Layouts

Layouts are a basic building block in putting together all the screen forms used within ExtraView. Layouts are all defined with a layout type. There are many inbuilt layout types, one for each of the basic screen forms, such as the add, edit and detailed report. Once a layout type has been defined, it can be reused in different business areas and projects, each with different fields as content, or they may be inherited. 

You may define your own layout types.  These are always used as embedded layouts within one of the inbuilt layout types.  For example, you might create a layout type titled Customer Details and embed this within the Add Issue Screen of the Customer Business Area.  The layout types you define may be shared and embedded across many inbuilt layouts, within any Business Area, Project, Role and Display target.

Layouts are inherited at any specific Business Area from the Global Area. A new layout may be defined to override the Global Area layout within any Business Area. Within a Business Area, the default layout resides within the Master Project. Further projects that are created either inherit the layout from the Master Project, or have a specific layout defined, overriding the layout within the Master Project. At any level in the hierarchy you can also define different layouts for different user roles. There is a default stored and used for all roles, but this can be overridden by creating a layout for any individual user role.

Some inbuilt layout types, such as the Related Issue Display and the Repeating Row Layout can only be embedded within other layout types. You can create your own layout types. These are used by embedding them within an inbuilt layout. Not all layout types can be embedded within all inbuilt layouts though. The documentation provides details.

Much of the way that layout types are used is within the Design Center; please consult this section of the guide for additional information. ExtraView has a number of default system layouts that always will exist within an installation. These are as shown below. However, the administrator can create additional layout types, and create layouts using these that are embedded within the default system layouts. For example, if you have a block of fields that you always want to display in the same order on several Add Issue or Edit Issue screens, you can build these into an embedded layout, and simply include this layout within the default forms.

Another use for embedded layouts is to create blocks of fields that are conditionally included in a form, dependent upon the value of a specific field. For example, in a defect tracking system, you may want to include a different block of fields to record information, dependent upon whether the user selects a Category of Software, Hardware or Documentation. At this time, embedded layouts are not supported within Search Filter and Report layouts. Screen layouts can be created in a specific hierarchy, allowing many different layouts to be displayed according to your system design.

• There is always a default layout for the following screens and reports. These are provided with the default installation of ExtraView and can be altered to suit your needs, although they should never be deleted:
  • Add Issue screen
  • Menubar layout
  • Attachment Section
  • Attachment History
  • Edit Issue screen
  • Brief Email Notification layout
  • Filter layout for knowledgebase on the Home Page
  • Full Email Notification layout
  • Notification Section
  • Relationship Group Email Filter
  • Relationship Group Filter for managing relationship groups
  • Related Issue Display
  • Embedded Repeating Record layout
  • Detailed Report layout
  • History Report layout
  • Quicklist Report layout
  • Full Search filter screen
  • Quick Search filter screen
  • Chart Filter screen
  • Search Aging Report
• Each of these layouts is described within ExtraView with a Layout Type. A different Layout Type exists for each of the standard layouts, but the same Layout Type is used if a layout is created for a different Business Area, Project or User Role
• You can create new Layout Types. For example, if you want a new embedded layout, you can create a specific Layout Type for this, and then reuse this as often as needed, either as part of different Business Areas, Projects, User Roles or as different layouts that are selected dependent on the value of a field
• For each user role in your installation, you can define alternative layouts for each of the above. Once again, if you do not define an alternative, the default layout will be inherited and used
• If your installation uses Areas and Projects, then you can specify a different layout for each of the above, at both the Area and Project level. If you do not do this, then the default layout will be inherited and used.
• If your installation uses Areas and Projects, you may still define alternative layouts for each user role. This allows you to define an alternative layout for each and every user role and each Project and each Area
• Security privileges set for all fields will take precedence over the placement of a field on a layout. Thus, you can use the same layout for many user roles, but control the visibility and use of all fields simply, with security
• It is important to always include the ID field on the add and the edit layouts. This is because this is the key identifier for any issue you create or identify. However, if you do not want the field to be visible, then you can use a layout cell attribute to hide the field
• Layouts for add, edit and query screens allow the titles for the fields that they contain, to be rendered to the top or to the left of the value field.

Note: The initial installation of ExtraView provides a standard layout for all inbuilt screens and reports. These can be altered for your organization.