Creating an Outline

Because outlines define the structure of your application or site, you can work with them in two ways. First, you can create an outline before creating any other elements and then add links and actions as you build the rest of the application. Second, you can add an outline to a database with elements that already exist. In either case, to create a new outline, open Domino Designer and choose a database in the Design pane. Click Outlines under Shared Code in the Design list, and click the New Outline button (see Figure 9.1).

Figure 9.1. The Work pane of an outline has several design action buttons . The Outline Info tab of the properties box is visible.

NOTE

When all the design action buttons won't fit in the display area, they are scrollable by clicking the arrows on the far right of the Action bar. The arrows toggle the display to the right or left, depending on the state of the Action bar. Losing buttons off-screen can happen if you pin the Bookmarks window.

 

NOTE

For more information about the Designer IDE, see Chapter 3, "The Integrated Development Environment."

 

The design action buttons are pretty easy to understand and use. The following is a list of the action buttons:

• New Entry ” Creates a new entry immediately after the highlighted outline entry.
• Save Outline ” As you might surmise, this button saves the outline. If the outline is new and hasn't been named yet, it prompts you to provide a name .
• Use Outline ” Adds the outline to a new page.
• Generate Default Outline ” Creates an outline based on the views and folders that already exist in the database.
• Indent Entry ” Moves an entry to the right underneath the entry immediately above. It is used to create a hierarchical outline.
• Outdent Entry ” Moves an entry to the left.
• Scroll Arrows ” Moves the action button set to the right or left if not all buttons can fit in the display.

You can use the Generate Default Outline button to quickly create an outline based on design elements already in the database. If you don't need each element, simply delete it (see the section "Deleting an Entry," later in this chapter).

Although using the default outline is certainly a fast way of developing your outline, building an outline from scratch is actually pretty simple. After you have the outline created, you simply add the entries necessary to provide a map to your application or site.

Adding an Entry

After the new outline has been created, you are presented with the blank Work pane, as shown in Figure 9.1. To create an entry, click the New Entry button in the Action bar. As soon as you do so, a new entry marked Untitled is added, and the Outline Entry properties box opens (see Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2. When you add a new entry, it is positioned immediately after the entry that was highlighted in the Work pane.

Figure 9.2 shows the beginnings of an outline. You'll notice that the second entry is indented under the first. You can insert an entry in an existing outline by appropriately positioning the cursor on the entry before the insertion point. You can do this to outlines created from scratch, as this one is, or to outlines created from the Generate Default Outline button.

After you have created an entry, you need to supply a name (label) and optionally an alias. Many more settings are available on the Outline Entry Info tab and are discussed in this chapter in the section "Working with Outline Entries." You can link entries to views, folders, pages, or URLs; create an action; and so forth. You can also conditionally hide the entry in the Entry Hide When tab, which functions just as a Hide When tab for other objects.

Deleting an Entry

Deleting an entry can be accomplished in two ways. The easiest way is to position the cursor on the entry and press the Delete key on the keyboard. Domino Designer asks for confirmation; if you click Yes, the entry is deleted. The other way is to right-click the entry and choose Cut from the context menu. If you cut the entry, it is saved on the Clipboard, and you can paste the entry elsewhere in the outline or even in another outline. To delete multiple entries, Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select each entry, and then press the Delete key.

Creating a Hierarchical Outline

Figure 9.3 shows a hierarchical outline. The second entry is indented under the first entry, and the third indented under the second. Other entries can be added at the appropriate hierarchical level. To create a hierarchical entry, position the highlight on the appropriate entry and click the New Entry button. Title the entry and click the Indent button. The new entry is indented under the entry you chose.

Figure 9.3. A hierarchical outline in design mode has plus and minus symbols that you can click to expand and collapse the entries. Subheading 2 is collapsed here.

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If you have several entries that need to be indented, select them all and then click the Indent button. You can select multiple entries by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key and clicking the entries with the mouse.

 

When you create a hierarchical outline, entries that are indented can be expanded and collapsed. Figure 9.3 shows an example of a hierarchical view in design. Note that there are plus and minus signs next to the entries. The entry can be expanded by clicking the plus sign and can be collapsed by clicking the minus sign.

Outline entries can be nested (or cascaded) just as views and categories can be. When a hierarchical outline is embedded in a page or form and is presented to the user , the nested entries can be expanded and collapsed with twisties. Figure 9.4 shows the effects of indented entries on an outline.

Figure 9.4. Note the twisties beside the part and chapter entries in this hierarchical outline of a table of contents.

If you have views that are nested, when you generate a default outline, a hierarchical outline is created similar to the one in Figure 9.4.

Changing Entry Positions

You can change the position of an entry by simply clicking with the left mouse button and dragging it to the desired location. When you click and drag, a small square and a black line appear by the mouse pointer. You can use this graphic symbol to position the entry. Alternatively, you can right-click an entry and choose Cut from the context menu. Right-click the location where you want the entry to appear and choose Paste. The entry appears after the entry you right-clicked.

Generating a Default Outline

If you have a database that has already been designed, you can use the Generate Default Outline button. This builds an outline from existing views and folders. You can change the name of the newly created entries, add new entries, and move or delete entries. This is far easier than constructing an outline from scratch because all the links are built for you. If you make changes to the view structures, the outline won't be refreshed automatically; if you open the outline and click the Generate Default Outline button, it will be refreshed. Of course, any changes you have made to the outline will be eliminated.

Using an Outline

To use an outline, you can embed it in a form, page, or document. You can also embed it in a page directly from the outline Work pane by clicking the Use Outline button. This creates a new page with the outline embedded in the page. You can preview the page to see how the new outline appears. Figure 9.5 shows a page with an embedded outline in Domino Preview mode.

Figure 9.5. Generating a default outline presents all the views and folders in a database ”note that the format is similar to the R4 Folder pane.

To use the page, you can attach it to a frameset (you will learn how to do this later in this chapter). However, you can test the links by previewing the page in Notes and then clicking the entries. If the entry links to a view, the database opens in a new window with the selected view opened.

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Surprised that the embedded outline shows some but not all the entries? Check the Info tab of Embedded Outline properties box. Change both the Width and Height settings in the Outline Size section of the Info tab of the Embedded Outline properties box from Fixed (the default) to Fit to Content.

 

Working with Outline Properties

Only one tab exists in the Outline properties box for the outline itself: the Outline Info tab. This tab contains very basic information: Name, Alias, Comment, Available to Public Access Users, and Read Only. If you click Available to Public Access Users, users with no access to the database can use the outline to access other elements that are marked for public access. Figure 9.6 shows the Outline properties box.

Figure 9.6. The Outline properties box has only one tab: the Outline Info tab.