This page is for application designers. It describes the properties of a layout component. It also lists the context menu options for layout components.

Overview

To create a screen in your application, start by creating a dashboard. In the application's repository, right-click Dashboards and select Add. The dashboard is your blank starting point. To turn it into a screen, use layout components. A component can be:

an area, which acts as a container components
elements of a screen, such as a title, a tab or a card
the fields that make up a form. There are different fields for text, numbers and drop-down selection lists
menus and buttons to help users navigate.

For every component you add, you need to give it a name and specify the formatting using the layout properties, described below.

In the PhixFlow repository, there is a Layout branch. Each layout is a nested set of components that are combined to create your screens.

You can simplify the process of creating a screen by using the Themes available for PhixFlow; see:

Alternatively, you can design your own components, then use them as layout templates. For example, you can set the style properties of a button once, and then copy the template button every time you need one in your application. To make your layout templates easy to find, add them to a Palette. You can quickly drag-and-drop your pre-designed components into your screens, to quickly create forms with a consistent look and feel.

See also:

Sections on this page

Layout Properties

Each layout component has the following properties. Some properties are only available for some types of component.

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.

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the component.
Allow Empty Row	Available for drop-down list components. Tick to allow empty rows in the drop-down list.
Cache Data	This field is only available if the layout component is a drop-down list. Tick to cache the data in the field after it is loaded for the first time.
Parent	Available for button components. PhixFlow displays the name for the parent component.
Action Type	Available for button components. Select one of the following action types that will run when the user clicks the button. General Insert Clear All Fields Update Delete Alternative, use the Action field, below, to specify an action in which you can configure more details.
We recommend that you use either an Action Type or an Action, not both. If you specify both, the Action Type overwrites the type of the first stream item action rule that is configured in the action properties. The rest of the stream item action rule configuration remains the same. For example: A button Action Type is Update. Its Action has 3 stream item action rules, to: insert insert update. When the user clicks the button, PhixFlow runs the stream item action rules in turn, but runs the actions update insert update Only the first insert stream item action rule type is replaced by the update type specified in the Action Type.
Action	Available for button components. Select the action to run when a user clicks the button. The drop-down list shows the actions available in the repository.
Snap Grid Size	Available for the following types of layout component: form area tab header tab display area labeled number field labeled date field labeled date-time field labeled drop-down field labeled true/false field. Enter the grid size to use when components are snapped to the grid.
Composite Component	Tick to indicate this component is grouped with its parent component. It can be useful to group components together, such as a dynamic text field and the static text field that acts as its label. To do this, Create a component to act as the container, for example an area. Add the components you want to treat as a single component. Tick this option for each of the components within the container. PhixFlow then treats the container and the components it contains, as a single, composite component. In a dashboard, when you select or drag a component, such as a text field, PhixFlow selects or moves the whole composite component. To select a component that is part of a composite component: Click once to select the composite component. Click again to select the specific component.
Stream Name	Available for the following types of component: form area card container labeled number field labeled date field labeled date-time field labeled drop-down field labeled true/false field. Select the stream that backs the layout component.
Display Text	Available for static text field components. Enter the text you want to display on the layout component. By default this field is an expression editor. For options to format the display text as HTML, tick Use HTML Formatting.
Use HTML Formatting	Available for static text field components. Tick to change the Display Text field from an expression editor to an HTML editor. You can then use the toolbar to apply HTML formatting to the text.
Default Value	Available for the following types of layout component: true/false field date field date-time field number field string field dynamic text. Select or enter a value to display in the field. PhixFlow uses this value if: an action opens the dashboard to which this layout component belongs and there are no context parameters or form mappings to populate this field.
Date/Time Format	Available for the following types of layout component: date field date-time field dynamic text drop-down field. Select the format in which to display the date or date time value.
Number Format	Available for the following types of layout component: number field dynamic text drop-down field. Select the format in which to display the number value.
Type	Available for dynamic text and drop-down components Select one of the data types: String Integer Float Date Datetime HTML The data type determines how the selected data will be formatted. Integer or Float must have a number format Date or Datetime must have a date-time format.
Decimal Places	Available for dynamic text components. Enter the number of decimal places to display for numbers.
URL	Available for URL display components. Specify the URL that you want to be displayed.
Expression	Available for URL display components. Enter an expression which, if true, determines the URL.
Multi-line	Tick to allow the text to wrap over 2 lines.
The following options are only available for date, date-time, number, string and drop-down fields.
Use Field Name as Place Holder	Tick to automatically use the field name as the placeholder text in the empty field.
Place Holder Text	Enter text that PhixFlow will display when the input field is empty. Placeholder text is shown slightly greyed out to distinguish it from text that: either is entered by the user or is read-only text.
The following options are only available for a stream view or a card container.
Parent	The name of the form or area that this component is a part of.
Display Name	Enter a name to be displayed as the heading for this component. If no display name is set, the file name for the layout component is displayed.
Stream View Name	Select the stream view that backs this card container or form. This means you can have aggregated data in the background filter of the card container or form.
Select First Row By Default	Tick to automatically select the first grid row or card when the dashboard is opened.
Refresh If Not Active	Tick to refresh the data in the component even if the parent dashboard is not active. Use this option if a user selection elsewhere in the application can affect the data in this component. Untick to refresh the data in the component when the dashboard becomes active.
Show Paging Bar	Tick to display the paging bar by default.
Default Page Size	Available for card components. Specify the number of cards to be displayed. If not specified, PhixFlow uses the default page size set in System Configuration.
Use Custom Data Range	Untick to use the default data range, which is set in the Stream → Basic Settings → Data Range property. It determines whether this layout component displays data records from: either all stream sets or the latests stream set only. Tick to override the setting in the backing stream. PhixFlow shows the Data Range property.
Data Range	Available when Use Custom Data Range is ticked. Select which stream set data is displayed. Latest: displays the records from the latest stream set only. Recommended when stream sets are updated by batch process, and therefore have a Period of Daily or Monthly. All: displays the records from all stream sets. Recommended when stream sets are updated incrementally and therefore have a Period of Transactional or Variable. This value is used instead of the data range specified on the backing stream.
Offset Periods	Specify an offset.
Use Custom Default Filter	Tick to display the Default Filter field.
Default Filter	This field is available when Use Custom Default Filter is ticked. Select or add a filter. This overrides any default filter set in the original view.
Default Action	Select an action to run when a grid row or card is double-clicked
Drag Type	Select or add a drag type to use when the user drags a grid row or card; see Drag Types and Drop Targets.
Default Sort Order	Select or add a default order in which data will be displayed; see Stream View Sort Order.

