Dynamic Link

Function

a!dynamicLink( label, value, saveInto, showWhen )

Defines a link that triggers updates to one or more variables. Links can be used in charts, grids, hierarchy browsers, images, link fields, milestones, pickers, and rich text.

Parameters

Name	Keyword	Types	Description
Label	`label`	Text	Text displayed as the link name the user clicks on.
Value	`value`	Any Type	The value that is saved when the user clicks the link.
Save Value To	`saveInto`	Save Array	One or more variables that are updated with the link's value when the user clicks it. Use `a!save(target, value)` to save a modified or alternative value to a variable.
Visibility	`showWhen`	Boolean	Determines whether the component is displayed on the interface. When set to false, the component is hidden and is not evaluated. Default: true.

Usage considerations

Using dynamic links with the link field component

To display a single link or array of links, use inside the Link Field component. To display a link in a grid, use inside a Grid Text Column. To add a link to an image, use inside a document or web image. To add a link to a chart series, use inside the a!chartSeries() function. To add a link to an image, use inside a document, user, or web image.

Examples

To experiment with examples, copy and paste the expression into an interface object.

Dynamic link that saves into a local variable

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this component's compatibility with various features in Appian.

Feature	Compatibility	Note
Portals	Compatible
Offline Mobile	Compatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible
Real-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible	Custom record fields that evaluate in real time must be configured using one or more Custom Field functions.
Process Reports	Incompatible	Cannot be used to configure a process report.
Process Events	Incompatible	Cannot be used to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event.

The following patterns include usage of the Dynamic Link.

Add Validations to an Inline Editable Grid (Validation, Grids, Looping): Allows the user to change data directly in a grid, and validate a various entries.
Add, Edit, and Remove Data in an Inline Editable Grid (Grids, Looping): Allow the user to change data directly in an inline editable grid.
Add, Remove, and Move Group Members Browser (Hierarchical Data, Group Management): Display the membership tree for a given group and provide users with the ability to add, remove, and move user members from a single interface.
Aggregate Data and Conditionally Display in a Chart or Grid (Reports, Charts, Query Data, Grids, Records): Aggregate data and conditionally display it in a pie chart or grid. In this pattern, we will calculate the total number of employees in each department and display it in a pie chart and a read-only grid. Then, we'll use a link field to conditionally display each component.
Alert Banner Patterns (Choice Components): The alert banners pattern is good for creating a visual cue of different types of alerts about information on a page.
Breadcrumbs Pattern (Formatting): The breadcrumbs pattern is a good example of breadcrumb-style navigation.
Cards as Buttons Pattern (Choice Components, Formatting, Conditional Display): The cards as buttons pattern is a great way to prominently display a select few choices.
Cards as List Items Patterns (Choice Components, Images): Use the cards as list items pattern to create visually rich lists as an alternative to grids or feeds. This pattern uses a combination of cards and billboards to show lists of like items. You can easily modify the pattern to change the card content or the number of cards per row to fit your use case.
Configure a Chart Drilldown to a Grid (Charts, Grids, Query Data, Records): Displays a column chart with aggregate data from a record type and conditionally shows a grid with filtered records when a user selects a column on the chart.
Configure a Chart to Grid Toggle (Charts, Grids): Display a column chart with a toggle to display an alternate grid view of the data.
Configure an Array Picker with a Show All Option (Pickers): Allow users to choose from a long text array using an autocompleting picker, but also allow them to see the entire choice set using a dropdown.
Document List (Documents): Use the document list items pattern to display a list of documents that can be searched and filtered. This pattern uses a combination of cards and rich text to show an easy to navigate list of documents of different types.
Drilldown Pattern (Grids): The drilldown pattern allows users to select an item from a grid to see more details in place of the grid.
Drilldown Report Pattern (Grids, Charts, Reports): The drilldown report pattern consists of a bar chart and column chart, which each drill down into a grid.
Dynamic Inputs (Inputs, Dynamic Links): Use the dynamic inputs pattern to allow users to easily add or remove as many values as needed.
Expand/Collapse Rows in a Tree Grid (Hierarchical Data, Grids): Create a grid that shows hierarchical data and allows users to dynamically expand and collapse rows within the grid.
Filter the Data in a Grid Using a Chart (Charts, Grids, Filtering, Records): Display an interactive pie chart with selectable sections so that a user may filter the results in a grid.
Form Steps (Stamps): Use the form steps patten to break down complicated forms into a series of quickly completed steps that are well organized and easy to navigate. This pattern uses a combination of cards and rich text to create steps that can represent fields from one or more interfaces.
Limit the Number of Rows in a Grid That Can Be Selected (Validation, Grids, Records): Limit the number of rows that can be selected to an arbitrary number.
Milestone Patterns (Looping): There are three options for milestone patterns which all display some form of a progress indicator to guide users through a series of steps.
More-Less Link (Grids, Rich Text): Use this pattern to keep grids with rows containing varying text lengths looking clean and uniform. This design also improves readability and the user experience by limiting the amount of text in the interface.
Navigation Patterns (Conditional Display, Formatting, Navigation): Use the navigation patterns to help orient users and enable them to easily navigate pages and content.
Set a Numeric Rating Using Rich Text Icons (Conditional Display): Save a numeric score using a set of clickable rich text icons.
Track Adds and Deletes in Inline Editable Grid (Grids): In an inline editable grid, track the employees that are added for further processing in the next process steps.
Trend-Over-Time Report (Charts, Reports): This report provides an attractive, interactive design for exploring different series of data over time.
Update an Entity-Backed Record from its Summary View (Records, Smart Services): Enable users to make quick changes to a record by updating it right from a record view.
Use Links in a Grid to Show More Details and Edit Data (Grids): Allow end users to click a link in a read-only grid to view the details for the row, and make changes to the data. The data available for editing may include more fields than are displayed in the grid.
Use Links in a Grid to Show More Details and Edit Data in External System (Grids, Web Services): Allow end users to click a link in a read-only grid to view the details for the row, and make changes to the data.
User List Pattern (Looping): The user list pattern retrieves all the users in a specified group and displays them in a single column.
Year-Over-Year Report (Charts, Reports, Formatting): This is a feature-rich, interactive report for sales and profits by products over select periods of time.

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