IBM Enterprise Records, Version 5.1.+            

Customizing the display of properties

The user interface serves as a junction between the end user and the IBM® Enterprise Records application. You might need to customize the user interface according to your business processes. You can customize the metadata fields associated with an entity; these fields display on the information view page of that entity. For example, you can change the display name of a metadata field from Entity Descriptions to Entity Details.

To change the way these metadata fields display in the user interface, use Enterprise Manager to modify the property templates that are associated with the various classes and objects. The context-sensitive help files will not match customized names and behaviors.

Following are customization tasks you can perform to specify how metadata fields should appear in the user interface.

Each task below assumes that you have first performed these steps:

To specify how metadata fields should appear:

  1. Log on to Enterprise Manager as System Administrator.
  2. Select the object store whose property you need to modify and expand the Property Templates node.
    Important:
    • Each time you modify a property template, you need to re-associate it with the appropriate classes to have changes propagated to the classes. See ../../../com.ibm.p8.ce.admin.doc/properties/pr_assign_properties_to_a_class.htm in the Content Engine Help.
    • When modifying classes supplied with IBM Enterprise Records, such as Marker Record, Electronic Record, or Email Record, do not delete properties for which you have no use. Instead, mark them as hidden and supply default values for those properties. If you delete the properties from the class, the entry templates no longer function correctly until they have been modified internally.

The visibility of properties in IBM Enterprise Records depends upon the description and hidden parameters of the property. Properties display on information pages and on wizard steps. Similar properties are grouped under distinct information pages (also called views). For example, all properties pertaining to vital record review display on the entity's Vital Record information page. The Description field of a property determines the information view into which the property is grouped. To modify the Description field, select the General tab of the properties sheet for the property. For example, if you create a new property, Initiate Disposition Schedule, and specify RMDisposal in the Description field, the property will be added to the Disposition view.

The following table lists the different values you can specify for a property's description:

Table 1. Values that you can specify for a property's description
Description Value Meaning
RMDisposal Display the property in the Disposition view of a record category or record folder.
RMVital Display the property in the Vital Record information page.
RMCutoff Display the property on the Set Trigger step while adding a disposition schedule.
RMSystem Hide the property from the user interface, but display it on the Information page of the class it is associated with.
declare Display the property in the Workplace Declare Record wizard.
RMGroupDisposition The properties having this string in the description are shown in the Disposition section in the Detail view of the entity's Information page.
RMGroupGeneral The properties having this string in the description are shown in the General section in the Detail view of the entity's Information page.
RMGroupPhysical The properties having this string in the description are shown in the Physical section in the Detail view of the entity's Information page.
RMGroupVital The properties having this string in the description are shown in the Vital section in the Detail view of the entity's Information page.

Properties that do not have RMDisposal, RMVital, RMCutoff, or RMSystem as the description are automatically assigned to the Properties Information page.

Making a property mandatory

You can change an optional property to a mandatory property. For example, by default the Date Received property is optional. You can use Enterprise Manager to make this property mandatory.

To change an optional property to a mandatory property:

  1. Select the property that you want to make mandatory.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the More tab.
  4. Select the Value Required field and click Apply to save the changes.
  5. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

After you change the settings, the user interface automatically displays a red asterisk beside the property name to indicate that a value must be entered for the property.

When you change an optional property to a mandatory property, you must check whether the system automatically generates an object for the class it is associated with. If this condition is true, define a default value for that property. For example, a volume is automatically created when a record folder is created. If you associate a mandatory property with the Volume class, define a default value for that property.

Making a property optional

You can change a mandatory property into an optional property. For example, by default the Record Category Identifier property is set as mandatory. You can use Enterprise Manager to make this property optional.

To change a mandatory property into an optional property:

  1. Select the property that you want to make optional.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the More tab.
  4. Clear the Value Required field and click Apply to save the changes.
  5. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

After you change the settings, the red asterisk that used to display beside the property name is no longer visible.

Hiding a property

A hidden property is one that is not visible in the user interface, but continues to persist in the data model and is used internally by the system. We recommend that you hide a property that is not required instead of deleting it from the data model.

