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Navigation Patterns

Tip:  Interface patterns give you an opportunity to explore different interface designs. Be sure to check out How to Adapt a Pattern for Your Application.

Goal

Use the navigation patterns to help orient users and enable them to easily navigate pages and content. This page explains how you can use this pattern in your interface, and walks through the design structure in detail.

There are five options for navigation patterns which provide a way to structure a group of pages with icon/text-based left navigation. When an icon/title is selected, the corresponding page is displayed. All five patterns have similar functionality, design, and data sets. They all are located under the PATTERNS tab under PALETTE in your interface. Test out all five to see which option works best for you.

When you're adapting one of these patterns, be sure to follow UX design best practices, like adding a descriptive caption to the icons and using accessibilityText to help screen reader users know when icons or cards are selected.

Let's take a closer look at the Navigation (Collapsible) pattern.

The main components in this pattern are a column layout that changes between "EXTRA-NARROW" and "NARROW" widths, card layouts with links, and a set of rich text icons and titles.

gif of the the collapsible navigation pattern, showing the navigation text collapsing to icons

Pattern expression

When you drag and drop the collapsible navigation pattern onto your interface, 203 lines of expressions will be added to the section where you dragged it.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* Defines whether or not to collapse the side nav */
    local!collapseNav: false,
    /* The selected navigation section */
    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!collapsibleNavSections: {
      a!map(name: "Workspace", icon: "briefcase"),
      a!map(name: "Tasks",     icon: "tasks"),
      a!map(name: "Requests",  icon: "paper-plane"),
      a!map(name: "Calendar",  icon: "calendar"),
      a!map(name: "My Time",   icon: "clock-o"),
      a!map(name: "Expenses",  icon: "money")
    },
    {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!forEach(
                items: local!collapsibleNavSections,
                expression: if(
                  local!collapseNav,
                  {
                    a!richTextDisplayField(
                      value: {
                        a!richTextIcon(
                          icon: fv!item.icon,
                          caption: fv!item.name,
                          link: a!dynamicLink(
                            value: fv!index,
                            saveInto: local!activeCollapsibleNavSection
                          ),
                          linkStyle: "STANDALONE",
                          color: if(
                            fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                            "ACCENT",
                            "SECONDARY"
                          ),
                          size: "LARGE"
                        )
                      },
                      align: "CENTER",
                      accessibilityText: if(
                        fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                        fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                        ""
                      )
                    )
                  },
                  a!cardLayout(
                    contents: a!sideBySideLayout(
                      items: {
                        a!sideBySideItem(
                          item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                            labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                            value: a!richTextIcon(
                              icon: fv!item.icon,
                              color: "SECONDARY",
                              size: if(local!collapseNav, "LARGE", "MEDIUM")
                            ),
                            align: "LEFT"
                          ),
                          width: "MINIMIZE"
                        ),
                        a!sideBySideItem(
                          item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                            labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                            value: a!richTextItem(
                              text: fv!item.name,
                              color: "ACCENT",
                              size: "MEDIUM",
                              style: if(
                                fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                                "STRONG",
                                "PLAIN"
                              )
                            )
                          ),
                          showWhen: not(local!collapseNav)
                        )
                      },
                      alignVertical: "MIDDLE"
                    ),
                    link: a!dynamicLink(
                      value: fv!index,
                      saveInto: local!activeCollapsibleNavSection
                    ),
                    style: if(
                      fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                      "ACCENT",
                      "NONE"
                    ),
                    showBorder: false,
                    accessibilityText: if(
                      fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                      fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                      ""
                    )
                  )
                )
              ),
              a!richTextDisplayField(
                value: a!richTextIcon(
                  icon: if(
                    local!collapseNav,
                    "angle-double-right",
                    "angle-double-left"
                  ),
                  caption: if(
                    local!collapseNav,
                    "Expand navigation bar",
                    "Collapse navigation bar"
                  ),
                  link: a!dynamicLink(
                    value: not(local!collapseNav),
                    saveInto: local!collapseNav
                  ),
                  linkStyle: "STANDALONE",
                  color: "SECONDARY",
                  size: "MEDIUM"
                ),
                align: "CENTER"
              ),
              /* This card is used to set a minimum height on the column so that the *
               * divider takes up more screen space when there is minimal content.   *
               * Once content is added to the main column, this can be removed.      */
              a!cardLayout(
                height: "TALL",
                showWhen: not(a!isPageWidth("PHONE")),
                showBorder: false
              )
            },
            width: if(local!collapseNav, "EXTRA_NARROW", "NARROW")
          ),
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              /* Conditionally display selected navigation section.       *
               * Sections are created individually here because they will *
               * have varying contents, so if you change the list in      *
               * local!collapisbleNavSections, you will need to make sure *
               * the list of sections here is the correct length.         */
              choose(
                local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                )
              )
            }
          )
        },
        spacing: "SPARSE",
        showDividers: true
      )
    }
  )
}

