DISPLAY FORMAT TEMPLATE SYSTEM SPECS ************** DEPRECATED EVERYTHING BELOW ********************************** OVERVIEW RAVEN uses a user customizable template to determine what fields in which order get sent to the client when they display a list or select from a drop down - FILTER / SORT: The templating is ENTIRELY separate from the filtering and sorting code which is already coded sufficiently and is a separate thing - Users with BIZ rights can set the template - There is one template per list (not user based but global in nature) - Template affects both "MINI" single column display of list for small devices and "FULL" format wide mode with multiple columns for larger devices - In MINI list format displays they choose which columns go into the one single column for display that is returned - In FULL list format display they choose which columns are returned and which order separately from MINI format display Narrow grids on small screens as well as picklists need to show a single field of information as required by that shop for selection, recognition etc so templated to format multiple return fields into one Grids need a way to ensure you can see what you need on small devices as well they need to show the columns desired on larger devices PickLists need a way to format what is returned for picking (with template) Display format template (aka name display format) templates are used for THREE purposes: - to customize what is shown in XS (<600px) single column grid and inside forms in drop down boxes order for a user to identify a record uniquely for selection purposes. - To select which columns and in which order display on the grid in > 600px sizes - To limit bandwidth used by selecting only the necessary columns This is used for both small form factor grids (see core-main-grids.txt) i.e. on a phone as the only column displayed This is also used for picklists inside forms like drop down boxes etc CASES none relevant REQUIREMENTS Client - Template editor: - One area is for what goes into a single column in "MINI" mode for that list - Another separate area on the same form is for selecting which columns are returned in a wide list and in what order - Everyone gets the same template selections, i.e. there is only one template per list type - This differs from v7 in which each user could select the columns to display and the order but then they needed to for filtering and sort order and stuff - Main grid lists < 600px show only a single column based on template - Selection drop down boxes in forms for selecting other objects - Template editor under global settings for all main list objects - Warning displayed to client if they select more than 16 columns to send out about bandwidth usage and slowness over slower connections Server - List of templates with their column selections - For client editor - For server to process what the query and send for lists - List of fields available for templates for client and server validation etc - Caching likely useful as server will need to deal with templates constantly as users fetch almost any list or combo box source etc - Has to be very peformant as it will be doing this a lot - SERVER handles composing the list object name display, NOT the client - This saves bandwidth - Incurrs more computing ops at the server but bandwidth is more expensive than server power all around - Clients could be shitty and slow, this elminates that prospect - Easier to code in c# than in javascript! ;) - PICKLISTS and RIGHTS - Initially I had picklist objects with just name and id and anyone could fetch them of any role, however, this isn't right and - I'm leaving the rights up to the case by case basis and will address it when the client dev drives a requirement for it - I'm thinking if people don't want a field exposed in mini list then don't put it into the template Back AND front end - Need to handle changes in fields gracefully i.e. a new field added in an update, a field removed in an update cleans out the template when detected etc - REPORTS (FUTURE) Should send the customized templated display name field to the reports as well as all the regular including name fields - This is because users will likely want that for many reports - Kind of a calculated field - Default templates come with Raven, user can customize further MOCK TEMPLATE { full:[ ltKey,ltKey2,ltkey3 ], mini:[ ltKey, ltkey2, ltkey3 ] }