Appboard/2.6/builder/widgets/actions/focus on widget

There are some cases where clicking on a Widget will create a desired result on the desktop client, but not automatically achieve a different result that would be desired on the mobile device. For example, you may have a Widget that applies a filter when you click on an item. On the mobile device, you may want the filter to be applied and then to automatically switch to displaying another list where the filter would be meaningful. This can be achieved by using the "Focus on Widget" action.

The "Focus on Widget" action tells AppBoard to switch the application over to another specific Widget on the same Board. This technique can replicate the same behavior on the mobile device as experienced on the desktop.

How To Create a Focus on Widget Action

For instructions on adding a Focus on Widget Action, see the general instructions in How To Create an Action in a Widget.

How To Configure a Focus on Widget Action

Perform the following steps to configure the "Focus on Widget" action for a Widget:

1. Follow the instructions above to create the basic "Focus on Widget" Action.
2. Name: Enter a name for this Action. For convenience, a default name is provided. The Name is not used anywhere else in AppBoard, and only displayed on this configuration page.
3. On selection of:
   1. Select "any" or "specific" for the type of data selection by the User that will trigger the Action. When selecting "specific", perform the following additional steps:
      1. Click the Filter button. The Filter Editor is displayed.
      2. Click Add Rule to create one or more rules that indicate what data should trigger the Action, when selected.
      3. Click Close to save the Filter settings.
   2. Select the Data Source name. When the Widget is run, selection of data in this Data Source will trigger the Action.
4. Under Widget on which to focus, select the name of the Widget on which to focus when the Action is invoked.

Sample Use Case

Suppose you have a Board with two Widgets for a banking customer. The top Widget shows a world map. The bottom Widget shows a table that lists all the cities where the bank has branches in the selected country.

On the desktop client, when the user clicks in a country in the map, a filter is applied and the table below shows the list of cities in the selected country.

On the mobile client, instead of a world map, the Configure Alternative Widget is used to show a list of countries. When the user taps the name of a country, the same filter is applied as on the desktop. But the result of the filter is not apparent on the device. By creating a "Focus On Widget" Action, the mobile client can switch focus to the table Widget. Then when the user taps the name of a country, the filtered list of cities will be shown.