Configure Page

Select Configure Page from the row-level menu. This action transitions you to a page that displays one tab for each view on the page. On multi-tab pages such as transactions, activity folders, and wizard-style pages, there is a Page Title Bar tab that is used to support the configuration of actions/links applicable to the entire page. Each tab is comprised of three or four grids. Each grid presents different levels (Properties, Groups, Sections, and Fields) of page metadata for the current view.

Note: The Online Extensions Mode (online.extension.db.mode) property in the server_bootstrap.properties file impacts whether application users see the result of changes made via DESIGNER immediately. An informational message is displayed at the top of the page indicating whether the Online Extension Mode is enabled or disabled. Refer to the “Verifying Extensions” topic for more information about this parameter and how sites can append additional text to the informational messages.  

If you use the Transaction COA Display Configuration (COACONF) page to configure Financial transaction pages to hide or rearrange COA fields, the generated page extensions would be reflected on DESIGNER, but you will not be able to apply extensions, revert extensions, add to migration queue, or remove from migration queue against these pages using DESIGNER until the generated page extensions are synchronized or cancelled. Refer to the "Transaction COA Display Configuration (COACONF)" topic in the CGI Advantage - Chart of Accounts User Guide for more information.

• Properties - shows high-level properties of the view itself, such as its title and relative order to other views (when applicable, such as for a transaction page or multi-tab reference data or inquiry page). The following properties can be modified (extended) using DESIGNER.

Property	Extension
Title	Indicates the title associated with the page.

On the Properties grid, an Additional Configuration action is provided to transition you to a page that allows you to configure text, actions, and links displayed on the page.

• Text - shows text elements that are displayable at the view-level. Multiple text elements may be listed, but only one text element is displayed at the view-level at a time.

Property	Extension
Displayed	Indicates whether the text will be displayed on the page.
Text	Indicates the text being displayed. Text from the Configurable Text (CTEXT) page can be referenced here and inferred at runtime by using a text substitution template. The inferred text can be used by itself or imbedded within additional text entered. Inference of text from the Configurable Text uses effective date logic to infer the correct record. Template Format: {CTEXT:<Configurable Text Code>} Where <Configurable Text Code> is the code identifying the record on the Configurable Text page.

Note: If the page has conditional text elements, the existing text elements will be displayed on the Configure Text page. For conditional text elements, you will only be able to modify the text. You will not be able to modify the conditions by which the different conditional text elements are displayed. Also, you cannot add a new text element to the conditional text logic. Changes to the conditional text logic cannot be done using DESIGNER.

• Actions/Links - shows actions, links, quick links, or carousel menus within the view that can be configured online. The following properties can be modified (extended) using DESIGNER.

Property	Extension
Title	Indicates the title associated with the action/link. Title Extension is supported for quick links and carousel menus, as well as actions/links appearing within menus that show related actions or related pages.
Order	Indicates the relative order in which the action/link is displayed in relation to the other actions/links within the same Location/Type and Menu Title.
Displayed	Indicates whether the action/link will be displayed. Displayed Extension is not supported for the Back, Cancel, Close, Continue, Previous, and Undo actions.
Show As Button	Indicates whether to display the action/link as a button outside the menu. Show As Button Extension is supported for actions/links within the page-level menu. Extensions are also supported within the tab-level menu if the tab has other existing button(s). Note: Use the Revert Extension action if you need to change an extended action/link from a button and move it back inside the menu. When an action/link has a global extension to show as a button, and there are associated conditional extensions, you need to revert the conditional extensions before reverting the global extension. When using the Show As Button Extension, review the updated layout to avoid problems such as too many buttons cluttering or going off the page.
Template	Indicates whether to display a button as Solid filled or No fill. The default value for buttons is No fill. Template Extension is supported for actions/links directly on the page or tab, or within the menu where Show As Button Extension is supported. If an action/link resides in the menu (that is, Location/Type is Page Additional Menu or Tab Additional Menu), you must use the Show As Button Extension field to make the button display in order for any Template Extension to take effect. Note: Buttons that already use a special template (for example, the Cancel button on a pop-up window) do not have a Template value shown and do not support Template Extension.

Note: A page using the carousel menu usually has the Business Role Association (BUSROLAS) setup that allows the user to navigate directly to a specific carousel tile on the page using the primary navigation menu. When you configure a carousel menu to hide a link, you should also update the BUSROLAS setup so that the corresponding system resource target is not displayed.

