Walkthrough: Creating a List Page and Adding an Action Pane

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

An action pane is the part of a Microsoft Dynamics AX list page that enables you to work with the records in the list. In this walkthrough you will use the Application Object Tree (AOT) to create a basic customer list page and then add an action pane to that list page. This walkthrough shows how to do the following tasks:

• Create a list page interaction class.

• Create a list page form.

• Add a data source to the list page.

• Add fields to the data grid.

• Add a tab to the action pane.

• Add a button group to the tab.

• Add a button to the button group.

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you need:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX

• A license file that includes access to the MorphX development environment

• Sample data in the CustTable database table of a company that you can access

Creating a List Page

In this section, you create a list page interaction class, create the list page form, add a data source, and then add fields to the data grid. The following procedures create a list page that can display a list of customers.

To create the list page interaction class

1. In the AOT, right-click the Classes node, and then click New Class. The Classes node expands and displays a new class.

2. Right-click the new class, and then click Properties. In the Properties window, click Name, and then enter SampleListPageInteraction.

3. Expand the class node, and double-click classDeclaration. The class declaration opens in the Editor window.

4. To modify the class declaration, click classDeclaration in the Editor window, and then add extends ListPageInteraction to line that defines the class. The following code example shows the class declaration for the SampleListPageInteraction class.

   Class SampleListPageInteraction extends ListPageInteraction
   

5. Click Save and then close the Editor window.

To create the list page form

1. In the AOT, right-click the Forms node, click New Form from template, and then click ListPage. The Forms window opens and shows the new form.

2. Right-click the new form, and then click Properties. The properties window opens.

3. In the properties window, click the Name property of the form, and then enter SampleListPage.

4. Click the InteractionClass property, expand the drop down list, and then click SampleListPageInteraction.

5. To view the display properties of the form, expand the Designs node for the form, and then click Design. In the properties window, click the Caption property, and then enter Sample List Page.

6. Expand the Design node and verify that the form includes an action pane, filter group, and grid control.

7. In the AOT, right-click the SampleListPage form, and then click Save.

To add the data source

1. The data source for the list is defined by a query. To specify the query to use with the list page, click the Data Sources node for the form. The data source properties appear in the Properties window.

2. Click the Query property, and then set its value to CustTableListPage. The query and the data sources of that query are added to the form.

3. In the Design node, right-click the grid, and then click Properties. In the properties window, click the DataSource property, and then click CustTable in the drop-down list.

4. Click the Design node. In the properties window, set the DataSource and TitleDataSource properties to CustTable.

To specify the default action for the grid

1. In the AOT, expand the form, expand Designs, expand Design, and then expand the action pane node.

2. In the Action Pane node, expand the action pane tab labeled HomeTab, expand the button group labeled MaintainGroup, right-click the menu item button labeled ViewButton, and then click Properties.

3. Click the MenuItemName property. Use the drop-down list to find and then click the menu item named CustTableDetails.

To add fields to the grid

1. Expand the Data Sources node of the form, right-click the CustTable node under the CustTableListPage query, and then click Open New Window. The CustTable data source appears in a new AOT window.

2. In the window that displays the CustTable data source, expand Fields.

3. Drag the AccountNum, Party, SegmentId, Currency, and PaymTermId fields from the CustTable data source window onto the Grid control of the SampleListPage form.

4. Close the window that displays the CustTable data source.

5. In the AOT, right-click the SampleListPage form, and then click Save.

Adding an Action Pane Tab

In this section, you add a tab control to the action pane. The action pane, several common button groups, and several common buttons are added to the form when you use the list page template to create the form. An action pane must have at least one action pane tab. The following steps add a “General” action pane tab.

To add the action pane tab

1. Expand the Designs node, expand Design, and then click ActionPane.

2. Right-click the action pane control, click New Control, and then click ActionPaneTab. A control named ActionPaneTab is added to the action pane.

3. Click ActionPaneTab to display the control properties in the Properties window. Set the specified values for the following action pane tab properties.

   Property	Value
   Name	General
   Caption	General Note When the action pane is displayed, this value will be the tab label.

Adding Button Groups to the Action Pane Tab

In this section, you add two button groups to the General action pane tab. An action pane tab must contain at least one button group control.

To add the first button group

1. Right-click the General action pane tab, click New Control, and then click ButtonGroup. A control named ButtonGroup is added to the action pane tab.

2. Click the new button group to display the control properties in the Properties window. Set the specified values for the following button group properties.

   Property	Value
   Name	List
   Caption	List Note When the action pane is displayed, this value will be the button group label.

To add the second button group

1. Right-click the General action pane tab, click New Control, and then click ButtonGroup. A control named ButtonGroup is added to the action pane tab.

2. Click the new button group to display the control properties in the Properties window. Set the specified values for the following button group properties.

   Property	Value
   Name	Attachments
   Caption	Attachments Note When the action pane is displayed, this value will be the button group label.

Adding Buttons to the Button Groups

In this section, you add a button to each button group that you created earlier. A button group must contain at least one button control.

To add a command button to the List button group

1. Right-click the List button group, click New Control, and then click CommandButton. A control named CommandButton is added to the button group.

2. Click the new button to display the control properties in the Properties window. Set the specified values for the following button properties.

   Property	Value
   Big	Yes
   ButtonDisplay	Text & Image above
   Command	Export To Microsoft Excel Note This is the action that the button performs when it is clicked.
   ImageLocation	EmbeddedResources
   MultiSelect	Yes
   Name	ExportToExcel
   NormalImage	10156 Caution You must set the ImageLocation before entering a value in this property.
   Primary	Yes
   ShowShortCut	No
   Text	Export to Excel

To add a menu item button to the Attachments button group

1. Right-click the Attachments button group, click New Control, and then click MenuItemButton. A control named MenuItemButton is added to the button group.

2. Click the new button to display the control properties in the Properties window. Set the specified values for the following button properties.

   Property	Value
   Big	Yes
   ButtonDisplay	Text & Image above
   ImageLocation	EmbeddedResources
   MenuItemName	DocuView Note When this button is clicked, the document handling form opens.
   MultiSelect	Yes
   Name	AttachmentsView
   NormalImage	10442 Caution You must set the ImageLocation before entering a value in this property.
   Primary	Yes
   ShowShortCut	No
   Text	Attachments

3. Right-click the form and then click Save.

To view the list page with the action pane, right-click the form, and then click Open. The list page opens and you can see the action pane and data grid you added to the form.

Next Steps

After you add buttons to the action pane, you can specify the value of the DefaultAction property of the grid control. Identify the button that represents the action that you want performed when a row in the list is double-clicked.

To add more tabs, button groups, and buttons to the action pane, you use the same techniques that you used to create the General tab. For information about how to add a preview pane to a list page, see How to: Add a Preview Pane to a List Page.

See also

List Page Overview

Action Pane Buttons

How to: Add a List Page to the Navigation Pane

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