Overview

This page covers what you can do from the application view of Appian Designer.

Applications list

The default view in the Appian Designer is a list of all applications in the environment.

In the applications list view, you can see the name, description, and date on which any application was last modified. You can also create or import new applications, modify applications, or drill into a single application to work on the objects associated with it.

Refer to the annotated screenshot above when reading about each of the features listed below:

1. NEW APPLICATION
2. IMPORT and EXPORT
3. SECURITY
4. DELETE: Deleted applications are removed from the system and cannot be restored. Applications can be deleted in bulk. Deleting an application does not delete any of its objects; they simply lose the association with the deleted application but retain any others they may have.

Application view

You can click on any application to see its contents.

A - Application-only content

Within an application, you will see only the objects associated with this application. You also have a monitoring view that only shows processes for process models in this application.

B - Search & filter

For a quick object search, developers can click the search icon next to the navigation menu, or use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-Space). The quick design object search does not work for documents or groups.

For more advanced search, developers should use the Designer Search. Developers can search for objects by name, description, UUID, and ID, as well as search within expressions in those objects.

Filter application contents

In addition to searching for objects, developers can also filter objects by their type, last modified date, and/or by the last modified user(s). Both the search and the filters are applied at the same time.

The date filters take the user's time zone into account, so users in different time zones may see different objects when filtering on the same dates.

Some less-common object types are combined into one type filter: Group Types can be found using the Group filter, and Communities and Knowledge Centers can be found using the Folder filter.

Newly-created objects are added to the application immediately, but may not immediately be visible if the current filter settings would hide the objects.

The header bar shows the context of the window and offers more actions and settings.

• The object name is displayed in the top left.
• The settings menu shows general properties, actions, and settings for that object or application.
• The search icon allows you to quickly search for design objects you have access to.
• The navigation menu shows options to navigate to other user workspaces.
• The user menu shows options to view your user profile, adjust your settings, and log out.

B. The left pane shows controls and filters that set the context for what appears in the main grid.

C. The main grid shows a list of objects or applications, filtered by the controls in the left nav. The toolbar above the grid has options and controls that apply to the current selection in the grid.

Browsing folders within Appian Designer is similar but has key differences. For more details, see folder contents and properties.

C - Hierarchical view

Developers can toggle between a flat or hierarchical view of their application objects. By default, the view is flat and displays all objects. Switching to the hierarchical view will display only the top-level objects and hide the rest, so that you can more easily navigate folder hierarchies.

D - Application settings

These application-level configurations can be accessed from the settings menu .

Application properties

The table below describes application properties.

Property	Description
Name	The name of the application. Follow the recommended naming standard when creating this name. The maximum length of the name is 255 characters. When the application is published, this name is visible to users in Tempo in the Actions tab and from the avatar menu under Settings > News.
Description	The maximum length of the description is 2,000 characters. Application descriptions are not visible to users in Tempo.
Application Prefix	The short, unique recommended for use in all object names related to the application. Follow the recommended naming standard when creating this name. For more information, see Creating Applications.
UUID	The unique universal identifier (UUID) of the application. This system-generated UUID cannot be changed.
ID	The ID of the application. This system-generated ID cannot be changed.
Created	The date on which the application was created.
Last Modified	The date on which the application was last modified. Updating the objects associated with an application does not change this timestamp, though adding or removing objects does.

Application security

Application security determines which groups and users can view, and interact with the application and its contents. By default, only the application creator and system administrators have access to the application.

The following table outlines the actions that can be completed for each permission level in an application's security role map:

Actions	Administrator	Editor	Viewer	Deny
See application feeds or actions in Tempo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Export the application	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View and filter missing precedents	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View application properties and contents	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Create packages	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Edit package details	Yes	Yes	Yes*	No
View package contents	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Update package contents	Yes	Yes	Yes*	No
Delete packages	Yes	Yes	Yes*	No
Export a package	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Import a package	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update filters in missing precedents	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update application properties and contents	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update application properties and contents via import	Yes	Yes	No	No
View application security	Yes	Yes	No	No
Delete the application	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update application security	Yes	No	No	No
Update application security via import	Yes	No	No	No

*Only applicable to packages created by the user

Application actions

Actions are a configuration on an application that expose process models in end user interfaces. For process models to appear to a user, the application must also be published and that user must have view access to the application.