Background Filter Rules

For stream view components and card containers there is a section to specify a background filter that PhixFlow applies to the stream data before it is displayed in the component.

Field

Description

Evaluate These Filter Rules as an Or

Specify how to combine the Background Filter Rules.

Untick to combine the background filter rules as an AND filter.

Tick to combine the background filter rules as an OR filter.

Background Filter Rules

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons.

The grid contains a list of the background filter rules that are combined together to create the background filter for the layout component. To add a filter rule to the list, click Add. PhixFlow opens the filter rule properties. To remove a filter rule, use the toolbar button Permanently Delete.

For information about the details shown in the grid, see Filter Rule.

Kanban Board

This section is available when the Advanced → Type is Cards.

Kanban boards display data records as cards in columns, with headings. The columns usually represent the status of the record. When a Kanban application user drags a card from one column to another, the default kanban drag action automatically updates these attributes to match those of the target column.

Example: a stream may record information about status using the attributes StatusID and StatusName.

StatusID	StatusName	Data
Use this attribute to identify the columns	Use this attribute to name the columns
01	Planned	Yes
02	In Progress	No
03	In Review	No
04	Done	Yes

Table 1: Example stream attributes for a kanban board

Use the following properties to set the columns and headers for the kanban board. To specify the styles for the kanban board columns and headings, see Layout#Style Settings, below.

