximum Value and Minimum Value  as the highest and lowest values on the axis.

Horizontal Axis IncrementVertical Axis IncrementSpecify a value to use as increments on the axis
Show Horizontal GridlinesShow Vertical Gridlines

 Tick to show grid lines on the chart.

Horizontal Axis Date FormatVertical Axis Date Format

Available when the attribute selected for the axis is a date or date/time.
Select or add a Date or Date/Time format to use for the value labels.

Horizontal Axis Number FormatVertical Axis Number Format

Available when the attribute selected for the axis is a number.
Select or add a Number Format for for the axis labels.

Text StyleText StyleSelect or add a style with properties to specify the format of the text for the axis labels

Chart Layout: Line Chart (time)

Available when Type Line Chart (time). These apply to the horizontal axis, which in this case is a time series:

FieldDescription
Primary Axis UnitUnits for date display along the horizontal axis. Choose a value from the drop-down list. Note, however, that only as many values will be displayed as can comfortably be fitted in the space available.
Primary Axis FormatChoose a format to display dates along the primary horizontal axis.
Secondary Axis UnitUnits for an optional, second date display along the horizontal axis. This might be used, for example, to create a graph where the months are shown along the primary horizontal axis (Primary Axis Unit = 'Month', Primary Axis Format = 'Jan, Feb') and the years are shown along a line below this, along the secondary horizontal axis (Secondary Axis Unit = 'Year', Secondary Axis Format = 'Four digit year').
Secondary Axis FormatChoose a format to display dates along the secondary horizontal axis, if this is being used.

Pivot View  

There are two parts to configuring a pivot view.

  1. Set the stream view properties
  2. Configure roles for the attributes.

The stream view properties for pivot table views are:

FieldDescription
Pivot Column Source

This controls how the field given the role Pivot Column will be used to generate columns in the pivot stream. Choose from one of:

  • View Data - the pivot columns are generated directly from the data in the Pivot Column field. If a field has been given the role Pivot Label, the label values corresponding to values in the Pivot Column field will be used as pivot column headers. The is the simplest way to generate the pivot columns, but does not allow any control of the order of values, or the ability to handle missing values e.g. when generating standard reports
  • Expression - the pivot column values are the result of an expression.

Pivot Column Expr

If Pivot Column Source == Expression, this expression must return either a list of values or a list of pairs of values (the values and corresponding labels).

The expression can refer to any lookup pipe that is an input to the parent stream of the view.

E.g.

['20150101', '20150201', '20150301']

In this example the resulting view displays three pivot columns.

The pivot view only displays data where the value of the pivot column attribute equals one of the three quoted values - data that does not match any of the pivot column values is ignored.

The pivot column labels are generated from the pivot values using the formatting rules of the Pivot Column field. In particular, the Label expression can be used to generate formatted label values automatically. If no formatting or Label expression is provided, a default label is generated. This is the recommended way of formatting column labels.

E.g.

[['20150101', 'January 2015'], ['20150201', 'February 2015'], ['20150301', 'March 2015']]

In the second example, the same data is displayed, but the column headers are provided in the second values for each pivot column.

This method of setting column labels is not recommended, and is provided for compatibility with existing pivot views.

Maximum Pivot Columns

This is the maximum number of pivot columns that can be displayed. If this is blank, the system-wide default in System Configuration is used.


To configure roles for attributes in a pivot view, each attribute must be assigned to one of the following roles.

RoleDescription
Pivot Column

This field will be used to generate columns in the pivot table.

Formatting of the column headings will be controlled by the formatting options set on this view attribute.

A Pivot view must have one and only one Pivot Column attribute.

Pivot Row

This field will be used to generate the rows of the pivot.

A Pivot View can have any number of Pivot Row attributes.

Pivot Label

If Pivot Column Source == View Data, this attribute provides the pivot column headings. In most cases, the number of values for the pivot label should be exactly the same as the number of values for the pivot column.

A Pivot View can have at most one Pivot Column attribute. 

Pivot Value

The values in this field will be used to generate the data values in the pivot.

You must apply an aggregate function (Table Function) to this attribute - to provide the sum, max, min, etc. of these values for each row and column.

A Pivot view must have one and only one Pivot Value attribute.

Pivot Row Total

Each Pivot Row Total attribute generates a value for each row calculated as an aggregate of the individual pivot column values.

The aggregate function can be any single-valued Aggregate Function (Sum, Minimum, Maximum, Average, Count).

A Pivot View can have any number of Pivot Row Total attributes.

Grid View: How to Configure Coloured Rows

The colours of rows in grid views can be set by creating an attribute called gridRowColour, and adding this to the view. This value will not be shown in the grid.

The value of this attribute must evaluate to either a hexadecimal value representing a colour or to the lower case name of one of the basic HTML colours. Visit www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_colorpicker.asp to see how hexadecimal values correspond to real colours. The table below lists the basic HTML colour names:

AquaBlackBlueFuchsia
GrayGreenLimeMaroon
NavyOlivePurpleRed
SilverTealWhiteYellow

You are recommended to avoid dark colours as they make data in the grid very hard to read.

View Context Menu

Show Record DetailsOpens a window with all the information contained in that grid row
View PropertiesOpens the properties tab for the stream view.
Table PropertiesOpens the properties tab for the stream.
List Attributes <viewName>

Opens a list of all of the attributes (column headers) for this stream view.  Attributes formatted in italics are present in the stream but are hidden in the grid.

To change whether an attribute is hidden or visible, right-click the attribute and select Show this column or Hide this column.

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