Design structure

[Line 1-15] Set local variables

At the beginning of the expression, three local variables are set up: local!collapseNav, which stores whether or not the side navigation is collapsed, local!activeCollapsibleNavSection, which stores the current selection, and local!collapsibleNavSections, which stores the list of page names and their respective icons. local!activeCollapsibleNavSection is initialized to the first page by default.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* Defines whether or not to collapse the side nav */
    local!collapseNav: false,
    /* The selected navigation section */
    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!collapsibleNavSections: {
      a!map(name: "Workspace", icon: "briefcase"),
      a!map(name: "Tasks",     icon: "tasks"),
      a!map(name: "Requests",  icon: "paper-plane"),
      a!map(name: "Calendar",  icon: "calendar"),
      a!map(name: "My Time",   icon: "clock-o"),
      a!map(name: "Expenses",  icon: "money")
    },

[Line 16-136] Left navigation

The left navigation is constructed in two different ways depending on whether or not it's collapsed. When expanded, the left navigation is built using card layouts with dynamic link and rich text display components inside a NARROW column. When collapsed, the left navigation is built using LARGE rich text icons with dynamic links inside an EXTRA-NARROW column.

Inside of the first column, we iterate over each section defined in local!collapsibleNavSections using a!forEach(). This is where we then determine what size navigation to show by checking the value of local!collapseNav. The components used for each size vary, but both use fv!index to save the index of the selected section to local!activeCollapsibleNavSection in the dynamic link.

There are a couple of small details that have been added in for better functionality and user experience. We set showBorder parameter to false for the card layouts and used a rich text icon with a dynamic link to change the width of the navigation at the bottom of the list of icons.

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     {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!forEach(
                items: local!collapsibleNavSections,
                expression: if(
                  local!collapseNav,
                  {
                    a!richTextDisplayField(
                      value: {
                        a!richTextIcon(
                          icon: fv!item.icon,
                          caption: fv!item.name,
                          link: a!dynamicLink(
                            value: fv!index,
                            saveInto: local!activeCollapsibleNavSection
                          ),
                          linkStyle: "STANDALONE",
                          color: if(
                            fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                            "ACCENT",
                            "SECONDARY"
                          ),
                          size: "LARGE"
                        )
                      },
                      align: "CENTER",
                      accessibilityText: if(
                        fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                        fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                        ""
                      )
                    )
                  },
                  a!cardLayout(
                    contents: a!sideBySideLayout(
                      items: {
                        a!sideBySideItem(
                          item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                            labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                            value: a!richTextIcon(
                              icon: fv!item.icon,
                              color: "SECONDARY",
                              size: if(local!collapseNav, "LARGE", "MEDIUM")
                            ),
                            align: "LEFT"
                          ),
                          width: "MINIMIZE"
                        ),
                        a!sideBySideItem(
                          item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                            labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                            value: a!richTextItem(
                              text: fv!item.name,
                              color: "ACCENT",
                              size: "MEDIUM",
                              style: if(
                                fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                                "STRONG",
                                "PLAIN"
                              )
                            )
                          ),
                          showWhen: not(local!collapseNav)
                        )
                      },
                      alignVertical: "MIDDLE"
                    ),
                    link: a!dynamicLink(
                      value: fv!index,
                      saveInto: local!activeCollapsibleNavSection
                    ),
                    style: if(
                      fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                      "ACCENT",
                      "NONE"
                    ),
                    showBorder: false,
                    accessibilityText: if(
                      fv!index = local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                      fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                      ""
                    )
                  )
                )
              ),
              a!richTextDisplayField(
                value: a!richTextIcon(
                  icon: if(
                    local!collapseNav,
                    "angle-double-right",
                    "angle-double-left"
                  ),
                  caption: if(
                    local!collapseNav,
                    "Expand navigation bar",
                    "Collapse navigation bar"
                  ),
                  link: a!dynamicLink(
                    value: not(local!collapseNav),
                    saveInto: local!collapseNav
                  ),
                  linkStyle: "STANDALONE",
                  color: "SECONDARY",
                  size: "MEDIUM"
                ),
                align: "CENTER"
              ),
              /* This card is used to set a minimum height on the column so that the *
               * divider takes up more screen space when there is minimal content.   *
               * Once content is added to the main column, this can be removed.      */
              a!cardLayout(
                height: "TALL",
                showWhen: not(a!isPageWidth("PHONE")),
                showBorder: false
              )
            },
            width: if(local!collapseNav, "EXTRA_NARROW", "NARROW")
          ),

