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Version: 2025.2

Entity

This page provides generated reference documentation for the Entity data model.

A business object to model the structure and type of the data

Overview​

PropertySummary
afterOperatingStateProcess that runs after the operatingstate is changed.
afterSaveProcess that is executed after the record has been successfully saved
afterUiInitProcess that is executed after the initialization of the UI (= after loading all displayed elements).
beforeOperatingStateProcess that runs before the operatingstate is changed.
colorDefines a color for an element.
colorProcessDefines a color for an element dynamically by executing the process. Where (or if) the color is used depends on different actors in the system and is defined…
commentProperty to store a developer comment in form of
contentDescriptionProcessProcess to determine a longer description based on content of a record within an entity.
contentTitleProcessProcess to determine the title based on content of a record within an entity.
descriptionDescription
documentationContains the documentation of the data model in the popular AsciiDoc format (.adoc). The documentation should be set by the developer to explain different…
entityFieldsList of fields, providers, consumers, etc. for this entity
grantCreateSpecifies whether the creation of a new record is allowed in principle.
grantCreateProcessProcess for the permission to create a new record.
grantDeleteSpecifies whether the deletion of a record is allowed in principle.
grantDeleteProcessProcess for the permission to delete a record.
grantUpdateSpecifies whether changing a new record is allowed in principle.
grantUpdateProcessProcess for the permission to update a record.
iconImage.
iconIdThe icon is displayed in various situations in the client as symbol for an entity.
iconIdProcessBasically the same as the iconId property, but this time it's dynamically calculated per record. This will overwrite the value that is set in the iconId…
iconProcessSpecifies the icon dynamically. If the icon has no effect, neither will the result of the process.
imageImage of a record in an entity (since the image property is static, this will affect every record). This could be for example a logo. You can access the…
imageProcessImage of a record in an entity. Since the process can return an image dynamically this could be used for example to provide a portraits for persons within an…
initFilterProcessProcess that can return an initial filter (json) for the entity.
metadataMetadata field.
onInitProcess that is executed during initialization.
onValidationThe onValidation is executed during loss of focus to check the input for validity. Validations fails, if a message other than true is returned by…
recordContainerConfiguration of the main record container of an entity.
recordContainersThe record containers in this entity
recordsRecipeSupportedDetermines if the entity supports RecordsRecipe for selections.
siblingsA sibling describes other entities that represent the same data as the current entity where this property can be set.
titleSingular title of the entity, e.g. Person
titlePluralentities title in plural; e.g. Persons
useFavoritesDetermines if the views using this entity can show private tags (favorites).
usePermissionsDetermines if the element is relevant for the authorisation concept. For example: If this value is true the element can be selected for the grant…

afterOperatingState​

Type: String

Process that runs after the operatingstate is changed.

afterSave​

Type: String

Process that is executed after the record has been successfully saved

The variable $local.entitydata can be used to access the data of the entity that has been saved. The recordstate (NEW or EDIT) can be retrieved via "$local.recordstate.

By finishing the process with result.string(true), the default behavior after saving is ignored. In this case, the process must first execute commands regarding the further navigation, e.g., openContext(...). In any other case (= no result or result.string(false)), the default behavior is executed unchanged.

Example: If you use the process code

[...]
neon.openContext("Organisation", [...])
result.string(true);

then, the context "Organisation" is opened after saving, ignoring the user's selection, e.g., "Save and open" or "Save and close".

afterUiInit​

Type: String

Process that is executed after the initialization of the UI (= after loading all displayed elements).

This is useful if you want to preset a consumer with records in the NEW-mode for example.

beforeOperatingState​

Type: String

Process that runs before the operatingstate is changed.

color​

Type: String

Defines a color for an element.

Where (or if) the color is used depends on different actors in the system and is defined internally. Note that the color can not be chosen freely, but you can select from different presets (e.g.: priority-high-color). This will ensure that the color will fit on different themes and for example a warning-color will always stand out.

colorProcess​

Type: String

Defines a color for an element dynamically by executing the process. Where (or if) the color is used depends on different actors in the system and is defined internally. Note that the color can not be chosen freely, but you can select from different presets. Within the system.neon module there exist constants for the different colors, e.g. neon.PRIORITY_HIGH_COLOR or neon.BRAND_COLOR. This will ensure that the color will fit on different themes and for example a warning-color will always stand out.

comment​

Type: String

Property to store a developer comment in form of

/**
*
*/

In the past this was used in customizing for frame controls additional settings, such as the activation of rights, histories, or attributes. This should not be done anymore in the comment property, because therefor a metadata property exists.

contentDescriptionProcess​

Type: String

Process to determine a longer description based on content of a record within an entity.

