This documentation supports the 20.02 version of BMC Helix Platform.To view the documentation for the current version, select 20.08 from the Product version menu.

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. 

Note

Application business analysts can customize the objects developed in their own applications and that are marked customizable by the developers, but cannot customize the objects developed in com.bmc.arsys. For example, objects in core BMC applications like Foundation, Approval, and Assignment cannot be customized.

To create a view for creating record instances

The following video describes the procedure

to use a record editor in a view. The video shows an older version of BMC Helix Platform. The previous product name was BMC Helix Innovation Suite. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same:

icon_play.png https://youtu.be/JvZSHbE6fAg

  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 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  Settings icon.png, 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

    Specifies the mode in which you want the record editor to function. To enable users to create new record definitions, select Create.

    Form Contents

    Adds the record fields that should be displayed on the view definition. You can add the required record fields by using Quick Add/Remove Fields and then selecting the record fields of interest.

  6. (Optional) To specify the properties for a record field, click the record field and specify the preferences in the Settings icon  Settings icon.png  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.

    Value

    Specifies the value 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

    Note: 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.

    Note: By default, an optional Boolean field is always displayed as a switch regardless of whether it is configured to switch or checkbox layout.

    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. 

  7. (Optional) To add form fields to the record editor, from the Palette, drag and drop 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. Save the view definition. 

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  Settings icon.png  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. Using Click to build an expression, specify the record ID of the record definition.

    Show a read-only state for this component

    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.
    • Write— 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.

    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  Settings icon.png  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.

    Value

    Specifies the value 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

    Note: 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.

    Note: By default, an optional Boolean field is always displayed as a switch regardless of whether it is configured to switch or checkbox layout.

    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 and drop 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. 

Note

In a view, Save and Cancel buttons are not created automatically. You need to add the action buttons in the record editor and define the actions for the buttons.

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 Settings icon.pngtab, Mode section, select Edit.
    Default_State_of_Record_Editor_Settings.png
  2. Select the Show a read-only state for this component check box. 
  3. Select Read.
  4. Switch the Allow Edit toggle key to On, 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 set to Off, or it is set to When condition is true 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 valuesadd a group of record fields to a record editor, add attachments or associations.
  2. Click the Settings icon  Settings icon.png  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:

Multiple selection enabled for field.png

To add a group of record fields to a record editor

The following video describes the procedure to use the select group field in a record editor. The video shows an older version of BMC Helix Platform. The previous product name was BMC Helix Innovation Suite. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same:

icon_play.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcMrG5AyzWg

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 and drop the Select Group form field to the canvas as you want it to appear on the user interface.
  2. Click the Settings icon  Settings icon.png  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. 

    Field Set

    Provides the fields that are added to the group. Using the Add Dependent Field, specify the 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—Used 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