Field	Description
Kanban Columns	This field is required. Select an attribute from the list. PhixFlow uses this attribute to create the kanban columns. Each value found for the attribute in the stream data generates a column. PhixFlow displays the data records as cards in the column that represents the value of this attribute. In some cases, the attribute that you use to create the columns will have a data form that is not useful as a column heading. For example it may be a identifier, rather than a name. In this case, specify Kanban Column Headings.	The columns are restricted to those found in the stream data. Example Example using the attributes from Table 1, above. Select the attribute: `StatusID` to create the kanban columns `StatusName` to name the kanban columns The stream data has records that include `StatusID` values of 01 and 04. No records include the values 03 and 04. Therefore the kanban board has just two columns: 01, with the heading Planned and 04, with the heading Done. To display kanban columns for all possible values of the selected attribute, tick Evaluate Kanban Columns as Expression. PhixFlow adds the expression fields: Kanban Column Expression Kanban Column Headings Expression, when you select a Kanban Column Headings attribute. Enter an expression that defines all the columns and (optionally) their headings.
Kanban Column Headings	Optionally, specify the attribute to create the kanban column headings. Select an attribute from the list. This attribute must have values that correspond to the values in the Kanban Columns attribute. For example, if you select a Kanban Columns attribute of `StatusID`, the corresponding attribute for column headings is `StatusName`, as shown in the Table 1 above.
Evaluate Kanban Columns as Expression	Tick to display expression fields. Enter expressions to specify the full set of columns and headings that you require. Columns remain visible on the board even when there are no data records to display in them. To ensure kanban boards are responsive, expressions can only take a subset of functions; see Responsive Functions.
Kanban Column Expression	Available when a Kanban Columns is selected and Evaluate Kanban Columns as Expression is ticked. Enter an expression to specify which columns appear on the board.	Example Example using the attributes from Table 1, above. Select the attribute: `StatusID` to create the kanban columns `StatusName` to name the kanban columns Tick Evaluate Kanban Columns as Expression Enter an expression for all 4 columns: 01, 02, 03 and 04. Enter an expression for all 4 column names: Planned, In Progress, In Review and Done. The kanban board has just four columns. The In Progress and In Review columns do not contain any cards. Your expression can directly specify all the columns/headings. If you want the flexibility of changing the kanban columns over time, consider having a stream in which all the attributes for the kanban columns and their headings are defined. Use the expression to refer to the stream. When you update the stream, the kanban board will automatically be updated. To ensure kanban boards are responsive, expressions can only take a subset of functions; see Responsive Functions.
Kanban Column Headings Expression	Available when a Kanban Column Headings is selected and Evaluate Kanban Columns as Expression is ticked. Enter an expression to specify which column names appear on the board.

Background Filter Rules

For stream view components and card containers there is a section to specify a background filter that PhixFlow applies to the stream data before it is displayed in the component.

Field

Description

Evaluate These Filter Rules as an Or

Specify how to combine the Background Filter Rules.

Untick to combine the background filter rules as an AND filter.

Tick to combine the background filter rules as an OR filter.

Background Filter Rules

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons.

The grid contains a list of the background filter rules that are combined together to create the background filter for the layout component. To add a filter rule to the list, click Add. PhixFlow opens the filter rule properties. To remove a filter rule, use the toolbar button Permanently Delete.

For information about the details shown in the grid, see Filter Rule.

Style Settings

Select formatting properties for the current layout component. The Style Settings properties are the same as those that you can set in a Style, except for those related to kanban boards. These options construct CSS styling for the layout component; see w3schools.com CSS for details of CSS. If the formatting you require is not available in this section, you can also create custom styling, see CSS Properties. PhixFlow applies the style to the layout component when you save changes to the properties tab.

Field	Description
Kanban Column Style	Available when a Kanban Board → Kanban Column attribute is selected.	Select a Style to format the kanban board columns and their headers. Either select a style from the drop-down list. Or click List Styles to show the list of styles available in the repository Or click Add to create a new style to use.
Kanban Header Style
Header Style
Remaining properties	The rest of the Style Settings properties are the same as those that you can set in a Style.

