Develop > Presentation layer > Management Center framework > Common Management Center user interface flows
Explorer view flow
Business users can use the explorer view to navigate through the objects with which they want to work.
Define explorer view content
The Management Center explorer view contains two predefined nodes: the Search Results node (which allows a business user to return to a list of results at any time) and the Active Work node (to show the objects that are currently open). The rest of the explorer view is used to display objects found under the object described by the top object definition. These objects are either organizational objects defined in the template dataset or primary objects loaded by the wcfGetChildrenService of the top object. The active filter determines the set of objects that are currently visible. The filter selector is only displayed if more than one wcfFilter instance is defined.Here is an example of the explorer view, with a filter, in the Catalogs tool:
This screen capture shows the Catalogs tool using a top object definition to retrieve the master catalog object. This is a primary object for the Catalogs tool and is defined as a wcfPrimaryObjectDefintion. The filter selector contains a list of filters (for example, Master Catalog Categories is a filter option listed in the example). This list is derived from the filter definitions under the Business Object Editor of the selected tool.
Here is an example of the explorer view, without a filter, in the Marketing tool:
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In this case, unlike the Catalogs tool, the Marketing tool uses organizational objects as the highest level explorer tree node to retrieve distinct primary objects (that is, Campaigns, Activities, E-mail Templates, and E-Marketing Spots). Each of these nodes is an organizational object. Organizational objects are user interface objects that have no server side equivalent. These objects have instances of wcfGetChildrenService that return primary objects which can be listed in the main work area using a navigation list definition.
Select nodes within the explorer view
Here is the an example of selecting a node (Furniture) within the explorer view:To accompany the screen capture, here is the underlying flow that the Management Center framework performs when the user interacts with the explorer view:
- The business user selects the node in the explorer view. Each Management Center object is represented by a model object (defined in wcfModelObject) in the Management Center framework. When the user selects an object in the explorer view, the framework finds the model object for the Management Center object, which understands the object definition. The framework invokes all instances of wcfGetChildrenService defined in the object definition.
- To retrieve the results of wcfGetChildrenService, URL requests are sent to the Management Center Web application. Once the server returns the objects to be displayed as an XML file, the framework creates model objects for all the retrieved objects and caches them.
Navigation list definitions for list viewsIn the object definition for the selected object within the explorer tree, there is also a navigation list definition. The definition marked as default is the one used to display the returned objects from the server. The class used to display is the one defined by the listClass attribute within the default navigation list definition. The following screen capture illustrates how the Management Center objects returned from the wcfGetChildrenService request, plus the default navigation list definition, are used to render a list view of desk lamps.
Display the object as a list or properties viewOnce the business user has selected a node within the explorer view, the objects can be displayed as a list view (for example, a list of coffee tables, with some editable cells for quick editing), and a properties view (to modify properties for a specific object; for example, make changes to the Modern Occasional Table). The following screen capture illustrates this interaction:
To accompany the screen capture, here is the underlying flow that the Management Center framework performs when the user selects to work with an object in the main work area:
- The business user selects the node in the explorer view (for example, Coffee Tables). Each Management Center object is represented by a model object (defined in wcfModelObject) in the Management Center framework. When the user selects an object in the explorer view, the framework finds the model object for the Management Center object, which understands the object definition. The framework invokes all instances of wcfGetChildrenService defined in the object definition.
- To retrieve the results of wcfGetChildrenService, URL requests are sent to the Management Center Web application. Once the server returns the objects to be displayed as an XML file, the framework creates model objects for all the retrieved objects and caches them. The object can be displayed in a list view (for example, a list of coffee tables).
- The object can also be displayed as a properties view for editing a specific object (such as the Modern Occasional Table).
Related concepts
Collection list editor widget flow
Common Management Center user interface flows