Configuring functions and tabs

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Laura CARBO

Difficulty: novice

Content

Learning Objectives

After reading this article you will be able to:

  • Manage functions and tabs.

Functions in Asset

Functions are one of the key elements in Asset. They are displayed as:

  • A function button at the bottom of a page.
  • An icon or button on the top (right) of the page, or on an include.
  • A tab.
  • A menu option in the navigationMenu.
  • A button on the startBoard.

There are separate articles on configuring menu options and startBoard buttons. The basics of configuring these functions is the same as configuring regular functions.

Example of several functions available on one page.
image-20221121-141905.png

Create and manage functions

Add a new function button

  1. Open the page to which you want to add the function.
  2. Open the page definition

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to add the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. Add a new function using the “+” sign
  5. Fill in the function you want to add to the page in the field ‘Function’, see screenshot.
  6. Press ‘Save’

    1. If the function already exists on a parent page Asset will automatically create an override instead.

  7. Fill in the ‘Location’ setting:

    1. icon bar: function is an icon on the top right of the page;

    2. form: function is a rectangular button at the bottom of the page;
    3. hidden: function is hidden;
    4. tab: function is displayed as a tab that contains a new page (explained in detail below);
    5. if you don’t fill in this field, the functions default is used.

      image-20221123-083144.png

  8. The function is now ready for use.

  9. If you like, you can now change the other function settings and access. The settings are explained later in this article.

    1. Note, workflow function might not appear on a page as you might expect, as they are only visible in certain workflow status. The ‘Approve’ function for request will for example only appear when a request is in the ‘approve’ status.

image-20221123-080808.png

Add a new tab on a page

The steps to add new or edit an existing tab is very similar to the steps described for function buttons:

  1. Open the page to which you want to add the tab (function).
  2. Open the page definition.

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to add the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. Press the ‘Add tab function’ button.
  5. You now have to enter a name. Make sure the name end with Tab, for example newTab.
  6. Press ‘OK’ to create the tab function.
  7. Fill in the label field, this is the name of the tab that is visible to the user
  8. Change the ‘Location’ setting under ADAPTIVE USER INTERFACE to ‘Tab’
  9. If the page you want to display on this tab already exists fill it in in the ‘Next page' setting. If you building the page from scratch you’ll find the page that has been generated for this tab in the ‘Next page’ setting.
  10. The function is now ready for use.
  11. If you like, you can now change the other function settings and access. The settings are explained later in this article.

Override an existing function (button or tab)

  1. Open the page on which you want to override the function.
  2. Open the page definition.

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to override the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. press the ‘override’ button > select the function you want to override > OK

    1. Alternatively (only an option when the function is available in this page and not inherited from the parent page) you can open the function by pressing the hyperlink in the ‘Function’ column > press the 'override button'

      image-20221031-092401.png

  5. Now you can change the function settings and access.

Remove a function (button or tab)

  1. Open the page on which you want to override the function.
  2. Open the page definition.

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to override the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. Select the function from the list page.
  5. Click on the “selection” button
  6. Click on “delete selected objects”.

Note

  • Baseline functions can not be deleted from a page. In this case you can only hide a function using an override and change the setting “visible = no”.
  • Alternative to deleting the function would be to set the access to ‘none’ for all user groups on the function.

Settings on a function

In the table below you'll find an overview of all the function settings.

General

Explanation

Page

When adding a new function, the page is automatically linked.

Function

Select the function that need to be executed when pressing the function button, for creating objects ‘createObject’ is used.

  • The naming structure of the functions are logical
  • A tab function always ends on tab

Next page

The selected page will be displayed when the function is being activated.

Field

This setting is not editable in the client layer

Next function

It is possible to configure a next page function on a page function. The function will be executed after the original page function is finished processing. Note:

1. The next page function must be on the page that the original function ends up on.

2. It is not possible to chain endlessly.

Create

Executing this page function will create an object of type createObjectNameId. So if the function setting “Function = createObject”, the object that needs to be created (e..g. a request or reservation) should be specified here.

Label

The label is the name that will be displayed to the user. Some functions are displayed as icons only. If there is no label defined for these functions, the help text will be shown instead.

Help text

The help text will be shown when hovering over the function.

Message

Message will be displayed in an information panel on the top of the screen when the function is being triggered.

ALT-key

It is possible to assign hot-keys to functions. By defining a function as “T”, “ALT-T” will trigger the function.

Show help

By turning help on, the help text will be visible when hovering over the function.

Default on

This setting is only intended for non-workflow functions set on a workflow object. If the setting is set to “no”, these functions will not be available. If the setting is set to yes, the functions will show up at every workflow step.

