Working with IFS Applications

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Conventions

You work in a similar manner with all pages in IFS Applications. To display the contents of a minimized section,  press . To minimize (hide) a section press

In most cases the "Enter" button could be used to submit pages.

For an example:

- Button to navigate to Find mode
- Button to submit search criteria

When Enter is pressed this button is activated (Effect is similar to clicking this button). This feature will not be always enabled.

List of Values

Some fields will have a small List of values symbol next to them.  Once this is clicked a List of values dialog is displayed containing all available options for this field. If you have saved any previous queries for this List of values then a list of saved queries will be displayed. If you select a saved query from the popup list then it will be used to populate values for the list. If you wish to have a freshly populated list then you must select new query item.

Shortcut Keys

Enter: The "Enter" key can be used to submit most of the pages. Read the conventions section for more details about the buttons that are related with the "Enter" Key.

Ctrl + k: The key combination "Ctrl + k" can be used to open the List of Values dialog while the cursor is focused within the field connected to the list of values in a page.

Find Records

To search for data press the Find button. This will allow you to enter search criteria for a number of fields. If you leave a field blank the system will ignore the field, displaying all results for that field. Fields which are suitable for searching will have a small green dot beside that field. Searching with these fields will give better results. Some fields are not suitable for searching, these fields are depicted by a small gray dot   beside the field. Some fields will have a small List of values symbol next to them which will give a list from which you can select values for the field. Several options could be selected from this list, by checking the check boxes of required entries. If you select several options then all these values will be used to extract data.

The find function offers several possibilities to give more general examples, such as values beginning or ending in a certain way or values that are greater/less than a limit. The table below lists the special symbols used to give more general examples.

Once you click inside a field, a small drop down arrow icon will appear inside that field. By clicking on this arrow icon you can display a list of available query symbols shown in the table below.

Symbol Condition Example
  Equal to Enter New York for the City attribute to retrieve all customers located in "New York".
% Any value

Zero or more characters without limitations
Enter New% for the City attribute to retrieve all customers located in a city beginning with "New" (New York, New Orleans etc.).
! No value Specify ! for the City attribute to retrieve all customers for which city has not been specified.
_ Any character Single character without limitations. Enter _e% for the City attribute to retrieve all customers located in a city with an "e" as the second character.
> Larger than Enter >100 for the Customer ID attribute to retrieve all customers with an ID greater than "100".
< Less than Enter <100 for the Customer ID attribute to retrieve all customers with an ID less than "100".
>= Larger or equal to Enter >=100 for the Customer ID attribute to retrieve all customers with an ID greater than or equal to "100".
<= Less or equal to Enter <=100 for the Customer ID attribute to retrieve all customers with an ID less than or equal to "100".
!= Not equal to Enter !=New York for the City attribute to retrieve all customers located outside of "New York".
.. Between 5..10 will include values 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
; Or Specify New York; Philadelphia for the City attribute to retrieve all customers located either in "New York" or "Philadelphia".
SYSDATE   The current date. You may use + or - together with SYSDATE to specify a number of days sooner or later than the current date.

Please note that SYSDATE corresponds to the exact time (including hours, minutes and seconds), so there will not be any objects with an attribute equal to SYSDATE.

Example: In an order overview window, you could use the value SYSDATE - 4 for the e Registration Date attribute to retrieve all orders registered the past four days. 

Also you can use Context Substitution Variables and Query Macros in any field.

Note: Uncheck the case sensitive checkbox Case sensitive search if you are not sure of the case of the "words/letters" entered in the query condition.

Application Search

You can use the application search feature in the find dialog to do a google-like search within the domain of the specific page. .

Note: This features is enabled in pages where the main view has been defined as search domains.

Save Query

Queries which you use to extract data can be saved to be used later.  In the top of find page a saved query drop down box appears along with save and delete icons.

