Hierarchy Browser (Columns) Component

Function

a!hierarchyBrowserFieldColumns( label, labelPosition, instructions, helpTooltip, firstColumnValues, nodeConfigs, pathValue, pathSaveInto, nextColumnValues, selectionValue, selectionSaveInto, height, accessibilityText, showWhen )

Displays hierarchical data in the form of drillable columns with selectable cells.

Parameters

Usage considerations

Columns and user and group browsers comparison

The columns browser component creates a Miller-columns-style browser that allows users to select a business object while browsing through a hierarchy of designer-specified business data.

The columns browser is a generalized version of the user and group browsers in the same way that the custom picker is a generalized version of the user and group pickers. The designer has control over what data is shown, how it is retrieved, and how it is displayed, making the component a flexible means of presenting hierarchical business data to users.

For more information on how the columns browser works, see this detailed explanation.

Selecting and displaying values

• If firstColumnValues are not specified, only the label, tooltip, and instructions will display.
• To make the selection required for submission or display validation messages based on the selection, pair the browser with a picker or other component.
• The function variable fv!nodeValue is available when configuring the columns browser. It is only available in the nodeConfigs and nextColumnValues parameters.

Using the pathValue and pathSaveInto parameters

• Because values can appear in multiple places in the browser at one time, a node only displays as selected if it is present in the pathValue array. If selectionValue appears twice in the pathValue array, the component highlights only the last node in the array whose value is the selected value.
• When a selectable node is clicked, variables in pathSaveInto are updated before variables in Save Selection To. This means that if a variable is updated in both saves, it will be updated to the value assigned in the selectionSaveInto.
• Clicking a selected node deselects the value by saving a null value as the selection. To be considered selected, the value must be at the end of the pathValue.
• The first value in the pathValue must be included in the firstColumnValues. Each subsequent value in the pathValue must be included in the nextColumnValues generated by the previous value in the pathValue. For example, if pathValue is {1, 10}, then 1 must be present in firstColumnValues and 10 must be present in the nextColumnValues generated by 1.

Examples

Click EXPRESSION to copy and paste an example into the Interface Definition to see it displayed.

Columns browser

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a!localVariables(
  local!path,
  local!selection,
  local!numberOfNodesInFirstColumn: 10,
  local!firstColumnValues: a!foreach(
    enumerate(local!numberOfNodesInFirstColumn),
    a!localVariables(
      /* Give it a random number of children between 0 and 20 */
      local!numberOfChilren: tointeger(rand() * 20),
      /* Make only even numbers drillable */
      local!isDrillable: mod(fv!item, 2) = 0,
      /* Make only even numbers divisble by 3 selectable */
      local!isSelectable: mod(fv!item, 3) = 0,
      {
        id: fv!item,
        name: "Node " & fv!item,
        type: if(
          rand() > .5,
          "HAPPY",
          "SAD"
        ),
        numberOfChildren: local!numberOfChilren,
        isDrillable: local!isDrillable,
        isSelectable: local!isSelectable
      }
    )
  ),
  a!hierarchyBrowserFieldColumns(
    firstColumnValues: local!firstColumnValues,
    nodeConfigs: a!hierarchyBrowserFieldColumnsNode(
      id: fv!nodeValue.id,
      label: fv!nodeValue.name,
      image: a!documentImage(
        document: if(
          fv!nodeValue.type = "HAPPY",
          a!iconIndicator("FACE_HAPPY"),
          a!iconIndicator("FACE_SAD")
        )
      ),
      nextLevelCount: fv!nodeValue.numberOfChildren,
      isDrillable: fv!nodeValue.isDrillable,
      isSelectable: fv!nodeValue.isSelectable
    ),
    pathValue: local!path,
    pathSaveInto: local!path,
    selectionValue: local!selection,
    selectionSaveInto: local!selection,
    nextColumnValues: a!foreach(
      enumerate(fv!nodeValue.numberOfChildren),
      a!localVariables(
        /* Give it a random number of children between 0 and 20 */
        local!numberOfChilren: tointeger(rand() * 20),
        /* Make only even numbers drillable */
        local!isDrillable: mod(fv!item, 2) = 0,
        /* Make only even numbers divisble by 3 selectable */
        local!isSelectable: mod(fv!item, 3) = 0,
        {
          id: fv!item,
          name: "Node " & fv!item,
          /* Make the node randomly happy or sad */
          type: if(
            rand() > .5,
            "SAD",
            "HAPPY"
          ),
          numberOfChildren: local!numberOfChilren,
          isDrillable: local!isDrillable,
          isSelectable: local!isSelectable
        }
      )
    )
  )
)

Columns browser example breakdown and explanation

If you want more information on how the columns browser's inputs produce the rendered component, read through this section. This section provides a step-by-step breakdown of how the values provided to the component generate the component's data and guide its display. The interface in this section can be created by clicking EXPRESSION and pasting the following expression into the Interface Definition.

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a!localVariables(
  local!path: {4,2},
  local!selection: 2,
  a!hierarchyBrowserFieldColumns(
    firstColumnValues: enumerate(9),
    nodeConfigs: a!hierarchyBrowserFieldColumnsNode(
      id: fv!nodeValue,
      label: "Node" & fv!nodeValue,
      image: a!documentImage(document: a!iconIndicator("PREVIEW")),
      isDrillable: 1 - mod(fv!nodeValue, 2),
      isSelectable: mod(fv!nodeValue, 3),
      nextColumnCount: fv!nodeValue
    ),
    pathValue: local!path,
    nextColumnValues: enumerate(fv!nodeValue),
    selectionValue: local!selection,
    pathSaveInto: local!path,
    selectionSaveInto: local!selection
  )
)

To configure the columns browser details:

1. The first step in building the browser is generating the values shown in the first column. You provide these values to the component through firstColumnValues.
2. Next, the component must know how to display these values as nodes. The component gets the display information from nodeConfigs.
   • As the purple text (number two) shows, the display information for the nodes in the first column comes from evaluating nodeConfigs for each value in firstColumnValues. Each evaluation of nodeConfigs needs to produce a Columns Browser Node. In this example, the first value in firstColumnValues is 0. Therefore, the first node in the first column comes from evaluating nodeConfigs with fv!nodeValue set to 0.
3. The component shows an additional column for each value in pathValue.
   • The green arrow (number three) points to the two values in pathValue. The actual values are 4 and 2 and are displayed as "Node4" in column one and "Node2" in column two, respectively.
4. The values in columns two and three are generated by nextColumnValues.
   • The orange text (number four) shows that the second and third columns' values are generated by evaluating nextColumnValues for each value in pathValue. In this example, the first value in pathValue is 4. The component uses this value to generate the second column's values by evaluating nextColumnValues with fv!nodeValue set to 4.
5. Once again, the component determines how to display these values as nodes using nodeConfigs.</li>
   • The maroon text (number 5) shows that the component evaluates nodeConfigs for each value generated by nextColumnValues.
6. Finally, the selected value is highlighted blue.
   • In this case, selectionValue is 2. Notice that 2 actually appears twice in browser, once in column one and once in column two. Only the value in the second column is highlighted because pathValue in the second column is also 2, whereas pathValue in the first column is 4.

Feature compatibility

Related Patterns

The following patterns include usage of the Hierarchy Browser (Columns) Component.

• Browse Hierarchical Data (Hierarchical Data): Display a hierarchical data browser.

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