HowTo Guides

Bookmark this page: https://agileappscloud.info/aawiki-src/HowTo

For Users

These guides tell you how to get the most out of the platform. You should be familiar with Navigating the User Interface.

Platform Access

• Login When You Forgot Your Password
• Change Your Password

Basic Operations

• Search a View to Find Records
• Filter a View to Restrict the Records it Displays
• Generate Printable PDFs for Views, Records, and Reports

• Use Relay for Social Networking, to Monitor Data, and to Track Record Status

• Create a Database View to Join Data from Related Objects
• Create a Report based on a Database View

Perform Specialized Operations

• Create, Test, and Run an Email Campaign
• Create a Project

Customize Your Interface

• Future Tutorial:Create a custom Dashboard (Home Page) to see things at a glance.
• Future Tutorial:Filter a Record View
• Future Tutorial:Modify a Report
• Future Tutorial:Customize Your Workspace

Manage Your Data

• Future Tutorial:Import Data
• Future Tutorial:Remove Recently Imported Records
• Future Tutorial:Send an email when a record is created or updated, using a Data Policy

For Application Designers

These guides tell you how to create and customize applications. You should be familiar with one or more of HTML coding, CSS formatting, or JavaScript, and be adept at Navigating the User Interface.

Customize the Application Interface

• Create a Custom Sidebar Using Graphic Images
• Future Tutorial:Use a Custom Web Page to make a Personalized Widget

• Future Tutorial:Display the Widget in the Home Page / Dashboard
• Future Tutorial:Display the Widget in the Sidebar

• Future Tutorial:Create a Custom Print Button
• Future Tutorial:Collect Data from an External Web Site using Web Forms
• Future Tutorial:Create a Site that anyone can access without logging into the platform

Build and Customize Applications

When you create an application, much is done for you. The platform automatically constructs record views, forms for adding and updating data, and basic reports. From there, you can begin to customize the application.

• Future Tutorial:Use the Application Wizard to Build a Sample Order Processing System
• Create an Object
• Display Customer Data in an Order as a Read-Only Field
• Future Tutorial:Aggregate values for multiple Related Records displayed a Subform
• Future Tutorial:Automate a standard business process by creating a Workflow
• Future Tutorial:Automatically take action when Object data changes (event-Based Data Policy)
• Future Tutorial:Automatically take action on specified dates (calendar-Based Data Policy)

Build Custom Web Pages

• Use AJAX and REST in a Web Page to GET data
• Use AJAX and REST in a Web Page to POST data

For Platform Developers

These guides tell you how to program the platform APIs to take advantage of advanced platform features. You should be familiar with one or more of Java, JavaScript, AJAX, SQL, or REST.

Set up Your Environment

• Future Tutorial:Develop using the Eclipse Plug-In
• Future Tutorial:Use the Debug Log effectively
• Future Tutorial:Use the Platform's Unit Test Framework
• Future Tutorial:Debug using Eclipse

• Future Tutorial:Develop Safely Using Sandboxes (and use them for backups)
• Future Tutorial:Deploy Your Work Using Packages (and use them for backups)
• Future Tutorial:Develop in Teams Using a Version Control System

Customize Application Pages

• Future Tutorial:Create a Simple JSP Page using Java
• Future Tutorial:Create an HTML Page using JavaScript Functions and the REST API

• Future Tutorial:Make a JSP Page into a Web Tab
• Future Tutorial:Make a JSP Page into a Widget
• Future Tutorial:Use a JSP Page to Create a Custom Action Button

• Create a JSP page and Java Controller
• Future Tutorial:Create a Component and a Java Controller
• Future Tutorial:Create an external Site wired to a Java Controller

• Use a SQL Query to List Records in a Custom Page

Future Tutorial:Use SQL Queries and Java Sets to Get the Inverse of a Complex Query

Notes:

• E.g. All orders last month that do not include product X. (No related OrderItems point to that product.)
• Easier to query for orders that do, set-subtract from all orders using HashSet(HashMap) constructors and the set.removeAll(set) method.
• Similarly: Use Set Intersection to find all orders that include product X and product Y, using the set.retainAll(set) method.

Tackle Advanced Projects

• Handle Incoming Emails Programmatically
• Create a Data Handler to Add Data to a Package
• Write Java Code for Data Policies
• Future Tutorial:Write Programs using the REST APIs
• Future Tutorial:Use the HTTPConnection class to access a web service
• Future Tutorial:Programatically Add Activities and Notes to records