Customizing the home page and entry points

A home page is a form that provides a single point of access for users into AR System. Although users can locate applications and forms by using the Object List, a home page form makes access to AR System much less complicated by presenting only the necessary entry points for the most common tasks. Users do not need to scroll through a long list to find a form and do not need to know which server and form to open to perform a given task. 

A home page has the following characteristics:

• It is any form that contains an Application List field. Two preconfigured home page forms are installed with AR System server.
• It appears automatically when users log on to AR System server. In a browser, the URL http://hostName /arsys/home automatically opens the configured home page.
• It is identified for the server by server and Mid Tier configuration settings, and optionally for specific users by a user preference setting.
• It contains a list of entry points in the Application List field.

Entry points are links that users click to open forms and applications, such as a search window for a Help Desk application. Entry points are associated with forms and active link guides, allowing application designers to package common starting points that all users can easily access . When an entry point exists, it automatically appears in the Application List field on the home page. 

Administrators control the appearance of the home page and determine which form appears as the home page when a user logs in. Mid Tier administrators must identify the server that hosts the home page in the Mid Tier Configuration Tool. If the AR System Customizable Home Page is used, administrators can define different home page layouts according to access control groups. You can also suppress the home page for specific users by setting a user preference in the User Preference form. 

The AR System server home page supports opening a form on the existing open window or opening a form on a new window. When you click an entry point on the Application List field, the form opens on the same window, replacing the existing content. When you perform a Shift+Click procedure (press the Shift key on the keyboard and click the left mouse button) on an entry point present in the Application List field, the form opens on a new window. Depending on the browser, the form opens on a new window or a new tab.

This section explains how to customize the home page and the entry points. Topics include: