This page describes what you can do in the Build view in Appian Designer.
To access this view, click Build in the navigation pane of an application.
The Build view lets you create and configure design objects in an application. The majority of your work building an application will take place in the Build view.
The following image highlights the elements that make up this view:
# |
Element |
Available Actions |
---|---|---|
1 |
Header bar |
Learn more about the header bar. |
2 |
Navigation pane |
Learn more about the navigation pane. |
3 |
Deployment actions bar |
You can do the following actions:
Each tab features a filter pane and a grid. |
4 |
Tabs |
Go to the following tabs:
Each tab features a filter pane and a grid. |
5 |
Filter pane |
Search and filter objects or plug-ins in the grid. |
6 |
Toolbar |
You can add objects to the application using any of the following methods: You can also: |
7 |
Grid |
To view the objects grid, click Build in the navigation pane of your application. The ALL OBJECTS tab is open by default.
The first column of the grid enables you to select an object, and the second column contains an icon indicating the object type. The other columns in the grid include the following:
Column | Description |
---|---|
Name | The name of the object as a hyperlink to open the object. A preview icon displays next to the name of any interface object. Hover over this icon to view a preview of the interface. A design library icon displays next to the name of any interface object included in your design library. |
Description | The description of the object. The display truncates descriptions longer than 96 characters. Hover over the description to see the entire description as a tooltip. |
Last Modified | The default sort field of the grid. Shows the developer who last modified the object and when. |
You can change the grid list as follows:
Note: Some object types are combined into one type of filter or have an additional filter:
To build your application, you can add objects in any of the following ways:
Objects created from the context of an application are automatically added to that application. If you add an object in the package view of the application, the object is automatically added to the package, too.
System administrators can create any design objects. Basic users can create objects if they are in the Designer role. To create process models, basic users must also be in the Process Model Creators group.
New objects have the following default security:
To create a new design object:
In the toolbar, click NEW:
The new object opens in a new tab or window for further configuration.
Tip: Newly-created objects may not immediately be visible in the objects grid if the current filter settings would hide the objects.
Objects can exist in multiple applications, so adding objects this way does not remove them from other applications.
To add existing objects:
Developers with Viewer permissions to this object can duplicate it. There are two ways to duplicate an object:
Once you select the Duplicate option, you will see the following dialog:
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.
When you import a package, you add all the objects from the package to the current application. If the package contains objects already present in the current environment, the imported version overwrites the existing version. Learn how to import a package.
This section describes actions you can take to manage objects in an application.
Removing an object from the application removes the relationship between the object and the application. The object will no longer show up in this application's views. The object is not deleted and can still be found from the Objects view. Objects may belong to multiple applications, or none at all.
To remove objects from the application:
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. Deleting a folder deletes all of its contents, too.
To delete one or more objects:
Developers with Administrator permissions to an object can edit its security from the Build 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.
To understand how a design object is related to other objects, select an object in the Build view, then click DEPENDENTS or PRECEDENTS in the toolbar.
Learn how to interpret and navigate the lists of dependents and precedents.
Plug-ins are maintained at the environment level, rather than the application level, so that you can use them in multiple applications in your environment.
To use a plug-in in an individual application, add references to the plug-in in the application objects.
To view plug-ins referenced by objects in an application, go to the PLUG-INS tab of the Build view.
In that tab, you can also do the following:
Appian categorizes an object as unreferenced if the object is present in the application, but no other objects in the application reference that object.
To view unreferenced objects in an application:
In the Build view, you can prepare your objects for deployment by adding the objects and plug-ins referenced by those objects to a deployment package.
In addition, you can:
In any tab of the Build view, you can also use the package picker (highlighted above) to limit the list to components of an individual package. For example, the ALL OBJECTS tab will list all the objects in the selected package, and the PLUG-INS tab will list all plug-ins referenced by objects in the package.
The steps described in this section apply if you're viewing all application objects or a package view of the objects. The default All Application Objects option is selected in the dropdown menu.
Tip: When viewing a package, you can also add objects to the package in bulk, add objects that you have created or modified to the package, and add plug-ins to the package. Learn more about the package view.
To add objects to a package:
To add referenced plug-ins to a package:
Build View