Configuring the Manager Windows

Acctivate includes Manager windows that allow you to efficiently work with groups of records, such as sales orders in the Sales Order Manager, purchase orders in the Purchase Order Manager, or Business Activities in the Business Activity Manager.

The default bars and buttons that come with the Manager windows are designed to provide the most common and beneficial groupings while also ensuring no records are excluded. That being said, the primary strength of the various Manager windows is the ability for it to be configured to meet your needs. Custom bars and buttons can be created.

The Manager windows can be configured by clicking the Configure button in the upper left hand of the window.

Bars

Create a Custom Bar:

  1. Open the Manager window of your choosing.
  2. Click Configure in the upper left corner.
  3. In the Configuration window that appears, click +Add → Bar.
  4. Enter a new Description for the bar and click OK.

You bar will appear in the left pane with a new, unconfigured button. A bar must contain at least one button.

You may want to make a variation of an existing bar and its buttons. Instead of creating a bar from scratch, you can copy a default or custom bar and its buttons, then alter the newly created copy.

Copy a default or existing Bar:

  1. Open the Manager window of your choosing.
  2. Click Configure in the upper left corner.
  3. In the Configuration window that appears, click on a Bar in the left pane.
  4. Click Copy.
  5. Enter a Description for the new bar or use the default provided. Click OK.
Tip

You cannot modify the default bars and buttons that come with the Manager windows, however you can copy them and make changes to the copy.

Buttons

Create a Custom Button:

  1. Open the Manager window of your choosing.
  2. Click Configure in the upper left corner.
  3. In the Configuration window that appears, click on the bar in the left pane that you want to add the button to.
  4. Click +Add → Button.
  5. Enter a Description for the new button. Click OK.

You can now edit the Button Properties.

  • Description: The Description is the text that will appear on the button. This should be clear and concise.
  • Amount: The Amount can be left blank or you can choose one of the options in the drop down menu.
  • Filter Editor: The Filter Editor is used to define the criteria of records to include.
  • Preview: The Preview shows what the button and Manager grid will look like. This is a preview and may not accurately reflect the orders that are included.
  • Add Columns: Clicking the Add Columns button will expose a list of fields that can be added as a column in the Manager grid. To add a column, drag from the field list to the Preview grid. To remove a column that is currently included, drag the column header from the Preview grid until the cursor turns into an "X" and release it. A column can be repositioned by dragging the column header from one position to another. This can also be done in each Manager window.
  • <<Left and Right>>: If a Bar contains multiple buttons, you can rearrange the buttons to be in the desired sequence. Click on the Button in the left pane, then use the "<<Left" and "Right>>" buttons to move them left or right along the top of the Manager window (use the Preview to see the position of the button).

Filter Editor

The Filter Editor is used to define the criteria of orders to be included. When creating a new button, the Filter Editor will start with a basic set of filters that you can add to. A new Button must be made up of least one Group and one Condition.

Filter Groups

A group is used to organize conditions and determines how they are applied. A new button defaults to the group "Matches All". To change the Group type, click on the Group text (e.g. "Matches All" to see other options):

  • Matches all: This is the default group when a new button is created. Any condition under this group has to be met in order for the record to be included.
  • Matches any: If any of the conditions under this group are met, then the record will be included.
  • Does not match all: Records that do not match any of the conditions under this group will be included.
  • Does not match any: Records that do not match at least one of the conditions under this group will be included.

Filter Conditions

Conditions are added to a button and evaluated to determine which records should be included. A condition is added below a group, and after selecting your field, you can choose an operator and enter or select a value to be evaluated:

  1. In the Filter Editor, click the + button next to the group to add a condition under that group.
  2. The new condition's will default to a field (the field varies depending on which Manager window you're in). Click the field text and select a field from the list.
  3. After selecting the field, the operator will default to Is. Click this to choose the appropriate operator (e.g. Is, Is not, Is any of, Is none of, etc).
  4. Click in the area to select or type in the value. If you choose an operator that allows multiple values (such as "Is any of") you can click the + sign after each value you enter to add another.

Filter Examples

Consider the following button configuration in the Sales Order Manager:

Matches all
	Type Is 'Order'
	Customer Is 'ABC'
	Workflow Status Is 'Shipped'

With the above configuration, this button will include sales orders for the customer ABC where the workflow status is "Shipped". If we wanted to also include customer DEF's shipped orders, the button's conditions can be modified as:

Matches all
	Type Is 'Order'
	Customer Is any of ('ABC', 'DEF')
	Workflow Status Is 'Shipped'

But what if you want a Button that shows ABC's shipped sales orders and DEF's picked sales orders? Groups can also be nested or used together to create more specific filters. To do this:

  1. Click on Matches all and change it to Matches any.
  2. Click on the Group again and this time choose Add Group. This will add a sub group of Matches all. Add your conditions for the group.
  3. Click on Matches any again and choose Add Group. A new sub group of Matches all is added. Add your conditions for the group.

You now have a button that has the following configuration:

Matches any
	Matches all
		Type Is 'Order'
		Customer Is 'ABC'
		Workflow Status Is 'Shipped'
	Matches all
		Type Is 'Order'
		Customer Is 'DEF'
		Workflow Status Is 'Picked'

This configuration is interpreted as:

  • "Match any of the following groups"
    • "Sales Orders for customer ABC that are shipped."
    • "Sales Orders for customer DEF that are picked."