For example: If you've got a Person_entity, the contentTitle could be the full name of a person and the persons address.

contentTitleProcess​

Type: String

Process to determine the title based on content of a record within an entity.

For example: If you've got a Person_entity, the contentTitle could be the first- and lastname of a person separated by a space character.

The result is used for example in a list of Persons.

description​

Type: String
Default: ``

Description

documentation​

Type: String

Contains the documentation of the data model in the popular AsciiDoc format (.adoc). The documentation should be set by the developer to explain different aspects (like purpose, concept, etc.) of the data model that they designed.

You may want to add the extension "AsciiDoc" to your ADITO Designer in order to modify AsciiDoc files.

<!--VSCODE_ONLY-->

entityFields​

Type: EntityFields

List of fields, providers, consumers, etc. for this entity

grantCreate​

Type: Boolean
Default: true

Specifies whether the creation of a new record is allowed in principle.

grantCreateProcess​

Type: String

Process for the permission to create a new record.

Returns result.string(true) for "allowed", result.string(false) for "not allowed".

The return of this process overrides the grantCreate setting.

Error messages in this process occur at the client.

grantDelete​

Type: Boolean
Default: true

Specifies whether the deletion of a record is allowed in principle.

grantDeleteProcess​

Type: String

Process for the permission to delete a record.

Returns result.string(true) for "allowed", result.string(false) for "not allowed".

The return of this process overrides the grantDelete setting.

Error messages in this process occur at the client.

grantUpdate​

Type: Boolean
Default: true

Specifies whether changing a new record is allowed in principle.

grantUpdateProcess​

Type: String

Process for the permission to update a record.

Returns result.string(true) for "allowed", result.string(false) for "not allowed".

Error messages from this process do not arrive at the client, they are only visible in the server log. If an error occurs in this process, the power is not granted.

icon​

Type: String

Image.

Depending on the datamodel, this has different effects:

  • Entity: used as symbol in the designer. Do not confuse this property with the iconId property
  • Context: used as symbol in the designer. If the contexts entity has an icon set, the entities icon is used
  • System, Language, Role, Application: icon that appears only in the designer.
  • Template: Same effect as on the respective component
  • Alias, User: no effect
  • Frame, Process, Report, NeonFrame: icon that appears in the designer and in the client for the frame.

<!--EOF-->

You can add a custom icon by placing an icon.png file in the folder of your data model.

iconId​

Type: String

The icon is displayed in various situations in the client as symbol for an entity.

For example the sidebar with the list of contexts: Since every context has an entity associated, the icon of the entity is displayed.

You can access the icon via the virtual field #ICON if you need to.

iconIdProcess​

Type: String

Basically the same as the iconId property, but this time it's dynamically calculated per record. This will overwrite the value that is set in the iconId property. This could be for example different icons for active tasks and already done tasks.

iconProcess​

Type: String

Specifies the icon dynamically. If the icon has no effect, neither will the result of the process.

Depending on the datamodel, the result of the process has to be different:

  • When you can specify an icon-avatar-text (e.g. VAADIN:USERS): You've to return the icon-avatar.text with result.string(...)

  • When you can specify an image in the icon: This is returned as a string with the ID of the image in the ASYS_BINARIES via result.string().

Error messages from this process do not arrive at the client, they are only visible in the server log.

image​

Type: String

Image of a record in an entity (since the image property is static, this will affect every record). This could be for example a logo. You can access the image via the virtual field #IMAGE (for example in a view).

Note that the image is not the icon that is displayed in the client, but it is a representation of the record in an image-format.

imageProcess​

Type: String

Image of a record in an entity. Since the process can return an image dynamically this could be used for example to provide a portraits for persons within an Person_entity (=> Every person has a different portrait)

You can return any valid avatarish-value (TEXT:MY NAME, base64 encoded string etc.) with result.string(...) and the result will overwrite the value that is set in the image property.

You can access the image via the virtual field #IMAGE (for example in a view).

Note that the image is not the icon that is displayed in the client, but it is a representation of the record in an image-format.

initFilterProcess​

Type: String

Process that can return an initial filter (json) for the entity.

This filter is applied when the entity is loaded, afterwards the data is requested from the associated recordcontainer.

