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View page

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1. General information

  • A view page is a graphical interface used for visualizing, viewing, filtering, and searching database records. It represents a primary working tool for navigating data and displaying multiple records at once.

1.1. View page controls

  • A view page consists of visual controls arranged vertically, which together form the overall layout of the page.
  • The view page also acts as an entry point to edit forms – either for creating a new database record or for editing an existing one.
    • To create a new database record, a user can open an edit form from a view page in the following ways:
      • Using a button that redirects the user to a specific edit form. This behavior is defined directly in the properties of the "Button" control or in its script using the "SCHEDULEFORM" function.
      • Using a view table that redirects the user to the edit form whose data it displays. This option is defined by enabling the "New record..." icon in the view table properties.
      • Using other visual controls such as a classic calendar, multi-resource planning calendar, timetable, Gantt chart, or tree structure. This behavior is defined in the properties of the given visual control by enabling the creation of new records.
      • Using a view page that redirects the user to a specific edit form. This behavior is defined directly in the view page properties.
    • To edit an existing database record, a user can open the edit form using the following options:
      • Using a view table that displays a pencil icon at the beginning of each row, allowing the displayed database record to be opened.
      • Using other visual controls such as a classic calendar, multi-resource planning calendar, timetable, Gantt chart, map, or tree structure. These controls either display a pencil icon or allow opening a database record by clicking on its displayed details.
      • Using a button that redirects the user to a specific database record of an edit form. This behavior is defined in the script of the "Button" control using the "SCHEDULEFORM" function.
      • Using a view page that redirects the user to the first record of a given edit form. This behavior is defined directly in the view page properties.

1.2. Permissions to access a view page

  • A view page can be accessed from the navigation area containing the list of available applications or favorite items, as well as through navigation elements placed on the main page, other view pages, or edit forms.
  • Each view page allows defining user groups or specific users who are authorized to access it. Other users do not see it in the navigation area. For a common view page, the permission is also checked when its URL is opened directly.
  • For “Show web page”, “Open an edit form”, and “New email” view-page types, the redirect is performed before the view-page permission check. Their permissions therefore control navigation visibility but do not secure the redirect target; the target must have its own protection.
  • When the URL is opened directly, only the permission of the view page is checked. The permissions of the application group, application and category in which the page is located are not checked.

1.3. Permissions to display view page content

  • A view page displays only the controls to which the currently logged-in user has permission.
  • If the anonymous user has permission to no control of the page, the login screen is displayed instead of the content, in the same way as on the main page of the application. A logged-in user without permission to the page or to all of its controls sees an empty page.
  • Each control on a view page allows defining user groups or specific users who are authorized to see it. Other users do not see the control on the view page.

2. List of tabs in the view page settings dialog

  • General – Setting general properties
  • Other – Settings for portlets or mobile devices
  • Help – Help text settings in reports
  • Rights – Rights settings
  • Administration – Setting other properties

2.1. “General” tab

2.1.1. Name

  • The name of the view page displayed in the NET Genium navigation area or in the menu on mobile devices.
  • The name of the view page is displayed in the title of the web browser tab.

2.1.2. Dictionary

  • The dictionary displays a list of application group names, applications, categories, view pages, edit forms, and controls used throughout the application.
  • Dictionary search is used to suggest the correct name of the view page and to maintain the consistency of nomenclature throughout the application.

2.1.3. Type

Common view page

  • A common type of view page that consists of controls.

Show web page

  • The opening page will be redirected to a specific web page when opened.

2.1.3.1. URL

  • The address of the web page to which the view page will be redirected in user mode.
  • Before the redirect, variables in the address are replaced and server functions are evaluated. If the resulting address is empty, the view page is not redirected and displays its own controls.
  • In admin mode, a link to the target web page is displayed instead of the redirect. An administrator who is not allowed to modify the view page is redirected in the same way as in user mode.

Open an edit form

  • When opened, the view page will be redirected to a new edit form in order to create a new record in the database.
  • After this type is selected, the dialog adds the prefix “+ ” in front of the name of the view page; if the name is empty, it fills in “+ New record”. When the type is changed to another one, the prefix is removed. The prefix is not carried over to the title of the web browser tab.

2.1.3.2. Edit form

  • Edit form to which the view page will be redirected.
  • The redirect is performed both in user mode and in admin mode.
  • The drop-down list displays a list of all edit forms located in the same application.

2.1.3.3. Then go to the view page

  • The view page to which the user will be redirected after saving the record in the edit form.
  • The drop-down list shows a list of all view pages located in the same application.
  • If no view page is selected, it is set to this view page itself when saving. After saving a record, the user thus gets an empty edit form for another new record again.

New email

  • When opened, the view page will be redirected to the form for entering a new e-mail message for subsequent submission.
  • The redirect is performed both in user mode and in admin mode.

