Action Step Type: Navigation

The navigation action step type displays an object screen set on the Agentry Client. It includes optional definable behaviors to specify the screen and control on the screen to which the initial focus is set. It may also be defined to close the previous screen set displayed. Screen sets may be defined to display an object, transaction, or fetch. A navigation action step is defined to display only those screen sets defined to display an object.

When selecting a specific screen within a screen set to be the first one displayed, you will typically select any of the screens not at position one within the screen set. The screen at position one within the screen is displayed first by default. If the navigation step displays a screen set with multiple platforms, and the selected screen definition is not used by one or more of the platforms, the screen at position one within the screen set is displayed first on those device platforms.

Similar behavior is exhibited when a specific field is selected within a detail screen to have the initial focus. If the field does not exist on a screen for a given platform, the default focus field, as defined within the screen, will contain the initial focus.

If the initial screen defined to be displayed is a list screen, the optional behavior of selecting one or more rows by default within that list can be defined. There are several options for selecting the rows, including: by position within the list; conditionally based on a rule; or to not select any record within the list.

The definable behavior of closing the previous screen set, or closing all open screen sets, can be used when navigating from one screen set to the next. However, it is recommended that closing the previous screen behavior not be defined when navigating from a module main screen set, as closing the main screen set is considered undesirable user interface behavior except in rare circumstances. Closing all open screen sets will never close the current module’s main screen set.

Closing the previous screen set or all non-main screen sets may also be defined in a navigation step that does not display a new screen set. This definition option results in the user being returned to the previously displayed screen set, i.e. the one from which they navigated to the current screen set, or the module main screen set. These behaviors are supported to ensure that a screen set and its screens are truly destroyed when the user wishes to close them. Certain client devices and their shells do not close a screen once opened. Rather, when a user clicks the close button (or sometimes an OK button) displayed in a title bar, the screen itself is simply hidden, but still remains in the background. The navigation step will close a screen set by destroying the screen object in memory. Closing all open screen sets other than the module main screen set provides an easy means of returning the user to the module main screen set if they are multiple levels deep into the application’s screen flow.

Navigation Step Attributes

Step Name: Contains the unique internal name of the action step definition. This must be unique among all steps within the same parent action.
Screen Set: Specifies the object screen to be displayed by the navigation step. This screen must be defined and exist within the module prior to defining the navigation step. This may be set to “Do No Display Screen Set,” which will also set the Close Screen attribute to “Close the screen you are leaving when this navigation step runs.”
Close Screen: Specifies that the screen set currently displayed when the action is executed be closed, or alternately that all screen sets other than the module main screen set be closed. The default setting for this attribute is to not close any screen sets. Valid options for this attribute include:
- None: Do not close any screen sets. Display the screen set defined in the Screen Set attribute.
- Close the screen you are leaving when this navigation step runs: The currently displayed screen set will be closed when the action step is executed. The screen set defined in the Screen Set attribute, if any, will then be displayed.
- Close all screens except main when this navigation step runs: All open screen sets except the module main screen set will be closed. The screen set defined in the Screen Set attribute, if any, will then be displayed. In an application with multiple modules, the main screen set for all modules except the current module will be closed.
Screen: Specifies the screen within the screen set to display first. By default, the first screen displayed is the screen at position one within the screen set. If a detail screen is selected, the Initial Focus attribute field is enabled. If a list screen is selected, the Select Rows attribute field is enabled.
Initial Focus: Available only when the Screen attribute is set to a detail screen. The Initial Focus can specify a field on the selected detail screen that will have the initial focus when the navigation step displays the screen set. By default, the field at position one within the screen will have the initial focus.
Select Rows: Available only when the Screen attribute is set to a list screen. The following are the options for this attribute, each of which specifies which row or rows within the list screen should be selected automatically when the list screen is displayed:
- All Rows: This selection will result in all rows in the list screen being selected initially. This selection is only applicable to list screens for which the multi-row select behavior has been enabled.
- Auto: This selection is the default and will not change the selected row on the list screen.
- By Position: This selection will enable the Position attribute field where the selected row in the list is specified by its position within the list.
- By Rule: This selection specifies that the initially selected row or rows in the list will be determined by a rule. When this option is selected, the Row attribute field will be enabled where the rule can be selected.
- First Row: This selection specifies that the first row in the list will be selected. This is always the first row from the top of the list.
- Last Row: This selection specifies that the last row in the list will be selected. This is always the last row from the bottom of the list.
- None (Clear Selection): This selection specifies that no rows will be selected in the list.
Position: Available when the Select Rows attribute is set to By Position. The Position attribute can then be set to a numerical value specifying the row at this position will be selected. As options to this attribute, the position can be determined by counting from the top of the list down or counting from the bottom up.
Rule: Available when the Select Rows attribute is set to By Rule. The Rule attribute can then be set to the First, Last, or All Rows, where the selected Rule returns either True or False. All rows is applicable only to list screens for which the multi-row select behavior has been enabled. The rule referenced here is evaluated once for and in the context of each object listed on the screen. It is expected to return a Boolean value.

Parent topic: Action Step