Key Concepts

IQA Driven

The Advanced Panel Editor works from IQAs that define your data and group it into Levels. Rather than being limited to contents of a single panel source you can combine information from multiple panel sources and control their:

  • Formatting – Data can be presented using SQL functions or CASE logic to include formatting such as color and hyperlinks or local date formats
  • Sorting – The sort order presented in the IQA is used by the APE allowing you to group your data and sort using multiple sort values.
  • Access – Access is managed by the security on your IQA – if the user cannot access the data the APE will return no results
  • Filters – Any filter can be used with your APE IQA. If the APE is meant to work with a dynamic filter (e.g. a URL parameter) then it should be coded using IQA conventions: e.g. “@url:Parameter”, “@SelectedID”, “@LoggedInUser”
    Note that for dynamic filters the prompt value must be set to “Optional”
  • Field Suppression – the Advanced Panel Editor supports the use of the “code_” prefix on fields to suppress display of a column while making that data available for use either in URLs and/or in linkages.

Levels

Either two or three levels are supported by the APE. Each level represents a logical group of data that is related to the level above and/or below. Level 1 is the parent level and Level 2 is the child. Level 3 is an optional child level relating to Level 2. You can also just use APE like a regular IQA with create/edit/delete capabilities with just the single first level. Here are some examples:

  • Persons / Expense Reports / Expense Records – Level 1 --> shows a person or persons, Level 2 --> shows expense reports that each person has on file,  Level 3 –-> show the individual expense details for the expense report
  • Company / Locations / Employees – Level 1  Show information about the company, Level 2  show all companies where the Level 1 company is their parent, Level 3  show all employees in each Level 3 company
  • Student / Courses – Level 1  Show a student, Level 2  Show all courses taken by the student.
  • Notes – Level 1  Show all notes

Linkage Fields

In order to link one level to another, the APE must specify a link between the levels defined by your IQAs. Either two or four linkages are required:
  • Link to Level 2 (from Level 1) (e.g. Contact.ID) (not required if Level 2 is not used)
  • Link to Level 1 (from Level 2) (e.g. Activity.ID) (not required if Level 2 is not used)
  • Link to Level 3 (from Level 2) (not required if Level 3 is not used)
  • Link to Level 2 (from Level 3) (not required if Level 3 is not used)

Container vs Display

The first (parent) level in the APE can be configured to render as a Container. This view suppresses the field headings and shows the only the data provided by the Level 1 IQA using the Heading 3 format.

State Preservation

State preservation refers to the combination of opened and closed rows in an APE display. Generally, when an APE is being used, only specific record or records will be of interest. The “Preserve State” feature records the open or closed state of each record in the APE display so that the next time the APE is used it will revert to where it was left off.

Main Datasource

An IQA used for display can combine many data sources to allow for flexibility and to consolidate information, however, only one datasource can be chosen as the primary or Main Datasource. The Main Datasource is exclusively referred to by the APE for:
  • Record deletion – if record deletion is enabled then a record from this datasource will be removed. Note that the sequence or ordinal value for the Main Datasource must be provided in the IQA for the delete function to be enabled.
  • State preservation – A large text field named “CustomInterfaceSettings” (Text or Char 512) must be included in the Main Datasource for the Preserve State function to be enabled. This field is used to store a JSON object which will open the recorded records upon page load.

Popup Edit and Add

The APE automatically renders Edit and Add instructions as popup windows. These windows can be configured to display any content item in iMIS including Form Builder forms, standard panel displays or other iParts. When the linked popup is closed, the APE will automatically refresh itself ensuring that the most recent data is always displayed.

Deletion and Edit Controls

There are two options for deletion and edit:
  • Per Level – Each level has the option to “Allow deletion” which will expose the standard “” beside each row provided that the Ordinal or Sequence value for the Main Datasource is provided. In addition, two links are provided to Add Records and Edit records which will trigger a popup window to inspect and edit/add a record. If these options are completed, then the pencil icon and “+” icon or add button will be added to the display.
  • Per Record – you can also control which records can be edited or deleted by using the hidden field values “code_DisableDelete” and “code_DisableEdit”. If these codes are used as the alias values in the IQA, the APE will suppress the edit and/or delete icon if these values are found to be True (1). For example, this can be used to prevent the deletion of records that have been “locked” by staff while allowing other records to be updated freely.