Call processor

Note: This setting cannot be customized for a client environment. Works in conjunction with the “Default on” setting. In some cases the workflow should call a program code. The program code for a specific function will be called when the “Call processor” is turned on and the “Default on” is set to no.

Use on workflow

This setting is determined in the baseline. It indicates if a function is allowed to be used in a workflow. Only functions that start and end with the same user click can be used in workflows. (Use in conjunction with “Default on” setting.

Confirmation

If confirmation message is set to “yes”, a message box will show up after triggering the function. The user must confirm to be able to continue. If the user denies, the function will not be activated.

Confirmation message

The confirmation message is the message that will be shown when the confirmation setting is set to yes. It is possible to use a translation string for this field.

Asynchronous

Used for reports and include. When set to ‘yes’ the report/ include will start to load after the instance page is shown to the user. This recommended for slow reports and includes.

List function

The list function setting is determined in the baseline. This setting determines whether or not the function is executable via a list. If the setting is on “yes”, it is possible to select one or more entries from a list and execute the function.

Visible

This setting determines whether or not the function is visible on the page or not.

Wizard

This setting determines whether or not the function is visible on wizard pages.

Width

It is possible to alter the default with of a button.

Order

Every function has a default order that determines their place on a page. It is possible to override the default ordering.

Category type

For some functions, like “create” it is possible to specify a category type. This setting determine in which category type the new object will be made.

Category

Works in conjunction with category type. A category type may consist of one or more separate categories. It is possible to pre-select a specific category that the new object will be made in. By using the setting “Category type”, and leaving the “Category” setting empty, the user will be presented with all available categories in the category type when creating a new object.

Workflow

Automatically executing a workflow when you have created an object from an embedded page.

Wiki

When triggering the function, the wiki page will be accessible. Only available when the function is “viewWiki”.

FTP connector

When triggering the function, it is possible to upload data via an FTP-connector. Only available when the function is “uploadImport”.

Wizard

When triggering the function, it is possible to start a wizard page. Only available when the function is “wizardCreate”.

Glyph

The glyph determines the icon on a specific button.

Group

Related functions are displayed in a group. You can change the default group defined with the function for this page.

Pulldown

Groups functions together in a pull-down group on the toolbar

Original User Interface

Explanation

Location

By default a function shown as an icon, however it is possible to adjust how it is displayed. This setting only applies to the original interface (OU).

Adaptive User Interface

Explanation

Navigation group

It is possible to locate a function in the navigation menu. When selecting a group, the function will be sorted under this tab in the navigation menu.

Location

By default a function shown as an icon, however it is possible to adjust how it is displayed.

Render function as

Determine the shape of the function as located in the top menu.

Asynchronous action

Setting used for bar code scanning.

Scripts

It is possible to attach a script to a function. When triggering the function, the script will be called.

Mobile User Interface

Explanation

Mobile on

Determines if the function is available on the mobile app.

Set access to functions and tabs for all users (on a client specific page i.o.w. with an override)

In contrast to fields where the access can be none, view, or full (= editable), functions are either visible or not-visible. Functions and tabs can be hidden/ made visible in two ways (see bullet 5):

  1. Open the page on which you want to override the function.
  2. Open the page definition.

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to override the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. Press the ‘override’ button > select the function you want to override > OK

    1. Alternatively (only an option when the function is available in this page and not inherited from the parent page) you can open the function by pressing the hyperlink in the ‘function’ column > press the 'override button'

      image-20221031-092401.png

  5. Now change one of these settings:

    1. Visible = no

    2. Location (ADAPTIVE USER INTERFACE) = hidden

Set access rights to functions and tabs per user group (on a baseline page)

  1. Open the page on which you want to override the function.
  2. Open the page definition.

    1. Note: Alternatively, click the ‘Pages’ button on your startBoard and search for the page you want to override the function to.

  3. Click on the functions tab.
  4. Click on the functions access button.
  5. Adjust the access based on access groups.
image-20221025-080952.png
image-20221025-105120.png
  • The access rights on a function are set on a user group level.
  • To select which rights a user group should have to a field, select one of the options from the drop down menu next to the specific user group.
  • It is now possible to show different functions to users with different access rights, all using the same page.

Info

Remember: a user only needs one user group that has access to a function. So if you want to use this way to hide a function for user, you need to make sure that this specific access is applied to all user groups that the user has.

We recommend very limited use of authorizing functions using this method.

Summary

  • Functions are buttons on a form, icons on the top of the page, or tabs.
  • Managing access to function is very similar to managing access for fields. Except for functions only have a visible or not-visible option.

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