When choosing a process model to make an action, you can choose any published model in the system. That model is added to your application.

Missing precedents

A precedent is any object that an object relies on to function properly. For deployment to another environment to be successful, all precedents of application objects must either be exported with the application, or already be present on the target environment.

The Missing Precedents dialog allows you to scan the application for referenced objects that are used by the application, but not associated with the application. An initial scan is performed when the dialog is first opened. From the list of missing precedents, developers can add objects to the application, and run another scan. The Referenced By column in the grid displays the object or objects that require each of the missing precedents, so that developers can tell why the missing precedent appears on the list.

When in a package view, the option to check for missing precedents in the settings menu will automatically be limited to missing precedents of your package. To enter a package view, use the dropdown menu in the application objects view.

Not all missing precedents need to be added to the application or package. Objects in related applications are deployed with those applications, and do not need to be added even though they are precedents of objects in this application. To narrow the list to only precedents that need to be added, use the filter options below the grid:

1. Below the grid, click the link. If none of the missing precedents in the list are in any other application, the link does not appear, because there is nothing to filter by.
2. A list of applications displays. These are all the applications that one or more of the missing precedents belong to.
3. Check the box for an application to hide all missing precedents associated with that application.
4. Click the Save current filter selection link to save the current filters to the application. Any developer viewing the application sees the same filters, and they are exported and imported with the application. Application filters saved here never cause export or import errors.

Only save a filter option when the corresponding application will be kept up to date in all environments. For example, any missing precedents from your Common Objects Application should not be added to this application, as the Common Objects Application is intended as a library that other applications can use. Saving that application as a missing precedents filter ensures that you do not accidentally add its objects to your applications.

Selecting all the applications in the list shows only missing precedents that are in no applications. These should always be added to your application, or moved to another application. Setting up these filters correctly allows a developer to confidently add all remaining missing precedents to the application.

Exceptions

The following items are not identified as missing precedents during a scan of your application. Make sure to add these manually.

• Rules or constants used in the recipient field of an task escalation expression function for process models created prior to version 6.6.1 of Appian.
• Some system objects (as explained in the system objects section of the Deployment Guidelines).
• If we do not preserve an object relationship during export (as explained in the Application Deployment Guidelines help topic), it cannot be detected by the precedent scan.

Security summary

The Security Summary allows you to view the security of all objects within an application in a single place. It also allows you to edit the security of objects in bulk. To learn more about the Security Summary, see this page.

Manage test cases

From the application view, you can manage your test cases by clicking the Settings > Manage Test Cases. The Manage Test Cases dialog allows you to view the overall health of unit tests for all expression rules within your application. You can check for which rules do not have test coverage and run the test cases and review results for any number of expression rules in one place. To learn more about test case management, see this page.

E - Interface preview

A preview icon displays next to the name of any interface object. Hover over this icon to view a preview of the interface.

Create or add objects

From the application view, you can populate your app by adding new or existing objects to it.

New

The NEW button allows you to create a new design object of the selected type. Objects created from the context of an application are automatically added to that application.

New objects (including new applications) created in Appian Designer have the following default security:

• If the user who creates the object is a system administrator, that user is not added to the object's role map. Otherwise, the creating user is added to the role map with Administrator permissions.
• If the object type supports security inheritance, the new object inherits security.

Design objects can be created by system administrators or users in the Designer role, with the following exceptions:

• Data stores, groups, and record types can only be created by system administrators.
• To create process models, users must be system administrators, or be in both the Designer role and the Process Model Creators group.

Add Existing

The ADD EXISTING button allows you to existing objects to this application. Since objects can exist in multiple applications, adding objects this way does not remove them from other applications.