 

A new query can be saved by pressing   icon and giving a name for this query at the opened dialog. Previously saved queries can be retrieved by selecting the required query name from the dropdown box. Saved queries can be deleted by clicking icon. Or can be modified by selecting the saved query, modifying the query condition and saving it under the same name. Last Query you entered is automatically saved and can be selected from the dropdown box under the name Previous Query.

This Save Query feature is  available in list of value pages (LOV) as well.

Notes

Notes are a way of users can share information on business objects. If a user adds a note for a specific record, any user who has grants to view that particular record will be able to view the note. If a note exists for a particular record, Notebook will pop up when user views it in detail mode.

The Notebook can be accessed by clicking icon in the command bar. Notes will be automatically saved when user clicks minimize button in the Notebook or goes to another page.

Working with Layout Modes

Most records can be viewed both as an overview list of many records and as a detailed view of a single record. To view a single record in detail, just click at the leftmost identifier.

To get back to Overview mode click the Overview button in the command bar.

Configurable Screen Layouts (CSL)

The overview layout settings, menu items, default values and queryable fields settings can be changed for a page. A "power" user can also configure the settings for detail mode and change field properties such as mandatory and read only. These configurations can however be overridden by application logic. For more details see >>

Page Properties

The visibility of block layouts and tabs as well as the order of tabs can be changed for a page. These configurations can however be overridden by application logic. For more details see >>

Add/Modify Entries

Press New to add records.  Enter information for the appropriate fields. Mandatory Fields are marked with an Asterisk (*). Certain fields may have a List of Values button next to them. If you click this a list will be displayed from which you can select a value for the field in question. Select Save and Return when you are finished or Cancel to abort the new entry.

Edit mode lets you change an existing record. Enter information for the appropriate fields. Mandatory Fields are marked with an Asterisk (*). Certain fields may have a List of Values button next to them. If you click this a list will be displayed from which you can select a value for the field in question. Select Save and Return when you are finished or Cancel to abort.

Working with Dates

To make data entry easier, date fields are specially treated. You get the calendar icon beside the date field and also the format mask that date field expects. 

Some quick typing are also allowed for dates.

Following dates will represent 2002-02-02.
2 2 2 or 2/2/2 or 2.2.2 or 2,2,2.

Similarly you can fill Date-Time filed and Time fields as well. IFS Web Client will correct your entry to the correct date format just after you finish (move from the filled) typing.

Context Substitution Variables (CSV) and Query Macros

The use of Context Substitution Variables and Query Macros allows the ability to reuse configuration in default profiles for multiple users, and over a long period of time. 

The difference between Query Macros and CSV's is that Query Macro's can only be used when in query mode. For an example, the end user can save a query for Customer Orders for which the wanted delivery time is due THIS-WEEK. This saved query can be used forever.

IFS Web Client supports CSV's and Query Macro's in each data entry field and query strings. Also we include them in Saved Queries and Saved Links. Context Substitution Variables can be used in portlets such as DefineGlobals, RSS Reader, Quick Report, Select Statement and a few more. his feature.

For an example following query can be used in the Quick Reports and the Select Statement portlets in IFS Web Client.

SELECT ORDER_NO, AUTHORIZE_CODE, DATE_ENTERED FROM CUSTOMER_ORDER 
WHERE AUTHORIZE_CODE ='#USER_DIRECTORY_ID#' 

Available Context Substitution Variables are listed in General --> Context Substitution Variables page. More information regarding the existing CSV values can be found on the window description of the Context Substitution Variables page.

Available Query Macros are:

LAST_WEEK THIS_WEEK NEXT_WEEK
LAST_MONTH THIS_MONTH NEXT_MONTH
LAST_YEAR THIS_YEAR NEXT_YEAR

 

History

The history allows you to see data Inserted, Updated, or Deleted in the recent past. It provides a way of logging interesting transactions in the database. You can populate the history information for any data row using the row action menu in both multi-row and single row mode.