View and Panel Designer in QPR UI

A QPR MobileDashboard view is a rectangular area consisting of panels that hold inside them presentation objects that show the actual content. Panels can be reused, i.e. it is possible to add panels that you have in your Private Workspace or that have been published to the Public Workspace. The location and size of the panel(s) within the view can be adjusted.

View scaling

Views have the following scaling modes:

• In the fixed height mode all panels have fixed height in pixels, and the height of panels doesn't change between different screen sizes. The fixed height mode is switched on by defining view Aspect ratio flex to 1 (more information about Aspect Ratio Flex).
• In the relative height mode, all panels height adjust to the available screen height in a way that the content always takes the entire screen height so the screen is never scrollable nor there is empty space in the bottom of the screen. The relative height mode is switched on by defining view Aspect Ratio Flex to a high enough number, such as 100.
• There is also a hybrid mode, where panels' height adjust to some degree to the available space, but there is a certain adjustable limit for panels' height. The hybrid mode is used when the Aspect ratio flex is set to greater than 1 but not too big number. For example 1.2 - 2.0 might be suitable.

Panel's width is always determined by the relative height principle. The views are never scrollable horizontally, but the content always takes the whole available space.

Viewing and Editor Modes of Views and Panels

In QPR UI, a view may be seen in two modes: viewing mode and editor mode. When in editor mode, the panels and presentation objects can only be moved and resized. Interacting with presentation objects (e.g. clicking buttons) is possible when the viewing mode is used. In addition, a view can be either in locked or unlocked state.

• Viewing mode is in use when:
  • Administrators group has been configured to QPR UI and a viewer role user opens the view, because user doesn't have permissions to edit the view.
  • The opened view is locked, because locked views cannot be edited.
  • The opened view is unlocked, but the view has been toggled into viewing mode by clicking the Edit button on the main toolbar:
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• Editor mode is in use when:
  • Administrators group has been configured to QPR UI and an administrator role user opens an unlocked view that is also been set into editor mode by clicking the Edit button on the main toolbar:
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  • Administrators group has not been configured (i.e. all users are administrators), and the opened view is unlocked and the view been toggled into editor mode by clicking the Edit button on the main toolbar.

The Edit button is available also in unlocked panels for toggling the viewing/editor mode in the panel editor.

View Properties tab

• Name: Name of the view.
• Identifier: The identifier of the view. The identifier should be some unique text that distinguishes the view in the QPR MobileDashboard environment. The identifier is case-sensitive, it should not contain / characters, and the maximum length is 2048 characters. It's possible to use the identifier to link to the latest version of the view from other views by using the sys:dashboardIdentifier context variable.
• Description: Description of the view.

View Presentation tab

The View's Presentation tab contains following settings:

• Aspect ratio flex: Decimal number determining how much the view content's aspect ratio (width divided by height) is allowed to vary. Note that this setting doesn't affect the aspect ratio of the view itself, but only its contents, i.e. panels.
  • The view has a design aspect ratio which is determined by how panels are arranged in the view designer. Note that the whole available design area doesn't matter - only the actual panels determine the shown area and the design aspect ratio.
  • Aspect ratio calculation rule: If design aspect ratio is A and aspect ratio flex is B, the view's aspect ratio is allowed to change between A/B and A*B. Example: If design aspect ratio is 2 and aspect ratio flex is 4, the view's aspect ratio is allowed to vary between 0.5 and 8 (2/4=0.5 and 2*4=8).
  • View contents always take all available space horizontally. If the aspect ratio's lower limit is reached (i.e. view contents are not allowed use all available space vertically), there may be empty space in the bottom of the view. If the aspect ratio's higher limit is reached (i.e. view contents don't fit vertically), the view has a vertical scrollbar.
  • The aspect ratio flex is useful e.g. for views which don't work properly if the aspect ratio stretches to too extreme.
• Inner margin: Horizontal and vertical space between the panels in the view. Defined in pixels.
• Outer margin: Space between the panels and the view outer border. Defined in pixels.
• Background color: Background color of the view. Panels inside the view may have other background colors than the view. It's possible to set transparent background by defining "transparent" in the color selector input box.
• SVG background: The SVG image to use as the view background. The SVG image will be rendered on top of the defined view Background color. The SVG image is defined in the same way as with SVG Presentation Objects, except that the SVG image used as the view background cannot contain actions.

Defining View Properties and Variables

To define context variables, type in the name of the variable to the text field and click the check mark. After that, you can click the value field and type in the value for your context variable. Context variables starting with "sys:" are system variables which have special purpose in QPR UI - use them only for their intended purpose. The Behavior selection affects the context variable used explained in Context Variable Behaviors. To see what context variable values are used in the view, panel, or presentation object, select the Show effective context check box in the Context tab of the view, panel, or presentation object properties pages.

Variables Usage Example

There is a view with one panel, in which there is one presentation object. The Session variable values are defined as follows:

Variable name	Value
AccountManager	John Smith
Country	Sweden

In the View Properties, the following variable values are defined:

Variable name	Value	Behavior
AccountManager	William Taylor	Stored variable
CustomerGroup	Kids	Local variable

In the Panel Properties, the following variable values are defined:

Variable name	Value	Behavior
AccountManager	Susan Chapman	Local variable
Country	Finland	Local variable

In the Presentation Object Properties, the following variable values are defined:

Variable name	Value	Behavior
ProductGroup	Umbrellas	Stored variable

In the Effective View Context, these result into the values shown below. Note the Source column displaying the information where the effective context comes from:

Variable name	Value	Source	Scope
AccountManager	William Taylor	Scope of the view	View
Country	Sweden	Inherited from session context	Session
CustomerGroup	Kids	Scope of the view	View

In the Effective Panel Context, these result into the values shown below. Note the Source column displaying the information where the effective context comes from:

Variable name	Value	Source	Scope
AccountManager	Susan Chapman	Initialized from the panel's context	Panel
Country	Finland	Initialized from the panel's context	Panel
CustomerGroup	Kids	Inherited from the effective context of the view	View

In the Effective Presentation Object Context, these result into the values shown below. Note the Source column displaying the information where the effective context comes from:

Variable name	Value	Source	Scope
AccountManager	Susan Chapman	Inherited from the effective context of the panel	Panel
Country	Finland	Inherited from the effective context of the panel	Panel
ProductGroup	Umbrellas	Scope of the presentation object	Presentation object
CustomerGroup	Kids	Inherited from the effective context of the view	View

To put it more concisely, the context variable values (and their behaviors) are as follows:

Context Variable	Session	View	Panel	Presentation Object
AccountManager	John Smith	William Taylor (Stored variable)	Susan Chapman (Local variable)
Country	Sweden		Finland (Local variable)
ProductGroup				Umbrellas (Stored variable)
CustomerGroup		Kids (Local variable)

The effective context values are:

Context Variable	Session	View	Panel	Presentation Object
AccountManager	John Smith	William Taylor	Susan Chapman	Susan Chapman
Country	Sweden	Sweden	Finland	Finland
ProductGroup				Umbrellas
CustomerGroup		Kids	Kids	Kids