Using My Start Pages

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Explanation

My Start Pages provide instant access to information in IFS Applications. It simplifies navigation and makes it easier to find information that is relevant for you. A My Start Page contains elements such as Saved Searches, Selections, Quick Reports, URL's and Application Search bars arranged in three columns. Titles and Notes can be used to organize your page and enhance its layout. It is also possible to have several My Start Pages.

A My Start Page can also be set as the home page for IFS Applications by setting it up in the Application Options (in the "General" tab). This will then become the entry point to the application.

My Start Pages are personal and stored in the user profile. My Start Pages can also be configured by the System Administrator and pushed out to end-users via the base profile.

Figure 1: A sample My Start Page.

Prerequisites

The System Administrator can configure the My Start Page functionality available to the end-user by granting the appropriate permissions. Please see the Technical Documentation for further information.

System Effects

N/A

Window

My Start Pages

Related Window Descriptions

Navigation Pages for IFS Enterprise Explorer

Procedure

Using My Start Page

A My Start Page consists of elements arranged in three columns as shown in Figure 1. Here is an explanation of the various types of elements that are available.


	Title
	These elements are used to organize your page and enhance its look and feel.
	Note
	These elements are used to organize your page and enhance its look and feel.
	Saved Search
	These elements are connected to Saved Searches. The right end of the element shows the count result. Hover over the Saved Search element to see the IFS Applications page that it was created from. Click on the element to show the results in the IFS Applications page.
	Quick Report
	These elements are connected to Quick Reports. Click on the element to navigate to the Quick Report's result.
	Selection
	These elements are connected to Selections. The right end of the element shows the count of the Selection's objects. Hover over the Selection element to see the IFS Applications page that it was created from. Click on the element to show the Selection's objects in the IFS Applications page.
	Link
	These elements are connected to an IFS Applications page, web page or file on your local computer or a network share. Hover over to see the link address. Click on the element to navigate to it.
	Application Search
	These elements are connected to Application Search. The initial text displays the Search Domain or Search Domain Group it is connected to. This is a free-text search, so type in your query, then press Enter or click on the search button to see the results in the Application Search page.

Modifying My Start Pages

If you are allowed to modify My Start Pages, you will see a padlock at the bottom right corner of the work area. Click on the padlock to unlock the current page so that you can make changes.

Figure 2: An Unlocked My Start Page.

When the page is Unlocked

There will be a red border around the work area to indicate that the page is unlocked and editable.
The padlock icon on the button will change to unlocked. Clicking on the button again will lock the page.
You will see two additional buttons next to the padlock. These buttons allow you to Add and Remove elements from your page.

On an Unlocked Page You Can

Add New Elements

Click on the Add button to open the Add Item dialog.
Select the type of element you want to add. Fill in the required information and press the Add button in the dialog to add the element to your page. Press the Close button when you are done adding elements.

Rearrange Elements

Click and drag elements around on your page to rearrange them.

Edit Elements

You can double click on a Title element or a Note element to edit its content. Press Enter on the keyboard to accept the modified text, or press Escape to cancel the change. In Note elements you can press Ctrl+Enter to add a new line.

Remove Elements

When you click on the Delete button, cross-mark buttons will appear on the right edge of each element. Click on the cross button to delete the element. Deleting a Saved Search, Selection or Quick Report element will only remove the element from your page, not the actual Saved Search etc. You can always add it back if you like. When the delete setting is active, you cannot rearrange elements or click and navigate. Click on the delete button again to exit the delete setting.

When a My Start Page is unlocked, you cannot click and navigate from an element. You also cannot unlock the same page in multiple windows at the same time. While you are in an unlocked page, if you navigate to another page in IFS Enterprise Explorer, the My Start Page will be automatically locked again. Locking a page will save the changes to the profile.

Add Item Dialog

Figure 3: The Add Item dialog

The Add Item dialog consists of three main areas:

The element type picker: Choose which type of element you are going to add.
The element detail area: Add the parameters of your element. This will change according to the element type you have selected.
The element location picker: Choose which column you want to add your element to.

Steps for adding a new Element

Title

Type in the text for your new Title element. The content will display in a single line and truncate according to the column width of your page.

Note

Type in the text for your new Note element. The content will wrap according to the column width of your page. To add a new line, press Ctrl+Enter. The element will display only two lines, and any remaining text can be seen by hovering the mouse over it.

Saved Search

All your Saved Searches with a navigable home page will be listed in the dropdown. The dropdown will display the Saved Search name suffixed by its home page's name. The list is sorted by the page name to make items easy to find. The element will display the Saved Search name along with the number of records it returns.

Note: If a Saved Search does not show up on the list, try opening the home page for that Saved Search, opening the Saved Search in the Search dialog, and saving it again under the same name. This adds some extra information that My Start Pages uses for showing the result count.

Quick Report

The dropdown will list your available Quick Reports, sorted by the report name. When you add the element to the page, it will display the Quick Report's name.

Selection

The dropdown will list your available Selections. The dropdown will display the Selection name suffixed by its home page's name. The list is sorted by the page name to make items easy to find. The element will display the Selection's name and the count of objects in it.

Link

Type in the title and the URL address for your new Link element. The URL can be to an IFS Applications page, a web page or a file on your local computer or a network share.

