This page describes how to configure a record view and style your record header.
In a record type, each row of your source data is be displayed as a record. But a record is more than just a row of data—it's a combination of record views and related actions.
Record views allow you tailor information to a user's interests and needs. You can have multiple record views to create a more comprehensive view of your data that benefits many users.
For example, in a Support Case record type, you may have support engineers and case managers who need to monitor submitted cases. Support engineers need to know detailed information about the case, while case managers need to about the customer who submitted each case. To support both types of users, you can create two different record views.
A record view is defined in the record type object and is composed of an interface that displays information from a single record to end users. You can have multiple record views to surface different insights about each record depending on a user's interests and needs. Learn more about creating an interface for a record view and passing the record data.
Although each record in the record type will contain the same record views, the layout and data that display for each record is determined by the expressions used to define the views.
By default, each record type will have at least three views:
The Summary view is displayed by default as the first view on a record. You can configure the Summary view and up to 20 additional record views on your record type.
The News and Related Actions views are configured out-of-the-box in the record type to display any news related to a record and any related actions associated with the record type. These two views are pre-configured to save development time, so they cannot be modified. However, you can choose to hide the default views if you wish.
By default, each record has a Summary view. This view is always visible to users who can see the record and can be viewed by clicking on a record in the record list or in a records-powered grid.
If your record type has data sync enabled, Appian can generate your interface and configure the Summary view for you.
To generate a Summary view:
Review the suggested values for the following properties, and change as needed:
Property | Description |
---|---|
View Name | A name for the view. This name is displayed as the name of a view on the record. For the Summary view, this defaults to "Summary", but can be edited. |
Application | The application where you want Appian to search for existing objects or create new objects to support this action. If the record type is associated with a single application, this property is read-only. If the record type is associated with more than one application in your Appian environment, the value defaults to the current application, but you can select a different application from the dropdown list. If the record type isn't associated with any application, select an application from the dropdown list. |
Review the objects that Appian will use for your new view, and make any necessary changes:
Object |
Can |
Can |
---|---|---|
Interface |
||
Interface |
Yes |
No |
Security and Organization |
||
Group (application administrators) |
Yes |
Yes |
Group (application users) |
Yes |
Yes |
Rules and Constants Folder |
Yes |
Yes |
Note: Existing objects are marked with the icon.
If you use a new folder to store the new interface, groups will also be present in the list of objects. These groups will be used to configure security for the generated folder.
To change an object:
Continue as appropriate:
Change | Action |
---|---|
Rename a generated object. |
|
Replace a generated object with an existing object. |
|
Replace an existing object with a generated object. |
|
The generated interface object will populate the Interface property of the view, and will pass in the rv!record
variable to display your record data.
For more information on rv!
, see Reference record values in the record type. You may open the interface object to reorganize or edit it.
The generated interface will include a Section layout for each record type you selected in the Data Included in Your Record View step.
The content of each section will depend on the type of relationship between the base record type and the related record type:
Relationship with the base record type | Display format |
---|---|
Self | All record fields organized in columns. If you configured record events, the record's events are displayed in an event history list component. |
One-to-many relationship | All related record fields displayed in a read-only grid. |
Many-to-one relationship | All related record fields organized in columns. |
One-to-one relationship | All related record fields organized in columns. |
The generated interface inherits security from the folder where it's stored. If your interface is stored in a folder Appian generated for you, the inherited security is as follows:
Group | Permission Level |
---|---|
Application administrators group you selected | Administrator |
Application users group you selected | Viewer |
To manually define the Summary view:
For View Name, keep the Default ("Summary") or select Expression to enter an alternate name you want the user to see.
Note: If you change the name of the view, it will still be called "summary" in the view's URL.
rule!AT_EmployeeSummary(record: rv!record)
is used to call the interface and pass in the record.Tip: You can bulk update this setting for all views. Learn how to bulk update launch styles for related actions.
In addition to the Summary view, you can add up to 20 record views. You can create additional views using the GENERATE RECORD VIEW button, or by adding the views manually:
To manually add another view:
In the Views section, click ADD VIEW MANUALLY.
Note: This button will only appear after you configure a Summary view.
rule!AT_Employee_departmentView(record: rv!record)
.Tip: You can bulk update this setting for all views. Learn how to bulk update launch styles for related actions.
The Open Actions In property for each view controls whether the related action shortcuts for that view open in a dialog, a new tab, or the same tab.
You can configure this property one view at a time. You can also bulk update this property for all actions in all views at the same time.
To bulk update the Open Actions In property for all your views:
Under Open All Actions In, select whether the view opens in a dialog, a new tab, or the same tab.
Click SAVE CHANGES.
Tip: After bulk updating, you can change the Open Actions In property in individual views or again in bulk as needed.
A record type has two record views that are configured out-of-the-box and displayed by default on each record:
Since these record views are auto-populated with related news events and related actions, they cannot be modified.