• Groups - appears only when the view is capable of displaying multiple data sets, usually originating from different application data sources. For example, on the Purchase Order transaction, the Header view only displays data from one data source so “Groups” is not shown. The Summary view of the Purchase Order, however, uses four data sources to show information from the Header, Vendor, Commodity, and Accounting data sources so “Groups” is shown so that properties such as the titles and relative order of these data sets can be modified. The following Group properties can be modified (extended) using DESIGNER.

Property	Extension
Title	Indicates the title associated with the group of the page.
Order	Indicates the relative order in which the group is displayed in relation to the other sections of the page.
Displayed	Indicates whether the group will be displayed on the page.

• Sections - lists the field sets contained within the view, typically corresponding to small sets of scalar fields seen within a collapsible scalar section or as a tab embedded within a grid row. Properties such as the titles and relative order of the sections can be modified. The following Section properties can be modified (extended) using DESIGNER.

Property	Extension
Title	Indicates the title associated with the section of the page.
Order	Indicates the relative order in which the section is displayed in relation to the other sections of the page.
Displayed	Indicates whether the group will be displayed on the page.
Number Of Display Columns	Indicates the number of columns displayed on a scalar section. The number of columns displayed is limited based on the resolution used to display the application. If no value is specified, the system will try to display as many columns as possible up to the maximum of 4 columns. In certain situations, the Number of Display Columns has been set to a specific value for a given section for readability purposes. Examples of this are Discount or Retainage terms where the number of display columns is used to organize fields related to one term separately from fields related to another term. Note: The application may not honor the specified number of columns under a few conditions: If the configured value exceeds the maximum number of scalar columns appropriate for the browser screen width. For example, if the current browser width allows a maximum of three scalar columns, a preference for four scalar columns will be ignored and the fields will be rendered in three columns. In addition to a section level preference to control the number of display columns in the scalar layout, the Start New Row property at the field level can be used to render a field on the next row. Field level preference takes precedence over section level preference when both preferences are used within a section and UI framework may not honor section level preference as intended.

• Fields - shows the fields on the page, organized by Group (when applicable) and Section. If the same field (from the same backend data source) appears in multiple places on the page during normal page usage, the field will appear just once in this list. Several field properties can be modified. The following Field properties can be modified (extended) using DESIGNER.

The drop-down fields with Yes or No values cannot be marked as Required Extension on Configure Page (DESIGNER), since these fields always have a selected value of either Yes or No. Therefore, the Required Extension for these fields on Configure Page (DESIGNER) is displayed as disabled.

Changes made to certain properties listed in the following table differ in terms of Simple grids and Complex grids.  

• Simple Grid: Grid that has a single scalar without multiple tabs.

• Complex Grid: Grid with embedded scalar tabs.

