Configure Entity Type #

When configuring an app, and selecting an Entity Type from the list in the app, you will be taken to the "Configure Entity Type" page.

Overview #

Entity Type Properties #

To modify the properties, click the Edit Entity Type Properties button.

"Enter a name for the Entity" - Indicates the name of the Entity Type used in a SINGULAR context. For example: "Movie" is singular in "Create a Movie".

"Enter a plural name for the Entities" - Indicates the name of the Data Type used in a PLURAL context. For example: "Movies" is plural in "Search for Movies".

"Show on App Main page" - When checked, the Entity Type is visible on the main page of the application. NOTE: Sometimes a Enitty Type is always invisible, for example, when an Entity Type represents a record in a join table like the "Actor-Movie-Join" Entity Type used in a many-to-many relationship in the "Demo Movie Application".

NOTE: This "Show" value does not necessary make an Entity Type invisible in the app. If the value is false, but the Entity Type is related to a different Entity that is visible on the main page, then users can navigate to this Entity Type through that Linked Data relationship. See Configure Linked Data Field for more info.

Display Name Format Editor #

"Display Name Format" - This field defines how the Entity Type is represented when displayed in DataSpeeder. The display name field typically uses field names from the database table wrapped in curley braces to define the display text.

"Add Field" dropdown picker - Allows you to easy pick a field name to add.

Example 1: ACTOR has fields called FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME, so the example ...

{firstname} {lastname} displays as:

Example 2: You can include other text in the display name format, for example, insert a comma like this ...

{lastname}, {firstname} displays as:

Example 3: MOVIE has fields called TITLE and YEAR, so using parenthesis ( ) around YEAR like this ...

{title}, ({year}) displays as:

Default Sorting Behaviour #

"Default Sort By Field" specifies the default field used to sort this entity type when displayed in a search table. Example: Sort by "First Name" or sort by "Last Name", and so on.

"Default Sort Direction" specifies the direction of the sort order, "A to Z", or "Z to A".

"Create New Data Type ..." button - Click to access the "Create Data Type" dialog box to create a new Data Type for the current application. (See section "2.3.3 Create Data Type dialog box".)

Data Types list - List of Data Types that are configured for the application. Click on a Data Type in the list to access the Configure Data Type page for that Data Type. (See section "2.3.4 Configure Data Type page".)

Entity Fields table #

Displays a list of the Entity Type's fields.

Clicking the Config Icon (little gear) for a field opens a pop up menu for accessing dialog boxes to configure Field Properties and Validation Rules for the field.

The table has columns which display a summary of useful properities of the individual fields.

For more information on configuring field properties, see Configure Field Type and Field Validation Rules.

Linked Data Fields #

Lists all of the "Linked Data Fields" that are configured that include this Entity Type.

A "Linked Data Field" is when two Entity Types have been configured to be in a database relationship.

For example: There is a many-to-many relationship between Actors and Movies (Actors are in many Movie, and Movies have many Actors in them).

For more information on managing Linked Data Fields, see Configure Linked Data Fields.