Important: Do not hide any property that is mandatory.

To hide an optional visible property:

  1. Select the property you want to hide.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the More tab.
  4. Select the Hidden check box and click Apply to save the changes.
  5. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

Besides the above-mentioned procedure, you can also specify RMSystem as the property's description to hide the property from the user interface. However, note that this hides the property from all IBM Enterprise Records user interfaces except for an entity's Information page.

To change the property description:

  1. Select the property you want to hide.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the General tab.
  4. Enter RMSystem as the Description and click Apply to save the changes.
  5. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

Changing a property's display name

You can modify the display name of a property to customize its appearance in the user interface. For example, you can change Record Category Identifier to Record Category ID.

To modify the display name of a property:

  1. Select the property whose display name you want to modify.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the General tab.
  4. Modify the existing display name and click Apply to save the changes.
  5. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

Make sure you modify only the display name and not the symbolic name of the property.

Defining a property's description area

You can specify the size of the description area that displays beside a property in the IBM Enterprise Records user interface via the property's maximum string length value. The size of the description area determines whether it is a text area or a text box. (With a text box, part of the information scrolls out of site. With a text area, a scroll bar allows easier reading of long text strings.)

You can specify the description area only for string type properties.

To define the maximum string length of a property:

  1. Select the property whose description area you want to specify.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the More tab.
  4. Enter a value for the Maximum String Length. If this value exceeds 255, the description area is automatically converted to a text area; otherwise, the user interface shows the description area as a text box.
  5. Click Apply to save the changes.
  6. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

Specifying predefined property values

You can define the possible values of a string or integer type property to enable an end user to select from a list of predefined values instead of manually entering the value. This ensures that a user does not enter an incorrect value. To create a list of predefined values, you create a choice list and associate it with the appropriate property. A choice list displays as a drop down in the user interface.

To create a new choice list:

  1. Log on to Enterprise Manager as the System Administrator.
  2. Select the Choice List node from the tree.
  3. Select New Choice List from the Action menu, and follow the wizard steps.

After you create the choice list, you must associate it with the appropriate Property Template. (See ../../../com.ibm.p8.ce.admin.doc/choicelists/chl_assign_choice_list_to_property_template.htm in the Content Engine Help.) The IBM Enterprise Records user interface displays the new choice list beside the display name of the property.

Specifying minimum and maximum property values

You can specify the minimum and maximum values that an end user can enter for integer type properties. For example, you can specify that the minimum retention period cannot be less than 2 years and more than 100 years. If an end user enters a value that is less than 2 or more than 100, an error message is generated.

To specify the minimum and maximum value for an integer property:

  1. Select the property whose minimum and maximum values you want to specify.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the More tab.
  4. Enter the relevant values for Minimum Value and Maximum Value
  5. Click Apply to save the changes.
  6. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.

Customizing the Detail information page

An entity's Detail information page displays a read-only view of the entity's property values organized into groups, such as General, Disposition, Vital, Physical, and Others. You can move a property to another group or create a new group for it. You can customize the Detail view for these entities:

To reassign a property to an existing or new group, you must modify the RMGroup parameter defined in the property's Description field. The text that immediately follows the RMGroup parameter specifies the group under which the property appears. If you change RMGroupGeneral to RMGroupDisposition, the property moves from the General group to the Disposition group. If you specify RMGroupPattern for a property, you have created a new group in which the property will appear. If no text appears after RMGroup, or there is no RMGroup parameter in a property's Description, that property appears in the Others group.

The Description field can contain more than one parameter. Make sure you modify only the RMGroup parameter, leaving other parameters unchanged. If you are adding the RMGroup parameter, use a comma to separate it from other parameters.

To assign a property to a group:

  1. Select the appropriate property.
  2. Select Properties from the Action menu.
  3. Select the General tab.
  4. Append the required group name to the end of RMGroup in the Description field.
  5. Click Apply to save the changes to the property description.
  6. Click Ok to accept the changes and close the properties sheet.


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Last updated: August 2011
modify_property_templates.htm

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