HowTo Guides

Bookmark this page: https://agileappscloud.info/aadev-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
• Use Relay for Social Networking, to Monitor Data, and to Track Record Status

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

Customize Your Interface

• Future Guide:Create a custom Dashboard (Home Page) for an application, to see things at a glance.
• Future Guide:Filter a Record View
• Future Guide:Modify a Report
• Future Guide:Customize Your Workspace
• Integrating with SalesForce

Manage Your Data

• Future Guide: Create a simple application
• Future Guide:Import Data from an External System
• Future Guide:Remove Recently Imported Records
• Future Guide:Send an email when a record is created or updated, using a Data Policy

Specialized Operations

• Create a Database View to Join Data from Related Objects
• Create a Report based on a Database View
• Create, Test, and Run an Email Campaign

For Application Designers

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

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.

Beginner

• Create an Object
• Future Guide:Use the Application Wizard to Build a Sample Order Processing System

Intermediate

• Compute a Date Value in a View or Report
• Display Customer Data in an Order as a Read-Only Field
• Add a Custom Print Button to a Form
• Future Guide:Aggregate values for multiple Related Records displayed in a Subform
• Future Guide:Automate a standard business process by creating a Workflow

Advanced

These topics begin to take you into the realm of Java programming.

• Write Java Code for Data Policies
• Use a Data Policy to Validate Incoming Data
• Use a Data Policy to Mask Outgoing Data
• Future Guide:Automatically take action when Object data changes (event-Based Data Policy)
• Future Guide:Automatically take action on specified dates (calendar-Based Data Policy)

Customize the Application Interface

These are intermediate-level customizations.

• Create a Custom Sidebar Using Graphic Images
• Future Guide: Add Widgets to a custom Sidebar. Assign them to applications, and display them depending on a user's role.
• Future Guide:Use a Custom Web Page to make a Personalized Widget

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

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

Build Custom Web Pages

These are advanced topics.

• 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 create even more sophisticated applications. You should be familiar with one or more of Java, JavaScript, AJAX, SQL, and REST.

Set up Your Environment

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

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

Customize Applications

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

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

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

• Use a SQL Query to List Records in a Custom Page
• Future Guide:Use SQL Queries and Java Sets to Get the Inverse of a Complex Query

Tackle Advanced Projects

• Handle Incoming Emails Programmatically
• Create a Data Handler to Add Data to a Package
• Future Guide:Write Programs using the REST APIs
• Use the HttpConnection Class to access a web service

• Future Guide:Programatically add an Activity or Add Note to a record