Table of Contents Editor

This section describes the functionality of the Table of Contents (TOC) Editor.

The TOC Editor provides a WYSIWYG-style editing experience for administrators who configure the Aras Innovator table of contents. This feature is intended to meet the following goals.

1. Reduce Context Switching: Admins can configure all TOC content in a single interface. No need to switch between tabs and edit individual ItemTypes.
2. Improve Visibility: Admins can instantly see the results of their edits without logging out and back into Aras Innovator. The “View As” functionality also enables admins to see the TOC view for different users and groups, making it easier to test and troubleshoot their updates.
3. Simplify Packaging: The TOC Editor automatically packages the CUI objects that are used to render the TOC controls.

The TOC Editor is comprised of three main sections: the toolbar, the contents pane, and the details pane.

Viewing the TOC Editor

1. The TOC Editor toolbar contains the following controls.
• Save: Saves the current changes in the editor. If the editor tab is closed before the user clicks Save, all changes made since the last save will be lost. This button will be disabled if there are no changes in the editor.
• Discard Changes: Discards the current changes in the editor. This button will be disabled if there are no changes in the editor.
• Add Category: Adds a new Category to the TOC. If another Category is selected when this button is clicked, the new Category will be created as a child of the selected Category. If no Category is selected, the new Category will be created at the bottom of the TOC.
• Add ItemType: Adds a new ItemType button to the TOC. If a Category is selected when this button is clicked, the new ItemType button will be created as a child of the selected Category. If no Category is selected, the new ItemType button will be created at the bottom of the TOC.
• Add Item: Adds a new Item button to the TOC. An Item button displays a specific item in a new tab when a user clicks it. If a Category is selected when this button is clicked, the new ItemType button will be created as a child of the selected Category. If no Category is selected, the new ItemType button will be created at the bottom of the TOC.
• Add Form: Adds a new Form button to the TOC. A Form button displays an Aras Innovator form in a new tab when a user clicks it.
• Add Page: Adds a new Page button to the TOC. A Page button displays an HTML page in a new tab when a user clicks it.
• Delete: Deletes the currently selected Category or ItemType button.
• Move Up: Moves the selected Category or ItemType button within its parent Category. This button will be disabled if the selected Category or ItemType button cannot be moved higher.
• Move Down: Moves the selected Category or ItemType button within its parent Category. This button will be disabled if the selected Category or ItemType button cannot be moved lower.

1. The pane on the left side of the TOC Editor displays all Categories and ItemType buttons that are configured in the Aras Innovator database. It also includes several options for filtering the content.

Using the Identity “View As” filter at the bottom of the Contents Pane, admins can choose to view only the TOC configuration for a specified user or group. The TOC Editor will enter a read-only mode when the View As filter is active.

Viewing the TOC as a member of Change Specialist I

Using the Language “View As” filter at the bottom of the Contents Pane, admins can choose to view a user’s or group’s TOC configuration in a specific language. The TOC Editor will enter a read-only mode when the View As filter is active.

Viewing the TOC as a Change Specialist I with Japanese client settings

1. The pane on the right side of the TOC Editor displays a form for viewing and editing the properties of the selected row in the Contents Pane.

When no items are selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows general properties for the TOC. This is the default view when the TOC Editor opens.

Properties for the TOC are shown when no items are selected

• Sort: Determines the order that the Aras Innovator web client renders the TOC elements.
• Alphabetical: The default setting is Alphabetical, which sorts TOC Categories and their child items in alphabetical order. This setting is consistent with the behavior of Aras Innovator 12 and earlier releases.
Note
The order of items in the Contents Pane and the actual TOC may appear different when the sort properties is set to Alphabetical.
• Custom: This setting sorts the TOC Categories and ItemType buttons according to the order defined in the TOC Editor.

To deselect an item in the Contents Pane and show the TOC properties, click the Contents header in the Contents Pane.

When a Category is selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows a form for viewing and editing the properties of that Category.

Properties for the selected Category

• Label: This multilingual property defines the text that is shown for the Category in the TOC.

When an ItemType button is selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows a form for viewing and editing the properties of that ItemType button.

Properties for the selected ItemType button

• ItemType: Sets the ItemType associated with the button. When the button is clicked in the TOC, the Navigation Pane will display the user’s favorite searches, favorite items, and common actions for that ItemType.
• Icon: Defines the icon that appears on the button in the TOC.
• Label: This multilingual property defines the text that is shown on the button in the TOC.
• Access: Defines which Identity members will see this button in the TOC.

When an Item button is selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows a form for viewing and editing the properties of that Item button.

