Views: The Essentials

Views allow you to control how, when, and where data is presented to the app user, and how the user interacts with the data.

The following provides an example of the Nearby card view from the Facility Inspections template. You have full control over the view name (Nearby), its position in the app (navigation bar), its layout and contents, and conditions for when it is displayed.

See also View types.

Explore the Views pane

Go to App  > Views.

The Views pane is displayed and the first view in the primary navigation is opened in the editor.

As highlighted in the previous figure, you can use the View pane to:

• Create a view
  You can create views that appear in the primary navigation, menu navigation, or that are referenced from other views but that do not appear in navigation
• Configure a view (select in the list)
• Manage views, including:
  • Preview a view
  • Rename a view
  • Move a view to a different position (primary, menu, other)
  • Copy a view
  • Add a view to favorites
  • Delete a view
• Manage system-generated views for your data
  Notes:

  • You can configure, preview, copy, and delete system-generated views. 
  • If you are using the legacy app editor, you can show or hide system-generated views by default. See Configure app editor settings.
• Go to view settings, as described in View settings: The Essentials
• Search the list of views
• Expand or collapse all sections in the navigation

See also View types.

Create a view

 To create a view:

1.  Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > Views.
3. Depending on where you want to launch the view in your app, click + adjacent to Primary navigation, Menu navigation, or Other views. 
4. You can change the view position, as described in Move a view to a different position,
5. The Add a new view dialog displays.
6. Do one of the following:
   • To add a suggested view, click the suggested view.
   • Click Create a new view.
7. Configure the view.
8. Save the app.
    

Configure the view

Configure the view by using the settings described in the following sections.

• View details
• View options
• Display
• Behavior
• Documentation

View details

Configure the view details defined in the following table.

Setting	Description
View name	Name of the view. It must be unique within your app. If you enter a name that is the same as an existing view, the app editor will automatically append a number to the view name to differentiate between them.
For this data	Data referenced by this view. Select a table or slice from the list. Only data from the table or slice can be displayed within the view. To create a new slice, see Create a slice when configuring a view. Note: This option is not available for dashboard views.
View type	View type that determines how the data is presented to the app user. Select from a variety of view types, such as chart, form, detail, map, table, and more. Each view type has its own characteristics and type-specific view options.
Position	Where you want to launch the view in your app.  Select one of the following positions: Primary navigation: Accessed in the primary navigation bar at the bottom of the screen for mobile and tablet apps and in the left navigation bar on desktop apps Set Position to first, next, middle, later, or last based on the preferred order of appearance. Note: If you select the same Position setting for multiple views, they are ordered chronologically based on the view creation time. Menu navigation: Accessed in the app's main menu. Set Position to menu. Other view: Accessed only when referenced implicitly while navigating through data. Set Position to ref. For example, the following shows the position of primary and menu navigation views in mobile apps:

View options

Each view type has type-specific view options that allow you to tailor the appearance of the view. For example, the view options for a table view are shown in the following figure.

For more information about the view options shown, see:

• Control row sort order in a view
• Control grouping in a view
• Control column order in a view
• Control column width in a view
• Allow quick edit columns in a view

Display

All view types have configurable display options. Display options affect how the view is presented in the navigation bar along the bottom of the app display, and in the app's main menu.

Configure the view display by using the settings defined in the following table.

Setting	Description
Icon	Icon to be displayed along with the view's Display name (see below). Choose an icon from the predefined list. Custom icons are not allowed. Every view must have an icon. If no icon is selected, a type-specific default will be used.
Display name	Name displayed for the view. Enter a fixed value (T) or to a text expression (flask). If Display name is not specified or if set to an expression that evaluates to a blank value, the view's name is used.
Show if	Yes/No expression that determines whether the view is included as a navigation element in its designated Position (for example, in the navigation bar or the main menu). If the expression evaluates to TRUE, the view will be included.  No Show if expression is equivalent to the expression, TRUE . Warning: Show if is not a security measure. Show if merely hides the view from navigation; there are other legitimate ways for a user to access the view.

Behavior

Each view type has type-specific behavior options that may allow you to tailor the behavior of the view when the user interacts with it. For example, the behavior options for a table view are shown here:

Configure the behavior for the view by using the settings defined in the following table, if available.

Setting	Description
Event Actions	Some view types provide the opportunity to customize the app's response to certain events triggered by user activity. When a recognized view event occurs, the configured action is performed.
App link	Not configurable. Provides two ways to target the view from a navigation element: Deep link to the view to be used as the target of an action of type App: go to another view within this app. For example: (LINKTOVIEW("By House") Full URL for the view to be used as the target of an action of type External: go to a web site or from a web browser. Note: The use of app links is not affected by a view's Show if setting; a Show if expression that evaluates to FALSE does not prevent the use of an app link to the view.

Documentation

Expand the Documentation section and enter a descriptive comment for the card view that will enable collaborators to easily understand its purpose.

Preview a view

 To preview a view:

1.  Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Show in preview.

Rename a view

To rename a view:

1. Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Rename.
4. Edit the name end press Enter.
5. Save the app.

You can also rename a view by editing the View name field when configuring the view details.

Move a view to a different position

To move a view to a different position:

1. Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Move to and select Primary navigation, Menu navigation, or Other view. 
   The currently selected position is checked.
4.  Save the app.
    

You can also move a view to a different position by editing the Position field when configuring the view details.

If you are using the legacy editor

Copy a view

To copy a view:

1. Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Duplicate.
4.  Save the app.

The view is copied viewname_n, by default, where viewname is the name of the existing view and n is incremented by 1 each time you copy the view. You can edit the name of the view, see rename the view.

If you are using the legacy editor

Add a view to your favorites

To easily access frequently used views, add them to your favorites. 

 To add a view to your favorites:

1. Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Add to favorites.

Remove a view from your favorites by positioning your cursor over the view in the Favorites list and clicking x.

Delete a view

 To delete a view:

1.  Open the app in the app editor.
2. Go to App  > View.
3. Position your cursor over the view in the Views pane and select More > Delete.
4. Save the app.