Tour de Force Grid Style Editor

 

The Grid Style Editor is used to highlight important data in grids located in the Global Search, the Linked Items Grid, and the Info Center.  Users can select the grid that needs to be formatting and add certain conditions and expression to point out fields or rows in the grids.

1. Overview of the Grid Style Editor

The Grid Style Editor allows Administrative users to set special conditions on grids in Tour de Force that highlight rows to point out certain records or items to users. For example, Administrative users can set a condition that highlights any Opportunity record that has been closed in the last thirty days.  This feature is also useful for identifying what Account Type each Account record is, without having to open the Account record.

  

 

The Grid Style Editor is divided into four sections:

• The Existing Formatting Rules grid
• The Conditions section
• The Color Options section
• The Font Options section

Existing Formatting Rules Grid

The Existing Formatting Rules grid displays a preview of what the formatting looks like when displayed in a grid. There are three fields associated with the Existing Formatting Rules grid:

• Enabled – This field is used to determine whether the condition and formatting set, are applied to the grid selected in the Item Type field.
• Preview – This field displays a preview of what the formatting looks like in a grid and displays the conditions that are set in the Condition section.
• Apply to whole row? – This field is used to apply the formatting to the entire row. If this field is not checked then the formatting is only applied to the field(s) selected in the Field 1, and Field 2 fields.

 

Note: The information displayed in the Existing Formatting Rules grid is dependent upon the record or item selected in the Item Type field.

 

Condition Section

The Condition section is used to set the condition and select the fields that are going to be used in relation to the formatting selected. There are six fields associated with the Condition section:

• Condition – This field is used to set the condition or operator for the formatting rules being set up.
• Expression – This field is used if the condition, Expression, is selected in the Condition field.
• Field 1 – This field is used to select the first field to be used in the formatting.
• Value 1 – This field is used to select the value for the condition. The options available in this field are dependent upon the option select in the Field 1 field.
• Field 2 – This field is used if a second field needs to have formatting rules set. This field is optional.
• Value 2 – This field is used to select the value for the option selected in Field 2. This field is optional.

 

 

Color Options Section

The Color Options section is used to set the color of the text and the color of the field(s) selected in the Condition section.  There are three fields associated with the Color Options section:

• Text Color – This field is used to set the color of the text in the selected field(s).
• Background color – This field is used to set the background color of the field selected in the Field 1 field in the Condition section.
• Background color2 – This field is used to set the background color of the field selected in the Field 2 field in the Condition section.

 

Font Options Section

The Font Options section is used to select various options for the text in the field(s) selected in the Condition section. There are four fields associated with the Font Options section:

Note: These fields are optional.

• Text Size – This field is used to adjust the size of the text in the field(s) selected in the Condition section.
• Bold – This field is used set the text as a bold style in the in the field(s) selected in the Condition section.
• Italic – This field is used to set the text as italic style in the field(s) selected in the Condition section.
• Strikeout – This field is used to display a line through the text designating the text as invalid or obsolete.

2. Accessing the Grid Style Editor

The Grid Style Editor can only be used by users that have Global Grid Admin rights.  There are two ways to open the Grid Style Editor.

Use the following procedures to open the Grid Style Editor from the Administration Console:

1. In the Tour de Force toolbar, click the Admin Utilities button.
2. In the Admin Utilities drop-down menu, select Screen and Grid Design.

3. In the Screen and Grid Design menu select Global Grid Manager.

4. Click the Grid Management Tasks drop down button.  Select the Manage Grid Styles option.

3. Configuring Grid Styles for the Accounts Grid

The Grid Style Editor allows Administrative users to set special conditions on grids in Tour de Force, that highlight rows to point out certain records or items to users.

For example, when looking at the Accounts grid it is difficult to tell the Account Type of a certain Account when viewing all Account records.  However, Administrators and Global Grid Admins can highlight BSI Only Accounts, or any other Account Type.

Use the following procedures to add a grid style to the Accounts grid:

 

In the Item Type field, select Account

 

 

Any existing formatting conditions that have already been set display in the Existing Formatting Rules grid.

1. Click the Add button.

2. Give focus to the new row added to the Existing Formatting Rule grid.

3. Click the Condition field, to begin adding a new condition.

For example, select Equal in the Condition field.

4. Click the Field 1 field, to select which User Defined Field is going to be used in relation to the formatting.

For example, to create a condition that shows the Account Status, select the Account Status option.

5. In the Value 1 field, type in the value that needs to be used for the formatting.

For example, if the condition is to highlight Account records that are active customers, type Active Customer in the Value 1 field.

6. In the Text Color field, select the color of the text.

Note:  If left blank, then the text defaults to the system text color.

 

7. In the Background color field, select the background color of the row or field selected in the Field 1 field.

After a background color or text color are selected the Preview column, in the Existing Formatting Rules section displays a preview of what the selected field or rows look like in the grids.

By default, the selected formatting is only applied to the fields selected in the Field 1 and Field 2 fields.  In order to apply the formatting to the entire row in the grids, click the Apply to whole row field.

All formatting selected in the Grid Style Editor now displays in the grids the conditions have been applied to.

4. Best Practices when using the Grid Style Editor

With the Grid Style Editor, the number of combinations and ways this utility can be used goes beyond the scope of this technical bulletin.  Different companies are going to have different policies and practices and covering every single way the Grid Style Editor could be used is too much for any single document to cover.

However, there are a few best practices to follow when using the Grid Style Editor, as well as things to watch out for when creating conditions.

• Grid Styles get applied to all views for that grid type

When a condition is applied to a grid in the Grid Style Editor, the condition gets applied to the record grid type selected.  The formatting set for this grid gets applied to all views for that record or item type.  For example, if a condition is applied to Account record grids then all Account record views get the formatting applied.  

• Each condition set overwrites the previous condition

Each condition that is set for a single grid type can be given a priority using the up and down arrows in the Grid Style Editor.  However, it is important to note how the priority is set by the Grid Style Editor.  The condition that is set at the top of the Grid Style Editor is first condition that a grid looks at when attempting to load.  If that condition is found, then the grid moves on to the next condition and checks to see if that condition is met in the current view.  If that condition is met, then it overwrites the first condition if there is a conflict in formatting.

For example, if a user creates a condition a to highlight an Activity item based on a certain Activity type then the formatting gets applied to those types.  However, if the user also creates a condition to highlight any Activities that are longer than 30 minutes in length, then that formatting overwrites the Activity Type formatting if that condition is met.  

• Expressions operate the same way as normal conditions but are more complicated and complex

The Expression field works in a similar manner to the other condition fields however is a much more complicated way to set a condition.  The benefit to using an Expression is that users can create much more complex strings to create conditions.  The downside to using Expressions is that to create a string the user needs to know some basic SQL, and the exact fields they are using to create the string on.

• Editor doesn’t support relative date filters

The Grid Style Editor cannot be used to set formatting to any type of relative date range, even if the user is attempting to use an Expression string.  For example, a style cannot be created to show all Accounts or Opportunities created in a certain quarter or certain month.

• Grid Style Editor does not overwrite any hard-coded formatting

Some grids, such as the Opportunity grid, contain hard coded formatting that cannot be overwritten by the Grid Style Editor.