Note that the result given in this process is only a preset filter that may be changed by the user either

  • explicit by changing it for example via the filter-menu
  • implicit for example via a search term in a lookup component

This process has to return a stringified filter-object to set (like in entities.createRowConfig().filter(...)) or nothing if no filter shall be set.

The filter string has to be a valid user-filter, additional filters like permissions are set automatically by the entity and are not required as result here.

Filtergroups and -rows can be combined to build up complex filters as long as the filter is valid.

Note that often more complex filters are performing slower when loading data instead of simple filters.

To learn more about how the base object for the result string (so the filter object) needs to be defined take a look in the general technical description of filters in the Customizing Manual.

Code Example:

var res;

// _hasPresetFilter is in this example a private function that determines
// if a user needs a filter preset or not
// only add preset in the filter presentationmode 
// because we do not want to preset the filter in the lookup presentation mode 
// since the filter is discarded 
// when the user enters a search term into the lookup component
if (vars.get("$sys.presentationmode") === neon.CONTEXT_PRESENTATIONMODE_FILTER 
	&& _hasPresetFilter())
{
	var filter = {
		type: "group",
			operator: "AND",
			childs: [{
				type: "row",
				name: "CURRENT_SITUATION_LOG",
				operator: "EQUAL",
				contenttype: "TEXT",
				key: "$R1258_DISABLED",
				value: translate.text("Disabled")
			}]
	};
	res = JSON.stringify(res);
}

if (res)
	result.string(res);

metadata​

Type: String

Metadata field.

This corresponds to the comment property on the swing frame. Settings can be made here, whether rights, histories, attributes,... are activated or not.

onInit​

Type: String

Process that is executed during initialization.

onValidation​

Type: String

The onValidation is executed during loss of focus to check the input for validity. Validations fails, if a message other than true is returned by result.string(). result.string("Any Message") or result.string(false) results in failing the validation check, thus displaying the message to the user, not accepting the input data and disabling the save button.

If result.string() is not called or result.string(true) is used, the system assumes a positive validation and accepts the input data.

This process has to be fast, due to being called multiple times by the system. Do not use it to change the state of components!

recordContainer​

Type: String

Configuration of the main record container of an entity.

For example, this recordContanier will be used for editing (new, update, delete), for default way of loading data or for providing data via a provider (if not specified otherwise).

recordContainers​

Type: RecordContainers

The record containers in this entity

recordsRecipeSupported​

Type: Boolean
Default: false

Determines if the entity supports RecordsRecipe for selections.

An entity supports the RecordsRecipe if the place of use of selections (like customized selection-actions) are processing the selection via the variable $sys.selectionRecordsRecipe.

When this property is disabled it tells the entity that only the legacy way for providing selections (e.g. $sys.selections providing UIDs of the selected items) is supported. A "select all"-checkbox will appear for all supported viewtemplates only if the recordContainer is not pageable.

When this property is enabled a "select all"-checkbox will appear for all supported viewtemplates (like tables, cards, treetables and more) even if the used recordContainer is pageable.

Note that the $sys.selectionRecordsRecipe exists and is filled no matter of what value of this property. This property only indicates if the entity and its elements (for example customized selection-actions) are ready to handle the $sys.selectionRecordsRecipe variable and a "select all" checkbox in viewtemplates can be displayed or not.

Therefore, it is possible to migrate all usage locations of the selection step by step and if everything is migrated this property can be set to true.

siblings​

Type: String[]

A sibling describes other entities that represent the same data as the current entity where this property can be set.

For example: You've got a Eventparticipant_entity that represents participants of an event and a EventparticipantAdd_entity that is used for adding participants of an event in a special way. If you stored information within the EventparticipantAdd_entity this would not trigger any auto refreshes in a Eventparticipant_entity that is also displayed in the current client view. To resolve this problem (and to provide the information that these two entities belong together by representing the same data in different ways) you can set the siblings as follows:

  • Eventparticipant_entity is a sibling of EventparticipantAdd_entity

and

  • EventparticipantAdd_entity is a sibling of Eventparticipant_entity

title​

Type: String
Constraints: Verification: TITLE_LENGTH

Singular title of the entity, e.g. Person

titlePlural​

Type: String

entities title in plural; e.g. Persons

This is used within the client in views where multiple records are displayed - for example as detail-headline in a master-detail layout

useFavorites​

Type: Boolean
Default: false

Determines if the views using this entity can show private tags (favorites).

usePermissions​

Type: Boolean
Default: false

Determines if the element is relevant for the authorisation concept. For example: If this value is true the element can be selected for the grant configuration within the client