Comidor platform offers the ability to design your own apps through App Designer, without using any coding. Making simple or more complicated Apps is easier than ever, even for non-developer users. Comidor guides you with simple steps, in order to publish your idea.
There are various types of applications provided in Comidor App Designer. You can choose the one that fits better your needs from the following options:
- Table applications:
- The Sequential process-based: Choose this type when you want to monitor processes that are simple with only sequential tasks, with scheduling, state, completion, etc.
- The process-based workflow: Choose this type when you want to monitor process-enabled records, with scheduling, state, more complicated workflow steps, loops, automation steps, completion, etc.
- Simple Non-process based: Choose this type of table application when you want to create a table of data-driven records. No workflows can be related to this type.
- Report applications
- Kanban applications
- Portal applications: This type is used by developers to design a portal with custom objects and commands, to which non-comidor users can have access.
Access App Designer
In order to access App Designer go to the main menu on the left side of your screen and select the icon App Factory > Application Builder > App Designer
In the unit that opens, you can apply the following actions:
- Create an App
- Import an App
- Reload the Database
- Search for an existing App.
- Apply filters based on the App type, Status (
- In the preview of each app, you can see the title, category, and image of this app.
- Reset all filters. All apps are shown again.
- Open and edit an existing App.
Create Apps
- Click on the “Create an App” icon to open the creation form.
- Depending on the Application Type, different fields will appear.
Give the Application Name and Description- Choose a Menu Header from the existing options, or add a new Menu Header. By defining an option, the app will be displayed in your Menu icon. If left empty, your app will be shown in the menu, in the Packages menu header.
- You can also classify your app in a proper Category. Choose one Category from the existing options, or make a new Category. Categorization will help you find easier your apps in the App Designer. Based on the category you choose, the app will be also displayed on the respective sub-menu.
- Collaborators are the field where you determine which users will be able to see the application in the User Apps menu.
- For a table app, you can also make it Process enabled, by clicking on the respective checkbox. If so, you are able to link a Workflow to your App.
- Select whether this app is Basic or Supportive.
- Define if this app has a Kanban view. If enabled, table records can be displayed on Kanban boards.
- There is an option to upload an Image for your app.
- Click Save to create your App, or Close to cancel.
Once you save your app, you are redirected to the view form. Comidor guides you through simple steps to design your App.
1. Dashboard
In the step Dashboard, you get an overview of your application. In particular, you are able to view:
- Quick Stats:
- Number of forms, Steps, and Widgets that are created in this app
- Graphs that show the application activity timeline and the Apps Overview status.
- Basic Info:
- the Type, Category, and other parameters
- You can click on the pencil button to edit the above info
- You can define whether the application is Public or not.
- You can lock your app by checking on the Locked option. With this option, only the user who locks the app will be able to edit the app (in all steps). All the rest users will just be able to view the app, but can not edit it.
- By checking the Has Customizations option, the application will not be exportable.
- Put a flag to remember if this application
- Collaborators: the users or groups that have access rights in this App.
- Comments: an area where users who have access can write and view comments.
2. Process
In the second step, you can fully design your process in terms of the number and the looks of the process steps, your Data model, Table View, and User Forms.
Depending on the app type, different functionalities are available.
When the Kanban view is enabled, you have the ability to customize the fields that you want to display on the Kanban boards in the Table View. Simply click on the edit icon for each field that you want to show in the Kanban view and check the “Is Kanban Field?” option.
Before publishing the app, remember to go to the Configuration step and select the “Group By Field” and the “Title Field“. The “Group By Field” is used to categorize boards, while the “Title Field” will serve as the title for each board. This ensures that your boards are organized, structured, and tailored to meet your specific requirements.
3. Graphs
In step 3, you can design your app Graphs or Widgets. Comidor Widgets are the ideal choice for data visualization. Get the most updated data on the visualization format you define.
- Create your own personalized dashboard in seconds.
- Combine multiple views of data to get richer insight.
You can easily create a new Graph, by clicking on the “+” icon.
Find out more about all types of Widgets and how to create them.
4. Advanced
Get the most out of the App Designer with this advanced options step by including user tabs in your records or the table of your app, event scripts, and field rules to show or hide fields, sections, or tabs in forms when specific conditions are met. This step is available only to Table applications (non-process & process enabled).
User Tabs
Use tabs to have complete control over the accessibility of your application.
- The tabs appear inside records (as a tab at the left part of the record) or at the summary table of the application.
- A tab can be a table from any Comidor entity, HTML, or widget.
- You can easily create a new Tab, by clicking on the “+” icon
- The Record type is by default the name of the App and disabled
- Select the Type of Tab you wish to create (Table, HTML, or Widget)
- In Type Table:
- Give a Title to the Tab
- In the “View Tab in“: choose record.
