Customising Data Entry Pages

Whilst on a data entry page, the developer will be able to know if that page is custom or not by the links provided on the developer toolbar.

In a data entry screen, if under the link “Development” there is an option “Create custom page”, it means that no custom data entry screen has been created yet. If there is an option “Edit custom page”, it means that a custom data entry screen has been created. The difference here is that a custom data entry page can have multiple custom layouts, however only one can be active at any time.

By clicking on the link “Designer”, the developer can choose which version to use, copy, delete or edit the current custom layout page.

In the same way we can create custom data entry pages. The developer needs to navigate to the data entry page he desires to modify in the system, and click the link “Create custom”.

This creates an empty template of a data entry page, in which the developer can override current components, or add his own.

To create a custom data entry layout page, the developer must first click on the link "Designer", and then click on "Create New Page Version". The developer can choose a name to give this layout, since as previously stated, there can be more than one layout page (but only one active). This copies the release layout page, and allows the developer to add/remove sections and components, and have complete control over how the page should be viewed. The developer can also choose to copy an existing custom layout instead of the release, or delete any that are no longer in use.

In the case of having more than one custom layout page, to activate a certain one, the developer must again click on the link "Designer", and check the checkbox "Use this version" of the layout that is required.

A similar process is used for creating custom data entry pages. Again the developer needs to navigate to the folder he desires to create the custom data entry page in.

This time however, the custom data entry (functionality) page needs to have the word “Custom” at the end of it, in order to override the release data entry page. So for example, the activity.xml data entry page would have activityCustom.xml as its custom page.

Also, the custom layout page needs to have the release data entry page name, together with the word “layout~”, and then a unique name identifier at the end of it, to distinguish the various layouts for that page. So for example, the activitylayout.xml layout page would have activitylayout~Custom.xml as its custom page.