Creating Object Views

To create an object view, you need to name the view, add all necessary tabs to it, and lay out the blocks on each tab in the proper order.

Tip: Make a list of tabs you would like to include in the object view you are creating and a list of blocks that you want to include on each tab.

To create a custom object view

1. Open the Object Views tab of the appropriate object definition.
2. Click New.
   You can also create a copy of an existing object view by opening the appropriate object view of the displayed object definition, and then clicking Create a Copy.
   The General section of the new object view appears.
3. In the View Name field, type a name for the new object view.
4. In the Unique Key field, type a name or value that will uniquely identify the view within the object definition.
   An object view's unique key cannot contain spaces, underscores, punctuation marks, or any special characters.
5. Click Save.
   The Preview section of the new object view appears.
6. On the New tab name field, type the name the tab that you would like to create in your custom object view, and click add.
7. In the Add the block drop-down list, select a block that you would like to add to the selected tab, and click add.
   The selected block appears under the selected tab in the Preview section.
8. Repeat step 7 for as many blocks as you would like to add to the selected tab.
9. Position the blocks you have added in the desired order by clicking the up and down arrows () next to each block.
10. Repeat steps 6 and 9 for all tabs you would like to add to your custom object view.
11. Position the tabs you have added in the desired order by selecting the appropriate tab and clicking the right and left Reposition highlighted tab arrows ().
12. Click Save.
    
    To see your new object views in the displayed list, click Refresh.
    
    To allow users to view and use your object views you must assign them to the designated groups or set the view as default in the system settings. See Assigning Object Views.

Points to Remember

Consider the following when creating custom object views:

• The more blocks you add to a tab, the longer it takes to open it.
• Each tab that you create appears in the end-user interface only when at least one block is added to the tab.
• Blocks for related objects are not displayed in the record until the user saves it first.
• The General block must be always added to the custom object view, as it typically contains the required system fields. Make sure to include all required fields in every custom object view.
• Because all custom components of an object view are category-specific, make sure you add the Categories block to the object view. Otherwise, the users are unable to add categories and consequently see their custom fields.
  
  Task and Expense do not have the Categories block. Instead, there is a field called Default Category in their General block.
  
  The Contact object presents its category-related custom field values in the Details page, not in the General page.
• If you want child or embedded object records to be displayed in the selected object's records, you must add the corresponding blocks to a tab in the object view and name it accordingly.
  
  These blocks are automatically created when the child or embedded custom objects are created.
  
  For example, if you want each parent Policy object record to have its child Claim records and its embedded object Coverage records displayed on the same tab, you must create this tab (for example, called Claims and Coverages) in the custom object view in the Policy object definition and add the blocks called Claim and Coverage to that tab.

Important: If you want system object records, such as appointments, accounts, tasks, and expenses, to be displayed in a project, you must create tabs or sections with the appropriate names and add the corresponding system blocks.

Assigning Object Views

By default, all users see the system views for all objects as specified on the Default Object Views tab of the System Settings screen. After a custom object view is created, you must assign it either to a group or to the entire system before users are able to use that object view.

The object views that are set in the System Settings screen are going to be displayed for a user who:

• Does not belong to a user group
• Has no default group selected in his or her user account
• Has the (Select a View) option displayed next to the custom object in default Object Views tab of his or her default group.
  
  Note: The default object views set in group accounts always take precedence over the system settings.
   

To assign object views to the system:

1. In the Designer window bar, in the System Settings drop-down list select Default Object Views.
2. Scroll to the object to which you want to assign a view and do one of the following actions:
   • o If you want to set a certain custom view created for the object as default for the system, select the name of that view in the drop-down list next to the object.
   • o If you want to set the system view of the object as default for the system, select that view in the drop-down list next to the object. For details on how to identify a system view in the list, see Object View Names.
3. Repeat step 2 for all objects to which you want to change default views.
4. Click Save.
   The selected settings take effect immediately, and the users who do not have a default group set in their user accounts see the object views assigned to the system.

Search Views

There are two search views of the Line Items block that you can use to view line item details—All Line Items and Line Item Warnings. Users have the ability to toggle between these two views, set one as default, and can make the two views as similar or different as necessary. For more information on line item views, see the User Guide.