Properties for the selected ItemType button

• ItemType: Defines the type of item that can be selected as the context item for the Item button.
• Item: Defines the specific item that will be displayed in a new tab when a user clicks the Item button.
• Icon: Defines the icon that appears on the button in the TOC.
• Label: This multilingual property defines the text that is shown on the button in the TOC.
• Access: Defines which Identity members will see this button in the TOC.

When a Form button is selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows a form for viewing and editing the properties of that Form button.

Properties for the selected ItemType button

• Form: Sets the Form associated with the button. When the button is clicked in the TOC, the Form will display in a new Aras Innovator tab.
• Icon: Defines the icon that appears on the button in the TOC.
• Label: This multilingual property defines the text that is shown on the button in the TOC.
• Access: Defines which Identity members will see this button in the TOC.

When a Page button is selected in the Contents Pane, the Details Pane shows a form for viewing and editing the properties of that Page button.

Properties for the selected ItemType button

• Start Page: Specifies the path of an HTML page to display when the button is clicked. This should be an HTML file in the code tree, and the path should be relative to the Innovator/Client/scripts directory.
• Parameters: Optional. Passes parameters for the HTML page to use.
• Icon: Defines the icon that appears on the button in the TOC.
• Label: This multilingual property defines the text that is shown on the button in the TOC.
• Access: Defines which Identity members will see this button in the TOC.

Packaging Aras Innovator configuration data to share changes between developers or different environments, like test and production. This section provides information on how to handle packages that include TOC configuration data.

The TOC Editor manages the underlying CUI items that define and render the TOC controls in the Aras Innovator web client. These CUI items need to be packaged to export the TOC configuration to another Aras Innovator instance.

The TOC Editor automatically adds each ItemType button to the package that contains its associated ItemType. For ItemTypes that belong to package definitions, admins can simply export the packages and import them into another environment. If an ItemType button references an ItemType that does not belong to a package, there are a couple options. One option is to remove the button from the TOC, package the ItemType, and then recreate the button in the TOC Editor. This will automatically package the button. The second option is to manually package the CUI items that define the ItemType button. The following steps demonstrate how to manually package a custom “Part” ItemType button.

1. Navigate to Administration > ItemTypes in the TOC.
2. Search for the Part ItemType and open it.
3. Click the Client Style relationship tab and open the Presentation Configuration item.
4. In the Command Bar Section grid, open the Part_TOC_Contentitem.
5. In the Command Bar Item grid, open the Menu Button item that corresponds with the custom ItemType button in the TOC. The format of the name will resemble com.aras.innovator.cui_default.toc_Part_<GUID>.
6. Click the “…” button in the toolbar and select Add to Package Definition.
7. Choose the package from the list that the Menu Button will be assigned to.
8. Close the Menu Button item, Command Bar Section item, Presentation Configuration item, and ItemType tabs.

The custom ItemType button is now packaged and can be exported with the export utility.

Since Categories are not explicitly assigned an ItemType, they must be packaged manually. The following steps demonstrate how to package a custom Category called “Design Pros”.

1. Navigate to Administration > Configuration > Client Presentation in the TOC.
2. Click the Search button to run the Client Presentation search.
3. Click the Global item property in the single search result.
4. In the Command Bar Section grid, open the com.aras.innovator.cui_default.tocitem.
5. In the Command Bar Item grid, open the Menu item that corresponds with the custom Category in the TOC. The format of the name will resemble com.aras.innovator.cui_default.toc_<GUID>.
6. Click the “…” button in the toolbar and select Add to Package Definition.
7. Choose the package from the list that the Menu will be assigned to.
8. Close the Menu item, Command Bar Section item, Presentation Configuration item, and ItemType tabs.
9. The custom Category is now packaged and can be exported with the export utility.

Prior to Aras Innovator Release 14, admins defined the TOC using the legacy TOC Access and TOC View relationships on ItemTypes. These relationships are no longer used as of Release 14, however, packages exported from Aras Innovator 12 SP20, or earlier releases may still include this data. These packages can be imported into Release 14+, but they will need a few updates to properly capture the TOC configuration.

The following steps are required to update a package that contains TOC Access or TOC View data.

1. Import the package into Aras Innovator (Release 14 or greater).
2. For each TOC Access relationship in the package, create a new ItemType button using the TOC Editor. The “Access” property of each button should match the Identity related to the TOC Access relationship in the package.
Note
The TOC Access and TOC View relationships will not be visible on the ItemType form in the Aras Innovator web client. To find this data, review the AML files in the ItemType subdirectory of the package.
3. For each TOC View relationship in the package, create a new Form or Page button following the steps in 4.4.7 or 4.4.8 in this guide.
4. Export the package using the export utility.

The package can now be imported to Aras Innovator Release 14+ without additional manual steps.