Style settings include adding scrollbars.

Grid and card container components that have scrollbars can also scroll automatically. This means users can drag cards or grid items to targets that are currently off-screen.

Click to select the item and start to drag it in the direction of the target.
At the edge of the component, pause the mouse pointer.
PhixFlow then starts to scroll in the direction of your drag.

Automatic scrolling can be:

left or right
up or down
diagonal.

CSS Properties

A list of CSS properties. Click Add to add a new CSS style; see CSS Properties.

Shared Styles

A list of shared styles. Click Show the List of Styles to see the styles available in the repository. You can drag styles from the repository into the grid to add a shared style to this component.

Formatting Rules

A list of rules about when to apply formatting. Click Add to add a new rule; see Formatting Rule.

Position Settings

Field	Description
Order	The order of the layout component.
Tab Index	The order of the tab.
Width	The width of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_dim_width.asp
Height	The height of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_dim_height.asp
Top	The top of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_top.asp
Left	The left of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_left.asp
Right	The right of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_right.asp
Bottom	The bottom of the component; https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_bottom.asp
Prevent Dragging	Tick to prevent a component from being dragged or resized when a dashboard is in edit mode. This means you cannot accidentally move a component that you want to stay in a fixed position, such as a header or footer.

Mappings

This section is only available for layout components that can have actions, such as buttons, stream views and cards. This means you can map attributes that have different names. PhixFlow will evaluate all the mapped datasets when it runs the action.

Advanced

Field	Description
Type	PhixFlow populates this property with the type of layout component.
View Type	Available for area components. Optionally select one of the following to set additional behaviour for an area. Field Container: indicates the area that will contain a field and associated label. Dashboard Drag Handle: the area acts as a drag handle. The user can move the whole dashboard around on the screen by clicking in the area and dragging with their mouse.
Internal Icon Source	Select an image from the list of uploaded images.	Optionally specify either an internal or an external icon source. If you specify both, PhixFlow will use the Internal Icon Source. When you add a layout component to the palette, PhixFlow uses the image as the icon in the palette. If you do not specify an image, PhixFlow uses a default icon based on the layout component type.
External Icon Source	Enter the path to an icon that is stored in your file system.
Test Handle	Enter a name that you can use for this layout component, when you are running automated tests on your application.
Template	Read-only. Available for layout components that have been added to a palette. Tick indicates this is a template component that has been added to a palette.
Palette Label	Available for layout components that have been added to a palette. Optionally, enter a label that will appear below this layout component when it is displayed in the palette. This is useful if you want a shorter or more descriptive label than the component name, which is displayed by default.

Description

Field	Description
Tooltip	Enter tooltip text. When using the application, if the user hovers their mouse over this componen, PhixFlow displays this text. If this text is in the translation table, PhixFlow can display translated text that matches the user's locale; see Translating an Application Interface.
Description	Enter a description to explain the purpose of this modelling object.

Creating Background Filters Within a Layout

As well as using the properties tab to set up background filters, you can apply them within an unlocked dashboard or layout that contains a grid view.

In the layout, drag the column header from a grid view onto a form or card. This creates a background filter using the backing stream attribute. When you then select a different row in the grid view, the contents of the form or card is updated to show the details for the selected row.

If the backing stream data no longer contains an attribute that appears as a column header in the grid view, PhixFlow prompts you to select an alternative attribute of the same type, if one is available. If the backing stream has no attributes of the same type, PhixFlow reports and error.

Palettes and Layouts

The format of layouts created using components from palettes can be affected by the availability of the default palette. In Design Mode , when you drag stream attributes onto a layout or area. If the component is from a palette from a different application

If the container application that contains the layout is running, PhixFlow uses the default palette set for the application.
If the container application is not running, PhixFlow uses the default palette set for the area.
If the container application is not running, but you are dragging stream attributes into a layout for a different (destination) application, which is running, then PhixFlow uses the default palette for the destination application.