Property	Extension
Attribute Name	Indicates the technical name associated with the field. This field cannot be extended. When search uses an upper-case field and the search results display the mixed-case field, the attribute name reflects the technical name associated with the mixed-case field.
Business Object	Indicates the business object that the field is bound to. This field cannot be extended. Business Object is blank for the unbound fields.
Title	Indicates the title associated with the field of the page. If this field is also a search field, the title extension also applies to the search field. Note: If the extended title needs to be reflected across applications including system feedback messages, please consider extending the title using the Configure Business Object action.
Displayed	Indicates whether the field will be displayed on the page.
Priority	Indicates the display priority of the field. Primary - Field is initially displayed on the page opening. Secondary - Field is only displayed when Show More is activated. Setting used for less important or seldom used fields. Tertiary – Field will always be hidden. Field is revealed only by site-specific configuration. Infrequently used options. Setting primarily used for infrequently used functionality across Advantage client community. Note: Changes done for the Priority display of any field will only be applicable for the pages with a Simple Grid.
Rank	Indicates the relative display order of field in relation to other fields being displayed.
Order	Used for adjacent fields. Indicates the relative display order of adjacent fields within the same Rank.
Starts New Row	Indicates that the field should be displayed starting on a new row. The display of all subsequent rank fields will be adjusted accordingly.
Protected	Indicates that the field is non-editable and protected from updates. For fields that are already protected in the Advantage baseline application, the Protected field cannot be extended.
Required	Indicates whether an asterisk (*) is displayed along with the field title. An asterisk is displayed along with the title for baseline required fields and the Required field is set to Yes. If the Required field is No, then you can set the Required Extension field to Yes, which displays the asterisk along with the field title. Note: Displaying the asterisk on an optional field does not enforce any field requirement. Enforcing a field requirement must be done by some other means, such as by custom code or by using Configurable Validation functionality to define a validation. For fields that are required by the Advantage Baseline application, the Required field cannot be extended and the Required Extension field is not editable.
Required for Search	Indicates whether the indicated field is required when searching on the indicated page. When the Required for Search Extension field is set to Yes, the red asterisk will be added next to the search field’s name on the indicated page and an error is issued if the search field is not populated when initiating a search. The Required for Search field does not impact search field requirements that exist on the page as part of baseline code. Note: “Bounded” fields are those fields that are physically part of the business objects used on the page. “Unbounded” fields to not exist on the business object. Examples are total or summary fields. Unbounded fields are used to display values not found on the business object or used on the page to allow input of a value used for processing the page data. The Required for Search Extension field can only be set for “Bounded” fields.
Prohibit Multiple Values	Indicates whether the search field prohibits comma separated values. If a search field already prohibits multiple values in the Advantage baseline application, this property cannot be extended. Note: Supported for text, numeric, or date fields. Not supported on Performance Budgeting pages.
Prohibit Wild Card	Indicates whether the search field prohibits wildcard characters. If a search field already prohibits wildcard characters in the Advantage baseline application, this property cannot be extended. Note: Supported for text fields. Not supported on Performance Budgeting pages.
Prohibit Range	Indicates whether the search field prohibits range values (using colon to indicate from/to values). If a search field already prohibits range values in the Advantage baseline application, this property cannot be extended. Note: Supported for numeric or date fields. Not supported on Performance Budgeting pages.
Show in Grid	Indicates whether the field will be displayed in the complex grid. This property is only applicable when the view has a complex grid. Note: Changes done to this property will only be applicable for the pages with a Complex Grid.
Grid Rank	Indicates the relative display order of the field in relation to other fields being displayed in the complex grid. This property is only applicable when the view has a complex grid. Note: Changes done to this property will only be applicable for the pages with a Complex Grid.

On a reference data page where you can search for records and see results displayed in a grid on the search view, and view or edit records on the details view, the system supports an Add Field to Grid action. You can use it to add fields to the search results grid display.

When supported, the Add Field to Grid action is shown in the Fields grid. This action opens a window that lists the fields that are eligible to add to the search results grid. The following types of fields cannot be moved to the search results grid: fields not displayed (for example, tertiary priority or controlled by visibility logic), unbound fields, or fields that are displayed as a group under a composite field (for example, fields making up address appearing as a group in details view). You can select one or more fields to add to the search results grid. If all available fields are already in the search results grid, the modal window does not show any fields.

Fields added to the search results grid appear as secondary fields behind other grid fields. You can update the Rank Extension or Priority Extension under Grid Properties, if needed. Fields added using the Add Field to Grid action are global extensions and you can apply a conditional extension for the added fields using the Extend Same Field row-level action, if needed. You can use Revert Extension to undo the addition as long as there are no associated conditional extensions for the added field. If there are associated conditional extensions, you need to revert the conditional extensions before you can revert the global extension.

Limitations

• Non-standard pages are not fully supported by online extensibility using Configure Page (DESIGNER). For example:

• Account Settings (ACTSET): Has multiple sub-sections under the tabs.

• Report Listing (RPRTLST): Uses tree components. Contains two grids that show the same fields from the same data source.

• The following common pages across the application listed on the Application Pages (ERPAPGS) table are not supported by online extensibility using Configure Page (DESIGNER):

• Pages used to support Configure Page or Configure Business Object

• Advantage Home Page (ADVHMPG)

• Image Widget (IMAGEWID)

Note: For page types mentioned above, it is recommended that a file-based extension be used for full extensibility functionality.

Select Configure Business Object from the row-level menu. This action transitions you to a page that displays the list of business objects that can be extended on that page. If you wish to extend a specific business object, select the Configure action from the corresponding row to navigate to the Configure Business Object page where you can apply business object extensions.

• Properties - shows the properties of a business object that can be extended.

Property	Extension
Business Object	Business object that is being extended. This field cannot be extended.
Title	Indicates the title associated with the Business Object.

