The 2016.3 release of Exago brings some additional enhancements to the Column Metadata feature-set. Now we feature the ability to add hovertext to data fields, the ability to create custom columns, and the ability to determine how columns are sorted and grouped.
All data fields can now have description text added. If the data field is hovered over in a selection screen in the Report Designer, the description text will pop up:
Admins can add description text to data fields on an application-wide level. To do so, using the Admin Console, expand the Objects dropdown, and double-click on the desired data object, or select it and press Edit. Then, in the object menu click on the rectangle next to Column Metadata. This will open the Column Metadata dialog.
Double-click on the desired data field, or click-and-drag it to the Selected Columns pane, or select it and press the Add button. You have two options for adding description text: Using Plain Text or editing the Language File.
Hovertext can be added verbatim in the Column Description field. In-line HTML tags like <b> can also be used if desired. Press OK when done, then Apply the change.
You can also add description elements to the language file, and reference them in the Column Description field.
In the language file, add new elements to the <AdminObjects> section using the following format:
<element id="uniqueIdentifier" tooltip="Description Text"></element>
HTML tags must be encoded like so:
For example, the following tooltip string encodes "<b>Description</b> Text", which appears as "Description Text" in the hovertext.
<element id="uniqueIdentifier" tooltip="<b>Description</b> Text"></element>
After adding the element to the language file, add the id string to the Column Description field. Press OK when done, then Apply the change.
Custom columns are a way to add columns to Exago that don't exist in the database. This is completely transparent for the users; they can then use them like any other column. New data fields can be created from composite or interpreted data fields. You could even use a formula to create data from scratch. Admins often use custom columns to make popular formula sorts available on an application-wide level.
To add a custom column using the Admin Console, expand the Objects dropdown and double-click on the desired data object, or select it and press Edit. Then, in the object menu click on the rectangle next to Column Metadata. This will open the Column Metadata dialog.
Press the Add New button. Enter a name for your data field in the dialog box.
Data Type, Column Alias, and Column Value are required fields. In the Column Value field, press the formula button to bring up the Formula Editor.
Press OK when done, then Apply the change.
To add a custom column by editing the config file, open the config file in a text or xml editor. Data objects are <entity> elements. Locate the entity and add a new <column_metadata> element:
<entity>
...
<column_metadata>
<col_source>ExagoFormula</col_source>
<col_name>FullName</col_name>
<col_type>string</col_type>
<col_alias>FullName</col_alias>
<col_description>First and Last Name</col_description>
<filterable>false</filterable>
<col_value>{Employees_0.FirstName} & ' ' & {Employees_0.LastName}</col_value>
<col_sortandgroupbyvalue>{Employees_0.LastName}</col_sortandgroupbyvalue>
</column_metadata>
</entity>
Bold fields are required.
<col_source>ExagoFormula</col_source> is static. This is the same for every <column_metadata>.
In <col_value> and <col_sortandgroupbyvalue>, data fields are identified by their id, not their alias.
Acceptable values for <col_type>: string, date, datetime, time, int, decimal, image, float, boolean, guid, currency
Save the config file when done, and restart the web server.
There are a lot of options for what kinds of data fields you can create:
Transform or interpret an existing data field:
Combine multiple data fields together:
Create new data from scratch:
And much more!
NOTE. Custom columns cannot be used as Filters, or inside Aggregate Formulas.
This field allows admins to specify how columns should be sorted and grouped by the application. By default, Exago will sort (and group) columns based on the data in the column. You can use this metadata field to specify different data by which the column should be sorted.
For example, you may have a custom column Employees.FullName like the following:
{Employees.FirstName} & ' ' & {Employees.LastName}
By default, Exago would sort this field on the full string. You may want to sort on just the LastName, instead. In Sort and Group-By Value, enter {Employees.LastName}, and the column will sort on LastName.
Another common example is sorting a Month field by the numeric representation of the month instead of the name. Since this value accepts any valid Exago formula (except aggregates), custom functions can also be used.
NOTE. The sort-and-group field must have a one-to-one relationship with the data field. Otherwise, unexpected behavior could occur.
Admins can now indicate whether data fields should appear in the Sorts menu using the Sortable dropdown.
NOTE. This toggle does not prevent data fields from being sorted by. Users can still enter the data fields manually as a formula, or use the data fields within a sort formula.