In all cases, if no palette has been set for the application or area, PhixFlow falls back to using the system default palette.

Understanding Kanban Boards

A kanban board is a project tracking tool that shows work at various stages of a process. Each column represents a stage in the process. Each piece of work is represented by a card.

Card components have properties so that you can easily create kanban boards. In the Layout → Kanban Board section, select an attribute from the backing stream to define kanban columns, and optionally their headings. PhixFlow creates one card for each record in the stream data, and displays it in the appropriate column. To define the styles for the columns and headings, use the options in Layout → Style Settings.

There are two ways to move cards to different columns.

Either update the backing stream data. When you refresh the kanban board, PhixFlow automatically moves the cards to the columns that reflect their stage in the process.
Or drag a card from one column to another. PhixFlow automatically updates the values of its kanban attributes to reflect the target column.

Example

The backing stream for a layout has the attribute Status, which can have the values:

Not started
In progress
Blocked
Done

PhixFlow uses these values to create 4 columns, and uses the status values as the headings. Each data record is displayed as a card. The Status attribute determines which column the card is in. You can drag a card between columns, for example from Not started to In progress. In the backing stream, PhixFlow updates the Status of the record to In Progress.

Layout Context Menu

The context menu options vary for different types of component. Options for dashboards will be listed:

either in the context menu itself
or in the Dashboards Options sub-menu.

In the following table, the menu options are grouped according to purpose. This may not be the order in which the options appear in the menu.

Menu option	Description
Fixing and Moving
Unlock the Layout	When a layout or dashboard is locked, unlock to make changes.
Lock the Layout	Lock a layout or dashboard to display the data content.
Pin/Unpin Selected Objects	Pin or unpin a component. You can drag unpinned components to different locations in the layout. Unpinned components will move if another component is dropped on or near them.
Lock Height	Fix the height of the selected component.
Turn auto size off/on	Toggle whether or not the currently selected component is automatically autosized 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; see Style.
Arrange the selected items sub-menu
Align objects to the left	Align the left edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the left.
Align objects to the right	Align the right edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the right.
Align objects to the top	Align the top edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned highest.
Align objects to the bottom	Align the bottom edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned lowest.
Distribute the objects horizontally	Equally distribute the selected components horizontally in the available space.
Distribute the objects vertically	Equally distribute the selected components vertically in the available space.
Information
Show Element Details	Open the properties tab for the layout element.
Show Dashboard Details	Open the properties tab for the dashboard.
Show the Stream Configuration	Open the properties tab for the steam.
Show Context Parameters	Open the list of context parameters.
*Show Attributes for <stream name>*	Open the list of attributes for the stream. This option is available when a dashboard has a backing stream.
*Show Attributes for view <stream name>*	Open the list of attributes for the stream view. This option is available when a dashboard has a backing view as well as a backing stream.
Show Stream Item Details	Open a window showing the data record.
Find in Repository	Open the repository with the component's name highlighted.
Add Component Mapping	Open a new mapping properties tab.
Adding
Create New Form	For new dashboards, add a form container.
Show Palettes	Open the palette to drag in components.
Add Vertical Bar	Add a vertical bar to the current area.
Add Horizontal Bar	Add a horizontal bar to the current area.
Selecting
Select all children	For the selected area or container, select all the components contained in it.
Copy as Template	Use the selected item as a layout template. This also copies any background filter rules and data mapping to the template.
Deleting
Remove Element From Dashboard	Delete a layout element.
Permanently Delete <component>	Delete the selected component from the layout.

Layout

Overview

Layout Properties

Background Filter Rules

Kanban Board

Background Filter Rules

Style Settings

CSS Properties

Shared Styles

Formatting Rules

Position Settings

Mappings

Advanced

Description

Creating Background Filters Within a Layout

Palettes and Layouts

Understanding Kanban Boards

Layout Context Menu

Fixing and Moving

Information

Adding

Selecting

Deleting