[Line 137-203] Selected section

Once the user clicks on an icon or a card in the left navigation pane, the selected section will render in the right column. In this pattern, we have only configured a basic section layout to display. You'll want to add your components to the contents of the section or replace the section with an interface object for the associated section.

To create a better division between our navigation and section contents, we've used the showDividers parameter in our Columns Layout.

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                    a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              /* Conditionally display selected navigation section.       *
               * Sections are created individually here because they will *
               * have varying contents, so if you change the list in      *
               * local!collapisbleNavSections, you will need to make sure *
               * the list of sections here is the correct length.         */
              choose(
                local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!collapsibleNavSections.name,
                    local!activeCollapsibleNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                )
              )
            }
          )
        },
        spacing: "SPARSE",
        showDividers: true
      )
    }
  )
}

Additional navigation patterns

In addition to the Navigation (Collapsible) pattern described above, the Navigation, Navigation (Stamp), Navigation (Subsections), and Navigation (Lightweight) patterns are also available in your interface. They're located in PALETTE, under the PATTERNS tab.

This pattern is a simplified version of the Navigation (Collapsible) pattern, using only a "NARROW" column with the card layouts.

screenshot of the navigation pattern

Pattern expression

When you drag and drop the Navigation pattern onto your interface, 152 lines of expressions will be added to the section where you dragged it.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* The selected navigation section */
    local!activeNavSection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!navSections: {
      a!map(name: "Workspace", icon: "briefcase"),
      a!map(name: "Tasks",     icon: "tasks"),
      a!map(name: "Requests",  icon: "paper-plane"),
      a!map(name: "Calendar",  icon: "calendar"),
      a!map(name: "My Time",   icon: "clock-o"),
      a!map(name: "Expenses",  icon: "money")
    },
    {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!forEach(
                items: local!navSections,
                expression: a!cardLayout(
                  contents: a!sideBySideLayout(
                    items: {
                      a!sideBySideItem(
                        item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                          labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                          value: a!richTextIcon(
                            icon: fv!item.icon,
                            color: if(
                              fv!index = local!activeNavSection,
                              "STANDARD",
                              "SECONDARY"
                            ),
                            size: "MEDIUM"
                          ),
                          align: "LEFT"
                        ),
                        width: "MINIMIZE"
                      ),
                      a!sideBySideItem(
                        item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                          labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                          value: a!richTextItem(
                            text: fv!item.name,
                            color: "ACCENT",
                            size: "MEDIUM",
                            style: if(
                              fv!index = local!activeNavSection,
                              "STRONG",
                              "PLAIN"
                            )
                          )
                        )
                      )
                    },
                    alignVertical: "MIDDLE"
                  ),
                  link: a!dynamicLink(
                    value: fv!index,
                    saveInto: local!activeNavSection
                  ),
                  style: if(
                    fv!index = local!activeNavSection,
                    "ACCENT",
                    "NONE"
                  ),
                  showBorder: false,
                  accessibilityText: if(
                    fv!index = local!activeNavSection,
                    fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                    ""
                  )
                )
              ),
              /* This card is used to set a minimum height on the column so that the *
               * divider takes up more screen space when there is minimal content.   *
               * Once content is added to the main column, this can be removed.      */
              a!cardLayout(
                height: "TALL",
                showWhen: not(a!isPageWidth("PHONE")),
                showBorder: false
              )
            },
            width: "NARROW"
          ),
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              /* Conditionally display selected navigation section.       *
               * Sections are created individually here because they will *
               * have varying contents, so if you change the list in      *
               * local!navSections, you will need to make sure            *
               * the list of sections here is the correct length.         */
              choose(
                local!activeNavSection,
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!navSections.name,
                    local!activeNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                )
              )
            }
          )
        },
        spacing: "SPARSE",
        showDividers: true
      )
    }
  )
}

This pattern is a lightweight version of the Navigation (Collapsible) pattern. Instead of using a combination of icons and titles, this pattern uses stamps with dynamic links to create an easy to use and visually pleasing side navigation.