You have three options when adding objects this way:

1. Application Contents - Allows you to select another application which will add all objects associated with that application to this application.
2. Folder Contents - Allows you to select a folder which will add all objects within that folder to this application (including objects within subfolders).
3. Existing Objects - Allows you to choose which objects to add to this application. You can choose multiple objects of each type. Selecting folders this way does NOT add the contents of the folder, only the folder object itself.

Object options

Select an object to discover related options and settings.

Duplicate

Developers with Viewer permissions to this object can duplicate it. There are two ways to duplicate an object with a designer:

1. From any view within an application's context, you can select the object you wish to duplicate and use the toolbar option to launch the duplication dialog. The duplicated object will be added to the application you're working in. This capability is only available for single object selections from the grid.
2. If you are in the designer for an object you want to duplicate then you can select Duplicate from the object's Settings menu. From there, you can specify the target application for the new object.

Once you select the Duplicate option, you will see the following dialog:

NOTE: You can only duplicate the most recent version of an object. If you have unsaved changes and attempt to duplicate the object from within the designer, the most recent saved version of the object will be duplicated without the unsaved changes. A banner appears when there are unsaved changes to remind you before duplicating.

For constant duplication, the duplication dialog will appear similar to the edit dialog for the constant being duplicated. Simply alter the name and value fields as desired and create. The duplicated object will be added to the current application.

Add to Package

This option will add the selected object to a package. A package is a collection of application objects, exported and imported from inside the application to modify it directly. Packages are used to enhance existing business solutions without creating new applications, and may include bug fixes, enhancements, or new application objects. Once you have selected your objects you will be able to specify their target package.

To create, export, or import a package in your application, see Application Packages.

Security

Developers with Administrator permissions to an object can edit its security from the Application view. It is a best practice to use only groups to configure security. To edit the security of multiple objects at once, use the Security Summary.

Dependents and Precedents

To understand how a design object is related to other objects, select an object in the Application view and select the Dependents or Precedents toolbar option.

For details about how to interpret and navigate the lists of dependents and precedents, see: Trace Relationships

Remove from App

This removes the relationship between the object and the application which means the object will no longer show up in this application's view. The object is not deleted, and can still be found from the objects view of the system. Objects may belong to multiple applications, or none at all.

Delete

Basic users can delete one object at a time, while system administrators have the option to delete in bulk. When a single object is selected for deletion, the system automatically runs a dependency scan to determine if the object is still in use. To avoid errors in dependent objects, remove all references to the selected object before continuing with a deletion.

During bulk deletion, we recommend reviewing the dependents of each object before deleting them.

Deleted objects are removed from the system and cannot be restored. Appian does not support the deletion of system objects.

Note: Only system administrators can delete data types, group types, and non-empty folders. When a folder is deleted, all of its contents will also be deleted.

More

The More actions menu includes additional actions that you'll probably use less often than the other toolbar actions. It is available from the application view, the objects view of Appian Designer, and within any group or folder.

The More menu displays actions that are relevant for all objects that are available within the view. Additionally, any actions that aren't available for the selected object are disabled. The table below describes which actions are available for each object:

Design Object	Properties	Versions	New Version	Rename	Download	View Documentation
Connected System	No	Yes	No	No1	No	No
Constant	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Data Store	No	No	No	No1	No	No
Data Type	No	No	No	No	No	No
Decision	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Document	Yes	Yes	Yes	No2	Yes	No
Document Folder	Yes	No	No	No2	Yes	No
Expression Rule	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Feed	No	No	No	No1	No	No
Group	Yes	No	No	No2	No	No
Group Type	Yes	No	No	No2	No	No
Integration	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Interface	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Knowledge Center	Yes	No	No	No2	Yes	No
Process Model	No	Yes	No	No1	No	Yes
Process Model Folder	Yes	No	No	No2	No	No
Process Report	Yes	Yes	No	No2	Yes	No
Rule Folder	Yes	No	No	No2	No	No
Record Type	No	No	No	No1	No	No
Report	No	No	No	No1	No	No
Site	No	No	No	No1	No	No
Web API	No	Yes	No	No1	No	No