- Select Query: the query to define which fields to be fetched as columns from which tables
- Where Clause: type a specific condition to be met
- Access Code defines who can access this tab
- Select Type HTML when you want to add guidelines or other important information for a specific app:
- Give a Title to the Tab
- In the “View Tab in“: choose record or table.
- Access Code defines who can access this tab
- Unit-action – insert the HTML here
- In Type Table:
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- Type Widget: a tab to monitor all the widgets (general or application widgets)
- Give a Title to the Tab
- In the “View Tab in“: choose the table option.
- Access Code defines who can access this tab
- After saving this tab, click on Add widget button to Select the widget you would like to be displayed
- All added widgets are displayed in Linked widgets. You can click on the ‘-‘ to remove a widget from this tab.
- Type Widget: a tab to monitor all the widgets (general or application widgets)
Event Scripts
In this tab, you are able to write scripts for a certain Data Type to be executed before/after/on a specific event.
Click on the “+” icon to create a new Event script:
- Add the Procedure Name.
- Choose the Data Type (apprec, task, process, dataset) and define where you want the script to be applied.
- An Event Type can be inserted, updated, deleted, etc.
- In the Procedure Body add your code.
- This is for advanced users to write their procedures.
Field Rules
The field rules functionality enables you to hide or show fields/sections/tabs inside forms when certain conditions are met.
Click on the Field Rules tab and you will be able to see the sub-table of all field rules, with the following columns: Rule title, Field(s), Section(s), Tab(s), Created by, Created on, and the pin button.
- Refresh button: Internal refresh in the table/all updated records are presented
- Search option: type a keyword and press enter; respective field rules appear.
- Pagination:
To create a new Field Rule press on the “+” button, and the creation form opens.
- Give a Rule title
- Select the Action to be performed: you can either Hide or Show
- On: choose between fields, sections, or tabs, depending on what you want to show or hide. Depending on the option you choose the “ON” respective lists will appear.
- Set in which Form you wish this rule to be applied (from the user forms that the selected field is displayed)
- Choose the name of the Field(s)/Section(s)/Tab(s) that you wish to perform the above action. Click on the + icon to add more rows. – to remove a row.
- Select the desired Save option (refer to Quick Reference Guide)
Custom Condition Builder
After saving the Field Rule, and while being in the view form, you can add conditions.
- Click on the ‘+’ icon to insert a new row
- Select the unit that the field comes from (Process, Application name, etc.)
- Choose the Name of the Field and its value
- Use AND, OR, and parenthesis to form your conditions
- After adding all the rows of conditions you need, click on the Publish condition button.
Manage Field Rules
- If you want to make any changes to a Field Rule, simply select the respective Field Rule and click on the pencil icon.
- After making any changes click on Save.
- In order to change the conditions, simply make the changes you wish in the view form of the Field Rule, and then, press the Publish condition.
- You can Delete one or more Field Rules, by multi-checking them in the Field Rules table and then clicking on Delete.
Data Objects
With data objects in Comidor App Designer, you can power up your applications and quickly and easily create any type of data set you need.
- Create data sets, variables, lists, forms, records, or action data types and define their properties. Use those data objects in event scripts.
5. Configuration
In this step, you can make the configuration of the Application.
- Decide what you would like to include from the Basic options
- Notes, Tags, and Links
- If the Kanban view is enabled, define the “Group by Field” and the “Title Field“. The “Group By Field” is used to categorize boards, while the “Title Field” will serve as the title for each board.
- The ability to create, edit, and/or delete an entry
- The History tab
- Allow user layout change; the ability to change the table’s categorization, and the pin button to remove columns.
- Decide if you want to have the print/export options in the summary table of this app
- The ability to track file views
- If the task window is maximized
- For Process-enabled apps with workflow, you can set the app to Automatically start the process, which means the state of the app will be set to running and the workflow will start as well.
- Decide if you want to block it from mobile
- Decide if you want to hide the execution information
- Define the Save and the Cancel Task buttons
- Define a Primary Field (Record Identity: Appears in lists, etc). From the drop-down list, choose one of the fields you created in Step 2.
- Customize your data by:
- Setting a Prefix and Suffix to the app and an Incremental No Field; select a number field from the Data Model for which you want to auto-populate a number. eg. for this app the requests will get CP-1, CP-2, etc.
- Selecting a default categorization for the table view based on a specific field (Title, Priority, etc.) – up to level 3.
- Choosing a specific field to display the Summary table ordered by ascending or descending order.
- Apart from the default table filters (Period, Status), you can define your own custom filters. Choose up to 3 key value lists to be your filters in your table application.