screenshot of the navigation stamps pattern

Pattern expression

When you drag and drop the Navigation (Stamp) pattern onto your interface, 129 lines of expressions will be added to the section where you dragged it.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* Defines whether or not to collapse the side nav */
    local!stampNav: false,
    /* The selected navigation section */
    local!activeStampNavSection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!stampNavSections: {
      a!map(name: "Workspace", icon: "briefcase"),
      a!map(name: "Tasks",     icon: "tasks"),
      a!map(name: "Requests",  icon: "envelope-o"),
      a!map(name: "Calendar",  icon: "calendar"),
      a!map(name: "My Time",   icon: "clock-o"),
      a!map(name: "Expenses",  icon: "money")
    },
    {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!sideBySideLayout(
                items: {
                  a!forEach(
                    items: local!stampNavSections,
                    expression: a!sideBySideItem(
                      item: a!stampField(
                        icon: fv!item.icon,
                        backgroundColor: if(
                          fv!index = local!activeStampNavSection,
                          "ACCENT",
                          "TRANSPARENT"
                        ),
                        contentColor: if(
                          fv!index = local!activeStampNavSection,
                          "STANDARD",
                          "ACCENT"
                        ),
                        link: a!dynamicLink(
                          value: fv!index,
                          saveInto: local!activeStampNavSection
                        ),
                        size: "SMALL",
                        tooltip: fv!item.name,
                        accessibilityText: if(
                          fv!index = local!activeStampNavSection,
                          fv!item.name & " " & "selected",
                          ""
                        )
                      )
                    )
                  )
                },
                spacing: "DENSE",
                stackWhen: {
                  "DESKTOP_WIDE",
                  "DESKTOP",
                  "DESKTOP_NARROW",
                  "TABLET_LANDSCAPE",
                  "TABLET_PORTRAIT"
                }
              )
            },
            width: "EXTRA_NARROW"
          ),
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              /* Conditionally display selected navigation section.       *
               * Sections are created individually here because they will *
               * have varying contents, so if you change the list in      *
               * local!stampNavSections, you will need to make sure       *
               * the list of sections here is the correct length.         */
              choose(
                local!activeStampNavSection,
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                ),
                a!sectionLayout(
                  label: index(
                    local!stampNavSections.name,
                    local!activeStampNavSection,
                    ""
                  ),
                  contents: {}
                )
              )
            }
          )
        }
      )
    }
  )
}

This pattern is another variation of the Navigation pattern. It follows a similar style, but allows you to group sections for better organization.

screenshot of the navigation subsections pattern

Pattern expression

When you drag and drop the Navigation (Subsection) pattern onto your interface, 206 lines of expressions will be added to the section where you dragged it.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* The current navigation section */
    local!activeSubNavSection: 1,
    /* The selected navigation subsection */
    local!activeSubNavSubsection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!subNavSections: {
      a!map(
        sectionName: "Quick Links",
        subsections: {
          "Workspace",
          "Tasks",
          "Requests",
          "Calendar"
        }
      ),
      a!map(
        sectionName: "Favorites",
        subsections: {
          "My Time",
          "Expenses"
        }
      )
    },
    {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!forEach(
                items: local!subNavSections,
                expression: a!localVariables(
                  local!parentSection: fv!index,
                  {
                    a!richTextDisplayField(
                      labelPosition: if(fv!isFirst, "COLLAPSED", "ABOVE"),
                      value: {
                        a!richTextItem(
                          text: fv!item.sectionName,
                          size: "MEDIUM",
                          style: "STRONG"
                        )
                      }
                    ),
                    a!forEach(
                      items: fv!item.subsections,
                      expression: a!cardLayout(
                        contents: a!richTextDisplayField(
                          labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                          value: {
                            a!richTextItem(
                              text: {
                                a!richTextItem(
                                  text: fv!item,
                                  color: "ACCENT",
                                  size: "STANDARD",
                                  style: if(
                                    and(
                                      local!parentSection = local!activeSubNavSection,
                                      fv!index = local!activeSubNavSubsection
                                    ),
                                    "STRONG",
                                    "PLAIN"
                                  )
                                )
                              }
                            )
                          }
                        ),
                        link: a!dynamicLink(
                          saveInto: {
                            a!save(local!activeSubNavSubsection, fv!index),
                            a!save(local!activeSubNavSection, local!parentSection)
                          }
                        ),
                        style: if(
                          and(
                            local!parentSection = local!activeSubNavSection,
                            fv!index = local!activeSubNavSubsection
                          ),
                          "ACCENT",
                          "NONE"
                        ),
                        showBorder: false,
                        accessibilityText: if(
                          and(
                            local!parentSection = local!activeSubNavSection,
                            fv!index = local!activeSubNavSubsection
                          ),
                          fv!item & " " & "selected",
                          ""
                        )
                      )
                    )
                  }
                )
              ),
              /* This card is used to set a minimum height on the column so that the *
               * divider takes up more screen space when there is minimal content.   *
               * Once content is added to the main column, this can be removed.      */
              a!cardLayout(
                height: "TALL",
                showWhen: not(a!isPageWidth("PHONE")),
                showBorder: false
              )
            },
            width: "NARROW"
          ),
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              /* Conditionally display selected navigation section.       *
               * Sections are created individually here because they will *
               * have varying contents, so if you change the list in      *
               * local!subNavSections, you will need to make sure         *
               * the list of sections here is the correct length.         */
              choose(
                local!activeSubNavSection,
                choose(
                  local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  ),
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  ),
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  ),
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  )
                ),
                choose(
                  local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  ),
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: index(
                      index(
                        local!subNavSections.subsections,
                        local!activeSubNavSection,
                        ""
                      ),
                      local!activeSubNavSubsection,
                      ""
                    ),
                    contents: {}
                  )
                )
              )
            }
          )
        },
        spacing: "SPARSE",
        showDividers: true
      )
    }
  )
}