2.1.3.4. Then go to the view page

  • The page to which the user will be redirected after sending the e-mail.
  • The drop-down list shows a list of all view pages located in the same application.
  • If no view page is selected, it is set to this view page itself when saving.

2.2. “Other” tab

2.2.1. Refresh interval

  • Only for view page type “Common view page”
  • The interval after which the view page is automatically refreshed.
  • Available values: no refresh, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 60 seconds.
  • The whole page is refreshed with the scroll position and the selected tab preserved. The refresh also happens if the user has a dialog open or unfinished values in the text fields of the page.
  • The interval applies in admin mode as well. It does not apply to the portlets of the main page.

2.2.2. Resolution

  • Big screen + Small screen
    • The view page is displayed on a personal computer and on mobile devices regardless of the screen size the user chose when logging in.
  • Big screen
    • The view page is displayed on a personal computer and on mobile devices to users who selected the big screen when logging in to the application.
  • Small screen
    • The view page is displayed only on mobile devices to users who selected the small screen when logging in to the application. It is not displayed on a personal computer.
  • The resolution setting filters the page in the navigation area, in the mobile menu, in favorites and in the application help (“#help#”). It does not block the page's direct URL and must not be used as an access permission.
  • In admin mode, the resolution setting is not used – all view pages are displayed in the navigation area.
  • For portlets, the resolution applies only on a small screen, where portlets from pages with the “Big screen” resolution are not displayed. The anonymous user does not choose the screen size; on mobile devices, the main page is displayed to the anonymous user as on a big screen, but portlets from pages with the “Big screen” resolution are not displayed. On a personal computer, portlets from pages with any resolution are displayed.

2.2.3. Options

  • For portlets only
  • Only for view page type “Common view page”
    • Checking this box determines whether the view page is used as a source of controls intended for portlets on the main page and is not displayed in the NET Genium navigation area. It does not block the view page's direct URL.
  • Hide portlets if empty
  • Only for view page type “Common view page” with the “For portlets only” option checked
    • Checking this box determines whether the portlet on the main page should be hidden if it contains no records to display.
    • The option applies only to view tables and to the E-mail control (inbox), and only in user mode. A detailed description of portlets is provided in the separate guide Portlets.
  • Open the first record in the database table
  • Only for view page type “Open an edit form”
    • Checking this box opens the record with the lowest primary-key “id” in the selected edit form's database table. View-table sorting is not used. If the table is empty, a blank form for a new record is opened.
    • The choice of the first record does not take permissions or record ownership into account. Whether the user may view or edit the opened record is decided only by the permissions of the edit form.

2.3. “Help” tab

2.3.1. Help

  • Help is the text displayed in the “View Pages (Export)” report. A detailed description of the reports is provided in the separate guide Reports.
  • Help is text displayed inside the overall help of the application within the server variable “#help#”. A detailed description of server variables is provided in the separate guide Variables.

2.3.2. Notes

  • Notes are used to enter any text intended for the application administrator.
  • Calls to server functions that control the behavior of the view page are placed in the notes:
    • DISABLEPAGETOOLS() – hides the “Refresh” and link icons in the upper right corner of the page
    • FULLAJAXMODE() – the page uses ajax requests instead of submitting the form
    • LABELSINSIDE() – text fields on the page display their label inside the field
    • LAYOUT(id) – uses a different layout for the view page
    • MARGINS(top, right, bottom, left) – sets the margins of the view page
  • Only the listed functions are evaluated from the notes when the page is loaded; the rest of the notes, including other server functions, is not evaluated. A detailed description of server functions is provided in the separate guide Server functions.

2.4. “Rights” tab

2.4.1. Rights

  • Rights define a list of user groups and users who may view a common view page and its navigation item.
  • For a new view page, the rights are prefilled from the category in which the page is being created; if the page is created outside a category, from the application.
  • For redirecting view-page types, these rights do not secure the target because the redirect occurs before the permission check. The target edit form or web page must be secured separately.

2.4.2. Show summary...

  • Displays an overview of the rights settings of all child controls.
  • The “Show summary...” link is available only after the view page is saved for the first time.

2.4.3. Options

  • Replace rights in all child objects – Checking this box determines whether the rights settings in all child controls should be overwritten to the same permissions as those set in the view page itself when the view page is saved.
  • Add selected rights to all child objects – Checking this box determines whether all selected user groups and users should be added to all child controls when saving the view page.
  • Remove selected rights in all child objects – Checking this box determines whether all selected user groups and users of all child controls should be removed when saving the view page.
  • The options are available only after the view page is saved for the first time.

2.5. “Administration” tab

  • The “Administration” tab is only displayed for existing view pages.

