ExtraView supports mobile platforms. Mobile clients can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, or from Google Play, depending on the device you are running. Given that layouts designed for desktop usage may well be too wide and too tall to be used without a significant amount of scrolling on a mobile device, ExtraView provides the capability to create layouts for different display targets as follows:
- Desktop - these layouts are the default and will always be presented to a user if no Tablet or Phone layout exists. Given that there are always a set of default Desktop layouts in a system, this means that a layout will always be presented to a mobile user, even if it has not been optimized for use
- Tablet - these layouts will be presented to a user when they have been configured, and ExtraView detects it is running on a tablet-sized device. Typically these layouts will have fewer rows and fewer columns than a Desktop layout. The end user can override the Tablet display target selection and elect to use either the Desktop or Phone layouts, if they desire
- Phone - these layouts will be presented to a user when they have been configured, and ExtraView detects it is running on a smart phone-sized device. Typically these layouts will have fewer rows and fewer columns than Tablet and Desktop layouts. The end user can override the Phone display target selection and elect to use either the Desktop or Tablet layouts, if they desire
Implementation Considerations
You can globally turn mobile access on and off with the behavior setting named ALLOW_MOBILE_CLIENTS
Given the smaller screen sizes of Tablet and Phone devices, you will almost certainly want to configure different layouts for these. Here are some recommendations:
- Do not configure the mobile layouts until you have completed the configuration of the Desktop target layouts. This allows you to debug your workflow and other logic first, then simply do a "save as" type of operation to create the Tablet and Phone layouts from the Desktop layouts. Then it is a relatively simple exercise to alter the presentation of the layouts, while retaining the underlying logic. See here for instructions on creating layouts
- Consider the introduction of screen pages within your mobile layouts. These are configured using the PAGE_PRE_xxx and PAGE_POST_xxx fields. These provide a neat interface to the user, only displaying a screenful of fields with next and previous page buttons to move between the different parts of a layout. See here for instructions on using pagination
- Many reports will be overly large to display on mobile devices, particularly on mobile phones. For each report type that is enabled for mobile working, you can choose within the individual report editor screens to allow or disallow the user to see and run that report on a mobile device. While you may allow the end user to decide for themselves which personal reports they should be able to view, consider the Public reports and whether they are suitable for mobile viewing. You might create some reports just for mobile working. You can also use the Administrative Report Management utility to review and update all the reports to decide which you want to make available to mobile users. If you are familiar with the public reports, this is a faster way to turn on reports for mobile working, compared to individually reviewing the reports
- It is worthwhile introducing specific navigation bars for mobile working. These can direct users to the specific pages that are important for their use. In addition, you might introduce a report menu, with access to a limited number of reports specifically designed for mobile working, and not allow access to reporting in general
- There are some limitations with mobile clients, principally because of design limitations of the devices. For example, Apple iOS devices do not allow access to their file system to be able to upload documents. See here, for a full list of limitations
- Although there are some limitations, there are also opportunities to introduce new features into your workflow with mobile devices. For example, you can directly access the camera and photo albums within mobile devices. The opportunity to use these presents new potential that cannot be met from a desktop computer.