This pattern is another variation of the Navigation pattern. It has a similar style and feel to the "Navigation (subsections)" pattern, but without the groups and with a more subtle selection behavior. The simple, but effective selection behavior was created by adding a decorative bar to a card layout.

screenshot of the navigation lightweight pattern

Pattern expression

When you drag and drop the Navigation (Lightweight) pattern onto your interface, 134 lines of expressions will be added to the section where you dragged it.

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{
  a!localVariables(
    /* The selected navigation section */
    local!activeLightweightNavSection: 1,
    /* The navigation sections */
    local!lightweightNavSections: {
      "Workspace",
      "Tasks",
      "Requests",
      "Calendar",
      "My Time",
      "Expenses"
    },
    a!columnsLayout(
      columns: {
        /* Navigation column */
        a!columnLayout(
          contents: {
            a!cardLayout(
              contents: {
                a!forEach(
                  items: local!lightweightNavSections,
                  expression: a!cardLayout(
                    contents: {
                      a!sideBySideLayout(
                        items: {
                          a!sideBySideItem(
                            width: "MINIMIZE"
                          ),
                          a!sideBySideItem(
                            item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                              labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                              value: {
                                a!richTextItem(
                                  text: fv!item,
                                  color: "ACCENT",
                                  style: if(
                                    local!activeLightweightNavSection = fv!index,
                                    "STRONG",
                                    "PLAIN"
                                  )
                                )
                              }
                            )
                          )
                        }
                      )
                    },
                    link: a!dynamicLink(
                      saveInto: {
                        a!save(local!activeLightweightNavSection, fv!index)
                      }
                    ),
                    style: "#F7F7F7",
                    padding: "NONE",
                    marginBelow: "STANDARD",
                    showBorder: false,
                    decorativeBarPosition: "START",
                    decorativeBarColor: if(
                      local!activeLightweightNavSection = fv!index,
                      "ACCENT",
                      "#F7F7F7"
                    ),
                    accessibilityText: if(
                      fv!index = local!activeLightweightNavSection,
                      "Selected section.",
                      "Unselected section. Press enter to select section."
                    )
                  )
                )
              },
              style: "#F7F7F7",
              padding: "STANDARD",
              showBorder: false
            ),
            a!cardLayout(
              height: "TALL",
              showWhen: not(a!isPageWidth("PHONE")),
              style: "#F7F7F7",
              padding: "STANDARD",
              showBorder: false
            )
          },
          width: "NARROW"
        ),
        /* Content column */
        a!columnLayout(
          contents: {
            a!cardLayout(
              contents: a!localVariables(
                local!sectionLabel: index(
                  local!lightweightNavSections,
                  local!activeLightweightNavSection,
                  ""
                ), 
                {
                  choose(
                    local!activeLightweightNavSection,
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    ),
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    ),
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    ),
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    ),
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    ),
                    a!sectionLayout(
                      label: local!sectionLabel,
                      contents: {}
                    )
                  )
                }
              ),
              padding: "STANDARD",
              showBorder: "NONE"
            )
          }
        )
      }
    )
  )
}

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