Creating custom Grid Views

Create a Grid View for a selected object type to list, filter, search, and select specific objects.

Designing a Grid View

A Grid View contains fixed and configurable UI components.

Controlling what Grid View is displayed to a user

An object type can have multiple Grid Views that are enabled. You define rules that determine what Grid View is displayed to a user. A Grid View can be displayed:

  • For all or specific profiles.

For more information, see Controlling which views are displayed to users and Defining a Grid View.

When users access an object type that does not have an enabled, valid Grid View, an error is displayed.

Designing a Grid View for scalability and performance

Consider scalability and performance when you design Grid Views. For example, if you have 500,000 Control objects in a library, a Grid View for Controls can be slow to display if no filters are applied.

For quicker system performance, apply a default filter to Grid Views that are defined for object types that potentially display many objects.

For more information, see Defining default filters on Grid Views.

Fixed UI components in a Grid View

Table 1. Fixed UI components in a Grid View
UI component Description
Work area The work area (the grid) is always displayed.
Filter icon (Filter icon) Is always displayed and cannot be hidden.
The name of the object type Is always displayed and cannot be hidden.
The number of objects returned Is always displayed and cannot be hidden.
The Search box Is always displayed and cannot be hidden.
New button Is displayed if creation is allowed at the object level and per the user's access permissions.
Checkboxes next to objects Are always displayed and cannot be hidden.
The word more Is always displayed when text is longer than can be shown. It cannot be hidden.
Items per page Is always displayed and cannot be hidden.

Configurable UI components in a Grid View

Table 2. Configurable UI components in a Grid View
UI component Description
Work area The work area (the grid) consists of columns and rows. You can configure how many columns are displayed and what fields display in each column. The header row in the grid is always displayed. The content of the rows is determined by the data that the user filters.
Display alternate field labels You can change the locale to display alternate field labels.

For information, see Applying alternate field labels.
Default filter If the object type has workflows, the Active Only check box displays. You can optionally overwrite the Active Only filter. If the object type does not have workflows, you can create your own default filter.

For information, see Defining default filters on Grid Views.

New button Is displayed if creation is allowed for the object type and the user has access permissions for the object type.
The Bulk Update (Bulk Update) icon Is displayed if registry settings that control bulk update functionality are configured for the user and object type. For more information, see:

The fields that are allowed to be updated are configured by the Bulk update setting in the view definition. Fields that are not displayed in the Grid View can also be updated, if configured.

Bulk update is not available for read only fields, for example, computed fields, workflow fields, and system fields that are read only.

Administrators with the Bulk Update All Fields application permission can bypass the restrictions on fields that can be updated. For more information, see Types of application permissions.

Defining colors for enumerated field values You can add colors to values in enumerated field values.

For more information about how to apply colors to field values, see Defining enumerated string fields.
Applying color ranges You can apply colors to value ranges for decimal, integer, and currency data types.

For more information about how to apply colors to field value ranges, see Defining fields and adding them to field groups.

Defining a Grid View

A Grid View definition contains basic information and rules. When used, a Grid View shows a list of objects for a selected object type that you can filter, search, select a specific object, and perform bulk updates on multiple objects.

Before you begin

Plan and design the Grid Views. For more information, see Designing a Grid View.

If you define multiple Grid Views for an object type, see Controlling which views are displayed to users.

Turn on the Display debug info feature. For more information, see Displaying debug information.

About this task

Each object type can have one or more Grid Views that are enabled.

For quicker system performance, apply a default filter to Grid Views that are defined for object types that potentially display many objects.

Procedure

  1. Click Open Administration menu Administration menu > Solution Configuration > Views.
  2. Click New View.
  3. Enter a Name. Allowed characters are A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, and spaces. Special characters are not allowed.
    The Name that you enter is copied to Label.
  4. Optional: You can either leave the Label as a copy of Name, or you can enter a new Label.
    Click Edit to enter localized values.
  5. Enter a Description.
  6. Select Grid in View Type.
  7. Select an object type in Object type.
  8. If you started creating a new view by clicking Copy view in View Designer, Copy from view doesn't appear and you can continue to the next step.
    In Copy from view, click Select a view to start with a base view that you can modify. If you do not select a view to copy from, the new view is empty with just the minimum properties.

    You don't have to copy from the same type of view that you want to create. For example, you can choose to copy from an Admin View even if you want to create a Task View. When you copy from a different view type, only compatible sections are copied to the new view. For example, not all view types have a Parent and child relationships section.

    1. Click the Filter by drop down and select the type of view that you want.
      You can also use the search to find a specific view.
    2. Select the view that you want to copy from.
    3. Click Select.
  9. Leave Enabled selected.
  10. Select Use as default view for this object type for all profiles to make the view the default view for the object type.
  11. If you didn't select Use as default view for this object type for all profiles, you can click Rules and specify the criteria that determines the view that is displayed to a user.
    1. Set View Priority to determine the order in which to display views.
      If multiple views are available for a user after the profile, enumeration, and user rules have been checked, View Priority determines the view that is displayed to the user. The view with the lowest value is displayed first. For example, 0 is displayed first, then 1, then 2.
    2. Optional: In Profiles (if not specified, view is valid for all profiles), select one or more profiles.
  12. Click Create.
    The View Designer opens with the Design tab displayed.
  13. Design the view. For more information, see Defining and publishing views with the View Designer.
  14. Click Preview to review the view.
  15. Click Publish.
  16. Test the view. Every time that you change the view or the rules, you must publish it and retest it.

What to do next

If you need to change the rules after a view is saved, click Edit view icon.

Defining Grid Views for bulk workflow actions

Grid Views for bulk workflow actions are designed to optimized speed and efficiently as users work on actions created by GRC Workflow.

Before you begin

Understand the bulk workflow actions feature in GRC Workflow and determine whether it is needed.

Determine whether unique Grid Views are needed for the feature. Any Grid View can be used for bulk workflow actions. The reason to create unique Grid Views for bulk workflow actions is to customize the columns to meet the needs of the users completing the tasks.

About this task

A Grid View for bulk workflow actions is displayed when a user accesses tasks from the Complete task with bulk workflow actions window.

In the following example, a user selected to work with tasks assigned to them by the RCSA workflow, which is displayed in Workflow Name in the header. The stage is displayed next to the workflow name. In this example, the user has 43 risk assessments to review. The options in the toolbar, Approve, Reject, and Return, come from the workflow stage.

Figure 1. Example of a Grid View for bulk workflow actions
Grid View for risk assessments. Approve, Reject, Return,and Bulk Update buttons displayed.
Functionality between a Grid View and Grid View for bulk workflow actions is mostly the same except for these differences:
  • The Grid View that is displayed is defined in the workflow stage.
  • The options in the toolbar are defined in the workflow stage. They cannot be configured in the View Designer.
  • The New button is hidden.
  • The tab name is always Bulk Action.
  • The Grid View head is always Bulk Workflow Action.

Procedure

  1. Follow the instructions in Defining a Grid View to define a Grid View.
  2. Add fields. The fields will be columns in the Grid View. Choose columns that will be helpful to the user when they work with bulk workflow actions.
  3. Click Done.

What to do next

Add the Grid View to the workflow. Open the workflow and go to the Bulk Workflow Action section. Select the Grid View in Select a grid view for Bulk Workflow Action. For more information, see Defining a standard stage.