• Attributes - shows the list of the attributes and the associated properties that can be extended.

Property	Extension
Attribute	Indicates the technical name associated with the field. This field cannot be extended.
Title	Indicates the title/caption associated with the field.
Size	Indicates the size of the field.
Maximum Allowable Size	Read-only value indicates the maximum field size allowed in the field. The system issues an error message if an extension value is greater than this value.

Title Extensions

Extensions to the Business Object Title and Field Title are applied immediately on the application pages that use the business object, but the extensions will not reflect in system feedback messages, until the extensions are migrated, the Designer Sync job is run to merge the extension to RTFiles, PalDb is regenerated, and the system is bounced.

Size Extensions

Extensions to the Business Object Attribute size are applied immediately on the application pages that use the business object and restrict users to enter the value not more than the new attribute size. Extensions are not reflected in the business logic until the extensions are migrated, and the Designer Sync job is run to merge the extensions to RTFiles, PALDb is regenerated, and the system is bounced.

Size extensions are allowed in limited scenarios on fields that match the following criteria.

• Field data type is Varchar or String.

• Field not marked as globally used using a type-definition reference.

• Field does not have an associated Coded Value List ().

• Field does not have a default value defined in baseline.

When applicable, the system allows:

• A decrease of field size below the delivered value: or

• An increase above the delivered value up to a maximum allowable size in cases where the maximum allowable size is greater than the delivered size value.

Changing field size may have several impacts within and across the Advantage applications, and integration with the external systems. Therefore, proper analysis and due diligence is required before applying change to field size extensions.

Field size changes are safer in the following scenarios:

• Generic fields delivered in baseline for future custom needs.

• Fields are available in baseline and you want to use them for the first time.

If you have a need to change a field size that already is in use in current or previous releases, here are some important points to consider:

• Verify if a database table already has records and the extended field has values greater than the new field size. Update existing table records manually to conform to the new field size(s).

• Verify impact on Business Intelligence/Advantage Insight applications and ensure the new field size is propagated to implemented applications.

• Verify impact on published Advantage Connect API documentation. Update the documentation as necessary for your partners consuming the Advantage services.

• Verify inbound interface processes impacted by the field size change. Notify your partners accordingly to avoid errors in interface processes.

• Verify outbound interface processes impacted by the field size. Modify the processes as needed.

• Verify whether size extensions impact COBOL payroll and/or Next Generation payroll applications. Avoid size extensions to prevent errors in payroll processing.

• Verify if size extensions impact Configurable Validation (BORULE) and/or Configurable Formula (BOFRMLA) records already defined on the business object. Update the configuration as needed to match the extended field size.

Currently, in Performance Budgeting, specific field labels are controlled at the page metadata level instead of the domain level. For example, position number is listed as Code at the domain level and Position Number on the page metadata. Other examples include employee number and assignment number. These referenced labels are not configured by business object configuration; the labels may be updated through DESIGNER field labels, if desired.  

• For COA elements labels: Labels specified on the COA template are overwritten by labels configured using DESIGNER. Labels configured via the Configure Page action will take precedence at the page level over labels configured via the Configure Business Object action. For example, if the COA template has Fund as a label, and Configure Page has Grants, the system displays it as Grants Maintenance. If Configure Business Object has a label of General Fund, the system still displays Grants as Configure Page takes precedence over Configure Business Object.

• For Capital Template custom fields and capital reference field labels: Labels specified on the Capital Template take precedence over DESIGNER configuration. For example, Capital Reference Field 1 is labeled as “Function Maintenance” and the DESIGNER configuration has Sub-function Maintenance. The system displays Function Maintenance for the Capital Reference Field 1.  

If you make changes directly on the initial record, (that is, Business Role, Business Process, Transaction, and Department all show “FOR ALL”), then the extension applies globally. If you want to specify an extension conditionally, you need to use the Extend Same... action available on the row-level menu. This will create a new row for the same Group, Section, Field, or Actions/Links (depending on which grid you are using) where you must specify one condition (Business Role, Business Process, Transaction, or Department). You can specify Business Role or Business Process condition for a common page. You can use the Extend Same… action additional times for the same record, as long as the combination of Business Role, Business Process, Transaction and Department is unique.

