Lab C.2: Explore the Application
In this exercise, you'll explore an application, identify some of its major components, and see how they are related.
Discover the Objects Used in the Application
- Click Designer > Global Resources > Packages > Support Case Manager
A new pane appears with package information. - Scroll to the bottom of the pane, to the list of dependencies.
- The entities this package depends on is displayed, under "Items".
- Notice the items Prospects, Cases, Contacts, and Accounts, which are all designated as type "Object".
- Click Designer > Data & Presentation > Objects.
The objects used in the Support Case application are shown, along with those used by other applications running in your instance of the platform.
Tip: It's easy for applications to share information, because the objects they contain are living in the same cloud. For example, a customer record created in an order-entry application would be available for use in a shipping application.
Examine the Cases Object
An "object" in the platform is both a table in a database, and a record within it. When accessing a record, the singular form of the name is used, when referencing the table as a whole, the plural form is used. So the "Orders object" is a collection of records and the metadata that defines behaviors like data polices and forms. An "Order object" on the other hand, is an individual record augmented by those behaviors.
- Click Designer > Data & Presentation > Objects > Cases.
The Object Information pane appears. - Locate the tabs across the top of the pane. They let you define:
- Object Properties, where the singular and plural forms of the object name are specified.
- Form Layouts where you control how data is displayed and interactively edited
- Object Fields
- GUI Actions to take when data is being specified (for example, to populate dependent fields)
- Indexes though which records can be accessed
- Validations for field data
- Data Policies to activate when data is stored
- Print Templates to determine how the data appears when printed, and
- Assignment policies to carry out to initialize fields and specify default values