Creating a view for a record instance by using record editor

The Record editor is a built-in view component available in the View designer. Use the Record editor to create a view definition for designing the user interface for a particular record instance. You can create a view definition to create, edit, or view a record instance by adding different form fields to the record editor. The form fields include attachments, associations, or a group of multiple record fields.

You can add a record editor while creating a view or while editing an existing view definition. 

To create a view for creating record instances

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Select the application for which you want to add a record editor.
3. On the Views tab, click the name of the view definition to which you want to add a record editor.
4. From Palette, drag the Record editor component to the canvas in the order that you want them to appear on the user interface.

5. In the Properties pane on the right side, click the Settings icon  , and then specify the preferences.

   The following table provides information about the properties:

   Property	Description	Example
   Name	Specifies the name of the view definition.
   Record definition name	Specifies the name of the record definition to which you want to add the record editor.
   Mode	Specifies the mode in which you want the record editor to function. To enable users to create new record definitions, select Create.
   Available on devices	Specifies the interface on which the record editor should be visible. You can select from the following options: Desktop Mobile Tablet By default, all the three options are selected.
   Form Contents	Adds the record fields that should be displayed on the view definition. To add the required record fields, click Quick edit fields, and then select the record fields of interest. If you add a record field associated with a named list, on the Properties pane, the read-only Named list field is displayed. The value of this field is automatically retrieved from the record definition.

6. (Optional) To specify the properties for a record field, click the record field and specify the preferences in the Settings icon    in the Properties pane on the right side. 

   The following table provides information about the properties:

   Property	Description	Example
   Display Label	Specifies the display name of the record field.
   Editing mode	Specifies the layout for your record field. To specify the layout for Select field, choose from the following options: Dropdown Radio buttons Important: If the Select field is optional, the None option gets added by default. To specify the layout for Boolean field, choose from the following options: Switch Checkbox You can set the Boolean field as a check box only when the field is marked as required. Important: By default, an optional Boolean field is always displayed as a switch regardless of whether it is configured to switch or checkbox layout.
   Value	Specifies the value of the record field.
   Disabled	Disables the record field in specific conditions, such as, if you want to disable the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.
   Hidden	Hides the record field under specific conditions, such as, if you want to hide the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.
   Enable multi-selection	This field is available only if the record editor has a field associated with a named list. Provides the ability to select multiple values from the named list.
   (Optional) Additional named list filter	This property is available only if the record editor has a field associated with a named list. Enables you to build an additional query for the named list, which is used to filter the list at runtime. Click Click to build an expression to create an additional query. For more information about creating an expression, see Expression Editor.

7. (Optional) To add form fields to the record editor, from the Palette, drag the Record editor inputs to the canvas as you want them to appear on the user interface. Form fields are used to add the record fields to the record that is associated with the record editor. 

8. Click Save. 

To create a view for editing record instances

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Select the application for which you want to add a record editor.
3. On the Views tab, click the name of the view definition to which you want to add a record editor.
4. From the Palette, drag and drop the Record editor component to the canvas as you want it to appear on the user interface.

5. Click the Settings icon    in the Properties pane on the right side, and then specify the preferences.

   The following table provides information about the properties:

   Property	Description
   Record definition name	Specifies the name of the record definition to which you want to add the record editor.
   Mode	Defines the mode in which you want the record editor to function. To enable users to modify existing record definitions, select Edit. For information on default record editor states, see To configure the default state for the record editor.
   Record ID	Provides the record ID of the record definition that the users must edit. By using Click to build an expression, specify the record ID of the record definition.
   Enable read state	Displays the view definition as read only. When you select this property the following options are available: Read— View definition is displayed as read only. Edit— View definition is displayed in the editable mode. For information on default record editor states, see To configure the default state for the record editor.
   Available on devices	Specifies the interface on which the record editor component should be visible. You can select from the following options: Desktop Mobile Tablet By default, all the three options are selected.
   Layout	Specifies the layout of the view definition.

6. (Optional) To specify the properties for a record field, click the record field and specify the preferences in the Settings icon    in the Properties pane on the right side. 