Out-of-the-box , the Department drop-down is empty, and the Transaction drop-down shows baseline transaction codes applicable to the page. If your site has created clones of a transaction or your site wants to configure pages based on Department condition, you can run the Designer to XML Sync Process job in the Financial or HRM application to generate the Transaction and Department drop-down values using data setup from the Transaction Control (DCTRL) and Department (DEPT) tables. Refer to the Designer to XML Synchronization Process run sheet for more information.

To identify rows that have been extended via the use of Configure Page (DESIGNER), refer to the Extended? field value. When an extension is applied to a row, the Extended? field will be set to Yes.

Note: The Extended? field value only applies to extensions created using Configure Page. Extensions delivered via a file-based extension will not be indicated by the Extended? field.

You can revert an extension using the Revert Extension action via the row-level menu. Note that certain extensions may require manual update to the corresponding extension file in order to revert properly.  You can revert all pending extensions for a Configure Page record by selecting Undo Pending Extensions from the page-level menu. Neither Revert Extension nor Undo Pending Extensions impact delivered file-based extensions, as delivered file-based extensions cannot be configured using DESIGNER. 

A record must be added to the migration queue before it is selected by the Designer to XML Synchronization Process. The following page level actions assist with adding to / removing from the migration queue:

• Add to Migration Queue – Selecting this action marks a record as complete, which indicates it will be selected by the Designer to XML Synchronization Process. This action hides the row-level menu for all rows of all grids of all the tabs, and prevent users from making any changes to any rows by making them read-only.

• Remove from Migration Queue – Selecting this action removes a record from the migration queue that was previously added to the migration queue.  This action makes the record editable again and allows you to make any additional changes before it is again added to the migration queue.

When you click the links under the Extended Business Objects sub menu from the Configure Page (DESIGNER) page-level menu, you navigate to the Extended Business Objects page, which lists extended business objects based on the clicked link’s filter (application, pending synchronization, or under development). If you wish to view extension details for a specific business object, select the View action from the corresponding row to navigate to the View Extended Business Object page.

The View Extended Business Object page is an adjusted view of the Configure Business Objects page and has a similar layout with the following key differences:

• Only attributes with extensions are shown.

• The page is read only. You cannot apply or revert extensions, nor can you add a business object to or remove it from the migration queue.

Some supported extensions are outside of the functionality of Configure Page and would need to use file-based extensions, which involves editing the page or business object extension xml file manually. Such file-based extensions are delivered to the custom sub-layer of the application layer and are separate from configurations maintained by a site using DESIGNER and the Designer Sync to XML Process. If competing extensions arise between the Configure Page and file-based extensions, the extension from Configure Page takes precedence.

The online.extension.db.mode in the server_bootstrap.properties file controls whether an extension is immediately available after you save it on the Configure Page. The setting does not apply to file-based extensions, which always requires PalDb regeneration before the extension is seen online.

• Sites can set online.extension.db.mode to true when prototyping to immediately view changes. It is not recommended to use this setting during production, because the system needs to check the table storage for Configure Page extensions and merge them with the page layout coming from PalDb before presenting the page to the user. Also, if there is concurrent file-based extension development, you cannot see both Configure Page and file-based extensions in the online application unless you run the Designer Sync job followed by PalDb regeneration.

• Sites should set the online.extension.db.mode to false for production environments. When this setting is used, the system sees what is in PalDb via RTFiles XML. Changes made via Configure Page are not applied to the application pages until the Designer Sync job is run to merge the extension to RTFiles, PalDb is regenerated, and the system is bounced.

Once an extension is available online, you can navigate to the page and verify that the extension appears as desired. Depending on the scope of the extension (global, role, process, transaction, or department), you may need to select the appropriate role, navigate to the page a certain way, or choose records that satisfy the transaction or department condition in order to see the extension.

An informational message is displayed at the top of the DESIGNER page indicating whether Online Extension Mode is enabled or disabled. This allows users to quickly determine the current setting.

• If online.extension.db.mode = true: “Online extension mode is enabled. Extensions made will be effective in the application immediately upon saving changes.”

• If online.extension.db.mode = false: “Online extension mode is disabled. Extensions made will not be effective in the application.”

Note: Sties can append additional text to the informational message via the SYSADMDT record on the Configurable Text (CTEXT) page. For example, sites can include additional information about contacting a System Administrator along with specific contact details. The additional text is appended to the end of the baseline delivered message.