- Granting rights to your app; define to whom each entry is assigned, send notifications, Admin 1,2, and Supervisor. Choose users, groups, or dynamic options such as Creator, creator’s Manager, etc.
- Setting up to 3 numeric fields, to be displayed in the table as Sums (Sum fields 1, 2, 3).
You can fully customize the app layout, by selecting font sizes and colors in CSS Design options.
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You have the option to add your custom CSS in the Custom CSS settings.
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You have the option to add your custom Js in the Custom Js settings.
6. Analytics
The Analytics step is only available to process-enabled table apps and provides the designers, with insights into each Workflow’s real-time usage.
Dashboard tab: Set Analytics Filters to get the results you wish.
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- Narrow your results to tasks that were assigned to a specific user or group.
- Select the period of time you are interested in.
- Click on Refresh and the following graphs are populated: Analytics Totals, Instances per State, Tasks per User, Delayed tasks per User, Tasks per Team, Delayed tasks per Team
- Pinpoint the total and delayed instances and tasks that were created within one workflow. Cost is calculated based on the duration of each task multiplied by the cost rate of the user that completes each task. See more in the Services unit.
Analytics Preview tab: Set Analytics Filters to get the results you wish.
- Choose between Total or Delayed Tasks to be displayed.
- Monitor the Duration and Cost of each step.
- Select the period of time you are interested in.
- Click on Refresh. The diagram is updated and in each task, for each chosen filter a row is added with the data from the run time. (value & percentage).
- View workflow analytics with the “Delayed Task” Filter to measure the scheduled time and the actual time it took for a task to be completed. This feature enables users to identify bottlenecks. Each task will have the chosen filters ((Total tasks, Delayed tasks, Cost, Duration, ineffective KPIs) with counter & percentage. The tasks with delays will be highlighted in red, whereas those with no delays in green.
- View workflow analytics with the “Total Task” Filter to measure how many times every task is executed in total. This will identify your “critical path”, and your process “optimal path” and ultimately help identify where the focus should be on for better resource management.
Publish
Finally, click on the Publish button in order to Publish your app.
Your app is ready to use!
Find out more here.
Edit Apps
If you want to edit an existing User App, go to the main menu on the left side of your screen and select the icon App Factory > Application Builder > App Designer. From the list of all applications, select the one you wish to edit.
- Click on the pencil button to apply any changes to the Basic info of the Portal application.
- You can navigate through steps 1-6 by clicking on the respective step and applying any change you wish. Do not forget to publish your changes.
- Click on the Actions button and choose Export if you want to export the current application.
- You can delete a User App if you wish. Open the App you want to delete, and from the actions button, click on the Delete option.
- A confirmation pop-up appears. Click Confirm to proceed with the deletion or cancel.
- You can also check the Linked Entities that will be affected in the respective tab.
- A confirmation pop-up appears. Click Confirm to proceed with the deletion or cancel.
- Finally, you can choose the copy option to copy the current application. A pop-up appears where you can define the application name of the copied app.
Run Apps
- While viewing an app in the App Designer, you can easily run it! Click on the Play button on the top right of your screen and the quick add form of this app will be populated.
- In case there is no quick add form, a respective message appears and you are directed to step 2, in User forms to create a new quick add form.
- In order to view the User Apps you have created and published through App Designer, go to the menu on the left side of your screen, and select the Packages Icon. A list of all the published apps is displayed here under the category you chose in Step 1 of App designer. In case no Category is chosen, the app will be shown below Custom Apps.
- Select the one you wish to access and it will open in a new tab.
By clicking on the “+” icon you can create a new entry of this app. (In order to see the “+” icon, you should have checked first the respective option in the Configuration step of App Designer). A new tab opens with the form that was created in the App Designer. Fill in the fields and click on Save to add this entry.
If the App is process enabled and linked with a workflow it will have State (Opened, Scheduled, Running, etc.) and also some more Tabs in the left-side menu, such as Workflow tasks, attachments, and workflow audit based on the configuration of the App in the App Designer.
If you have selected the primary form of the app to be also visible in the quick add menu, you can easily initiate this App, from quick add and by clicking on the name of this form.
Import Apps
Comidor provides you with the functionality to Import User applications that are created in the App Designer in an XML format.
In order to Import an application, you have to open the App Designer.
- Click on the Import an App button.
- Choose the respective .xml file for the application you want to import and click on Save.
You can correlate the involved parties, by typing their name or choosing them from the pre-defined options in the drop-down list. The group mapping is available for:
- Groups
- Users
- Roles
After that, you have to reload the Database, by clicking on the “Reload DB required” red button on the bottom right corner of your screen.
If the Database is reloaded, go to the App Designer and publish the imported application.
Your app is ready to use!