There may be cases when you don't want to display the News view or the Related Actions view on your records. For example, you may want to hide these views if your application doesn't utilize the News feed, or you've used the record action component to display related actions on your interfaces.
When you don't want to display the News or Related Actions views, you can hide them to prevent users from navigating or seeing these views on the records.
To control whether or not Appian displays the News or Related Actions view for the record type:
When you choose to hide either of these views, users will not be able to see or interact with the view anywhere in the application.
For example, if you configure a site to display the News view, but you've hidden the view in the record type, the News view will not display on the site.
Hiding the Related Actions view does not determine the security of the related actions. Users can still perform related actions from related action shortcuts, the record action component, or by navigating to the URL for that related action if they have the proper security permissions to do so.
To restrict permissions on related actions, configure a security expression on the record action or modify the security on the underlying process model.
Once you've created your record views, the last step is to configure the record header.
The record header appears at the top of each record view and contains the record's title, breadcrumbs, and related actions. You can also style your record header by configuring a header background.
The record title appears at the top of each record view, in record tags, and in the hover card for that record.
The way you define the record title will vary depending on whether you plan to display your list of records as a grid-style or feed-style list.
To define the record title for a grid-style record list:
Note: This option is only available for record types with data sync enabled.
rv!record[recordType!CSA Customer.fields.firstName] & " " & rv!record[recordType!CSA Customer.fields.lastName]
will display the first name and last name of the customer record.For feed-style record lists, the record title comes from the title
parameter in the a!listViewItem() function when you define the record list.
By default, the record header will move with the rest of the page contents when a user scrolls up and down the page.
You can choose to fix the header to the top of the page to allow users to easily see the record title, views, and actions, no matter where they are on the page.
To fix the record header to the top of the page:
Under Record Header Position, select Fix the record header to the top of the page when scrolling.
If you want to use a fixed header in a record type, there are two options:
Fix the record header only.
Fix the record header and the header content layout header.
If you fix the header content layout header, but don't fix the record header, neither header will be fixed.
In the mobile application, record views are already fixed to the top of the page. Fixing the record header will also fix the record title to the top of screen.
Fixed Record Header | Unfixed Record Header |
---|---|
The record header background isn't styled by default, but you can choose to apply a background color or image.
If you change the name of the Summary view or hide the News and Related Actions tabs, these changes won't appear in the header preview.
Headers can display one background color for all records in a record type, or different colors based on an expression or variables within the record.
The record header will display the selected color style with the record title, breadcrumbs, and related action buttons in the card. For more information about selection colors, see the SAIL Design System.
To apply a color background to your record view header:
Select one of the following options to set the background color:
Option | Action |
---|---|
Static | Use the color picker to select the appropriate color or enter a hex code. |
Variable | Use the dropdown to select the record variable of your color. This picker returns record fields of type Text. |
Expression | Enter an expression that evaluates to a valid hex color code. |
You can configure headers to display one image or multiple images. You can select one image from a document or a URL for all records in a record type. Or, you can display different images based on variables within the record or using an expression.
You can customize the image overlay, height, and background color. The image overlay will contain the record title, breadcrumbs, and related action buttons.
To apply an image background to your record view header:
Select one of the following sources for the image:
Image Source | Description |
---|---|
Document | Select an image using the document picker. |
URL | Enter a secure URL of a static image you want as your billboard image. |
Variable | From the dropdown, select the record field where you've stored a color value. This picker returns record fields of type TEXT , INTEGER , and DOCUMENT . |
Expression | In the Expression Editor, input an expression that evaluates to a valid document or image URL. |
Note: If you use Variable or Expression to configure the image background, the live preview will not display the selected image.
Configure the following additional properties:
Property | Description |
---|---|
Image Height | Select Short, Medium, Tall, or Auto. |
Overlay Type | Select Bar or Full. |
Overlay Position | Select Top, Middle, or Bottom. |
Overlay Style | Select Dark, Semi-Dark, None, Semi-Light, or Light. |
Background Color | Specify any valid hex code. This color appears if your image is null, is an invalid value, or the user does not have permission to see the image. |
If you don't apply a color or image background to your record view header, you can choose to display a divider line below the header to separate the header content from the rest of the page.
To show a divider line below your record header:
Whether or not a user can see a record view is dependent on the record type security, record-level security, and the security rule or security expression configured on the view itself.
To view a record view, users must have at least Viewer permissions for the record type and, if you've applied record-level security, users must also be included in a security rule or a security expression. If a user does not have access to a record because of any of these configurations, the user cannot access the record views, even if given a direct URL.
Anyone with access to the record can see the Summary view by default. For each additional record view, you can configure record view security to show or hide the view from certain users based on the conditions you specify. Users may access additional record views by navigating in Tempo or by using a record link that is configured to go to a certain view. Record links respect record view security.
Learn how to configure record view security.
Configure Record Views