   The following table provides information about the properties:

   Property	Description
   Display Label	Specifies the display name of the record field.
   Editing mode	Specifies the layout for your record field. To specify the layout for Select field, choose from the following options: Dropdown Radio buttons Important: If the Select field is optional, the None option gets added by default. To specify the layout for Boolean field, choose from the following options: Switch Checkbox You can set the Boolean field as a check box only when the field is marked as required. Important: By default, an optional Boolean field is always displayed as a switch regardless of whether it is configured to switch or checkbox layout.
   Value	Specifies the value of the record field.
   Disabled	Disables the record field in specific conditions, such as, if you want to disable the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.
   Hidden	Hides the record field under specific conditions, such as, if you want to disable the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.

7. (Optional) To add form fields to the record editor, from the Palette, drag the Record editor inputs to the canvas as you want it to appear on the user interface. Form fields are used to add the record fields to the record that is associated with the record editor. 

8. Save the view definition. 

To configure the default state for the record editor

By default, the record editor is displayed in the Edit state. To change the default state to Read, perform the following steps:

1. From the Settings tab, Mode section, select Edit.
   

2. Select the Enable read state toggle key.

3. Select Read.

4. Switch the Allow edit toggle key, and select At all times or When condition is true.

   The Allow edit property is set to At all times by default. You can change it to When condition is true and define an expression that will be evaluated to determine whether a record can be edited, or only viewed.
   If the Allow edit toggle key is not selected, or if the When condition is true option is selected, and the condition evaluates to false, then the record editor is shown in read-only mode. For more information about expressions, see Using the Expression Editor.

To add form fields to a record editor

Use form fields to add the record fields to the record that is associated with the record editor. 

1. From the Palette, drag and drop each form field to the canvas in the order that you want them to appear on the user interface. You can add multiple form fields to a record editor. You can add form fields such as add multiple field values, add a group of record fields to a record editor, add attachments or associations.
2. Click the Settings icon    in the Properties pane on the right side, and then specify the preferences.
3. Save the view definition. 

 To provide multiple field values in a view

You can select multiple values for a field in the Record Editor by using the multiple selection property. The multiple selection property is available only for a field that has a named list associated with it. 

For example, a record contains a field Location and in the record definition, the Location field contains a named list. When the Location field is used in the Record editor in a view, the multiple selection option is available for the field and the field can have more than one value.

1. In the View designer, select the Record editor and select the field to which you want to provide multiple selection.
2. Select the check box for the Enable Multi-Selection property and save the view.

The following image shows a sample view of a field with multiple selection enabled:

To add a group of record fields to a record editor

You can add a group of dependent record fields to a record editor by using the Select Group field. For example, in a view definition, if a field is used to specify the name of the country, you can add a dependent field to specify the time zone. So that when you select a country, the time zone field has the time zone value for the specific country.

1. From the Record Editor Input  area in the Palette, drag the Select group form field to the canvas as you want it to appear on the user interface.
2. Click the Settings icon    in the Properties pane on the right side, and then specify the preferences. 

   The following table provides information about the properties:

   Property	Description
   Disabled	Disables the record field in specific conditions, such as, if you want to disable the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.
   Hidden	Hides the record field in specific conditions, such as, if you want to disable the record field at all times or when a specific condition is met.
   Available on devices	Specifies the interface on which the field should be visible. You can select from the following options: Desktop Mobile Tablet By default, all the three options are selected.
   Field Set	Provides the fields that are added to the group. Click Add dependent field, and specify the display label, named list for options, and the record field for storing the value. For the second dependent field onward, the following properties are visible: Source record definition—Displays the name of record definition for the named list. Field for filtering option values—Enables you to filter the named list based on the selected field.

3. Save the view definition. 

To create a view for adding attachments

The Attachment view component is used to add an attachment or to view an attachment in a view definition. You can attach only one file to an attachment field. The maximum file size defined in the record definition is used as the size limit for the attachment. You can make the attachment field Full Text Search (FTS) and Multi-Form Search (MFS) aware by using the Searchable setting for the attachment field in the record definition. For more information about FTS, see Leveraging full-text and global search capabilities in your application.

You can upload any type of file such as .txt, .gif, .pdf, .png and so on. When you sort on the attachment field, the attachments are sorted by the attachment name. 

Related topics

Configuring actions by using an action button

Creating a layout using Containers

Creating a tabular view of record instances by using a record grid

Creating a view for associating records