2.5.1. Location

  • Select the application group, application and category in which the view page is located.
  • The drop-down list of applications offers the applications of the selected application group and the drop-down list of categories offers the categories of the selected application. The “(Root)” option places the view page outside any category.
  • When moving to another application, it is not checked whether the target edit form and the view page to go to after saving are located in the new application. It is therefore advisable to check these settings after the move.

2.6. Logging

  • Using the “Logging” button displays a detailed report containing records of the view page activity. The report includes information on:
    • the date and time when the view page was displayed,
    • the user who displayed the view page,
    • the processing time of the view page,
    • the start date and time of the processing,
    • the end date and time of the processing,
    • the size of the resulting HTML code generated for the view page,
    • an indication of whether it was the first page load or a page refresh (postback).
  • For logging to function correctly, logging must be enabled in the NET Genium settings on the “Other” tab, either as “To database” or “To database and disk”. A detailed description is provided in the separate guide NET Genium settings.
  • The minimum display time for page view processing is set to 0 milliseconds by default, so all view page display records are displayed, including those that took 0 milliseconds to process. This minimum time can be increased or decreased by changing the “mintime” parameter in the report URL.
  • The number of records is limited to 100 by default. This number can be manually increased or decreased by changing the “maxrows” parameter in the report URL.
  • No record is written for requests that the view page ends before rendering the whole page – typically for redirects and for the refresh of a single control.

2.7. “Save”, “Delete” and “Close” buttons

  • “Save” button – Save changes to view page settings.
  • “Delete” button – Permanently delete view page. The view page is deleted with all its controls, their database queries and scripts, the rights, the favorite items and portlets referring to the page, and the user settings of the page and its controls. The files of print templates are not deleted. References to the deleted page in other controls, in the “Then go to the view page” setting or in scripts (SCHEDULEVIEWPAGE) are not removed. A system view page cannot be deleted.
  • “Close” button – Close the view page settings dialog without saving changes.

3. View page behaviour

3.1. Layout of controls

  • Controls are displayed below each other in the order in which they are placed on the view page. In user mode, only buttons that immediately follow each other are arranged side by side.
  • The “Tab” control divides the page into tabs. The content of an unselected tab is loaded only after it is selected for view tables, charts, tree structures, change history, e-mail and the DataSet control. A calendar, planner, timetable, kanban and map are always loaded, even if they are placed on an unselected tab.
  • The scroll position of the page and the selected tab are saved separately for every logged-in user and restored the next time the page is opened. They are not saved for the anonymous user.
  • The title of the web browser tab consists of the application name, the category name and the view page name.

3.2. Icons in the upper right corner

  • The upper right corner of a view page contains the “Refresh” and “Copy the link to share this page to the clipboard” icons. They are not displayed on mobile devices or to the anonymous user.
  • The link icon is additionally not displayed to external users (members of the “External Users” group) in user mode outside NET Genium Online. In an installation that has both the “DenyLogin.txt” configuration file and the value “*” in the “XFrameOptions.txt” file, the link icon is not displayed to anyone.
  • The icons are hidden by the DISABLEPAGETOOLS() server function in the notes of the view page.
  • If an HTML or JavaScript control contains the “#help#” variable, the page additionally displays floating icons for returning to the top of the page and for printing. They are not displayed on mobile devices.

3.3. Navigation

  • In the navigation area, view pages are sorted by order and name; categories are displayed first, followed by view pages without a category. Clicking a category opens its first view page.
  • After selecting an application group that has neither a background image (or the user has the “Background image” option turned off) nor portlets, the first view page of the first application opens in user mode; view pages without a category take precedence.
  • In the mobile menu, an application or category with a single view page is displayed as a single link with the name of the application or category.
  • Renaming a view page overwrites the name of the favorite item for all users who have the page in favorites.
  • A view page can be added to favorites only if the user has permission to it.

3.4. Errors and external functions

  • An error of a database query is displayed only in the control that uses the query; the other controls are displayed normally.
  • An error of a server or external function evaluated in an HTML or JavaScript control ends the loading of the whole page.
  • If the evaluated content of an HTML control starts with the string “<!DOCTYPE”, “<html” or “<HTML”, it replaces the whole view page in user mode. The comparison is case-sensitive and leading whitespace is not trimmed – the notation “<!doctype html>” and content starting with a space or an empty line are not recognized.
  • On every request to the view page, the NETGenium.OpenViewPage external function runs, even before the redirect and before the permission check. A detailed description is provided in the separate guide External functions.

3.5. Copying a view page

  • A copy of a view page is created by the “Copy view page” icon in the navigation area in admin mode. The copy is created in the same application and category with “ - Copy” appended to the name and is placed at the end.
  • All controls are copied, including database queries, scripts and rights. The print template file is not copied – the copy and the original use the same file.
  • A system view page cannot be copied.