Examples:

Application Page: ifsapf:frmInventoryPart or ifswin:Ifs.Application.ManageMyTodo.MyTodo

Web page: http://www2.ifsworld.com/apps-instr-videos/default.htm

A file in the local machine: file:///C:/Work/ProjectProposal.docx (note: you have to add "file:///" to the local path and replace all backslashes ("\") with forward slashes ("/")

A file in a shared location: file://///intranet/shared_files/sales_report.xlsx (note: you have to add "file:///" to the UNC share path and replace all backslashes ("\") with forward slashes ("/")

Hint: you could also create several My Start Pages, and link them to each other to create a multi-page My Start Page.

Application Search

The dropdown will list your available Search Domains and Search Domain Groups. Select an item to create your Application Search element. To create an element that can search in multiple domains, you must first create a Search Domain Group and select that group from the dropdown list.

Note: If the source of a Saved Search element or a Selection element is removed or renamed, the element would show as unavailable in your My Start Page. The below example shows what an unavailable element looks like. If you removed it, create it again with the same name. If you renamed it, either delete the element and add it again, or rename it back to the original name.

Figure 4: An example element with an unavailable item

Creating and Managing My Start Pages

My Start Pages is the overview page where you can manage all your My Start Pages. The page consists of a list of all your My Start Pages and a set of buttons to perform various operations.

Figure 5: The My Start Pages overview page

Here are the operations can you perform from the overview page. Note that except for New and Import, the other actions will be enabled when you select an existing page in the list.

New
Create a new, empty page. Give a name for your new page in the New Page dialog.
Import
Import a previously exported My Start Page. The page name will be set to the same name as the exported page.
View
View the page selected in the list. You can also double click on a page name on the list to view it.
Rename
Rename an existing page. Select a page from the list, click Rename... and give a new name in the Rename Page dialog.
Delete
Delete the selected page from the profile. Only the page will be deleted. The Saved Searches, Selections, Quick Reports and Application Searches added to your page will still remain, so you can use them in other pages.
Add Page to Navigator
Add the selected page to the IFS Navigator. Select a page from the list, click Add to Navigator.... In the Add to Navigator dialog, choose the location from the tree structure to add an entry for the selected page.
Export
Export and save the selected page as a file. Exported pages can be shared with other colleagues, or added back using the Import option.

Note: Saved Searches, Selections, Quick Reports etc. on your Exported and Imported My Start Pages rely on your access to their source. They will not work if the source is not available in the imported profile. Exporting a My Start Page does not export the source of Saved Searches, Selections or Quick reports. Application Search will also work only when the Search Domains and Domain Groups are available to the user who imports the page.

	Add New Elements
	Click on the Add button to open the Add Item dialog. Select the type of element you want to add. Fill in the required information and press the Add button in the dialog to add the element to your page. Press the Close button when you are done adding elements.
	Rearrange Elements
	Click and drag elements around on your page to rearrange them.
	Edit Elements
	You can double click on a Title element or a Note element to edit its content. Press Enter on the keyboard to accept the modified text, or press Escape to cancel the change. In Note elements you can press Ctrl+Enter to add a new line.
	Remove Elements
	When you click on the Delete button, cross-mark buttons will appear on the right edge of each element. Click on the cross button to delete the element. Deleting a Saved Search, Selection or Quick Report element will only remove the element from your page, not the actual Saved Search etc. You can always add it back if you like. When the delete setting is active, you cannot rearrange elements or click and navigate. Click on the delete button again to exit the delete setting.

Steps for adding a new Element
	Title
	Type in the text for your new Title element. The content will display in a single line and truncate according to the column width of your page.
	Note
	Type in the text for your new Note element. The content will wrap according to the column width of your page. To add a new line, press Ctrl+Enter. The element will display only two lines, and any remaining text can be seen by hovering the mouse over it.
	Saved Search
	All your Saved Searches with a navigable home page will be listed in the dropdown. The dropdown will display the Saved Search name suffixed by its home page's name. The list is sorted by the page name to make items easy to find. The element will display the Saved Search name along with the number of records it returns. Note: If a Saved Search does not show up on the list, try opening the home page for that Saved Search, opening the Saved Search in the Search dialog, and saving it again under the same name. This adds some extra information that My Start Pages uses for showing the result count.
	Quick Report
	The dropdown will list your available Quick Reports, sorted by the report name. When you add the element to the page, it will display the Quick Report's name.
	Selection
	The dropdown will list your available Selections. The dropdown will display the Selection name suffixed by its home page's name. The list is sorted by the page name to make items easy to find. The element will display the Selection's name and the count of objects in it.
	Link
	Type in the title and the URL address for your new Link element. The URL can be to an IFS Applications page, a web page or a file on your local computer or a network share. Examples: Application Page: ifsapf:frmInventoryPart or ifswin:Ifs.Application.ManageMyTodo.MyTodo Web page: http://www2.ifsworld.com/apps-instr-videos/default.htm A file in the local machine: file:///C:/Work/ProjectProposal.docx (note: you have to add "file:///" to the local path and replace all backslashes ("\") with forward slashes ("/") A file in a shared location: file://///intranet/shared_files/sales_report.xlsx (note: you have to add "file:///" to the UNC share path and replace all backslashes ("\") with forward slashes ("/") Hint: you could also create several My Start Pages, and link them to each other to create a multi-page My Start Page.
	Application Search
	The dropdown will list your available Search Domains and Search Domain Groups. Select an item to create your Application Search element. To create an element that can search in multiple domains, you must first create a Search Domain Group and select that group from the dropdown list.