Panel & Action Display Logic

There are several ways to customize field and view metadata. You can use custom vardefs, custom viewdefs, field definition mappers, or other extension mechanisms. For a full overview of all approaches see Customizing View Metadata.

1. Introduction

Display logic allows you to define rules to hide and show panels/tabs, or record action buttons, depending on other fields' values. Both use the same displayLogic mechanism in view metadata - only the array they’re nested under differs (tabDefs for panels/tabs, recordActions for action buttons).

2. Panel/Tab Display Logic

2.1 Example scenario

As an example we will hide the More Information tab on Accounts if the Name is Example.

Shown Tab - Name Example

Hidden Tab - Name Example

2.2 Logic Metadata definition

The first thing to define is the displayLogic entry in the metadata. This is where we are going to define the triggers for hide/display our panel.

The configuration for the logic can be added only to detailviewdefs.php.

When adding this code be sure to add it below newTab within the tabDefs.

In the following example we are going to add them to the Accounts module detailviewdefs.php.

2.2.1 Steps to add the logic on the custom detailviewdefs.php

Copy the core Accounts detailviewdefs.php to the custom folder:
1. From: public/legacy/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php
2. To: public/legacy/custom/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php
Replace the LBL_PANEL_ADVANCED entry on the custom detailviewdefs.php with the code on the snippet below
- Re-set permissions if needed (will depend on your setup)
Run Repair and Rebuild on Admin menu

    'LBL_PANEL_ADVANCED' =>
        [
            'newTab' => true,
            'panelDefault' => 'expanded',
            'displayLogic' => [
                'hide_on_name' => [
                    'key' => 'displayType',
                    'modes' => [
                        0 => 'detail',
                        1 => 'edit',
                        2 => 'create',
                    ],
                    'targetDisplayType' => 'hide',
                    'params' => [
                        'fieldDependencies' => [
                            'name'
                        ],
                        'activeOnFields' => [
                            'name' => [
                                'Example'
                            ],
                        ],
                    ],
                ],
            ],
        ],

2.3 Properties Description

Key
- The key within the named displayLogic array is stating which logic type will be used for the following. In this case it’s displayType.
Modes
- Modes are views you would like your required logic to take effect on, as shown above it will be detail, edit and create. Another example of a mode that could be selected could be list for example.

Field Dependencies

fieldDependencies is where you declare the field(s) that you would like your logic to depend on.

'fieldDependencies' => [
    'name',
]

Active on Fields

activeOnFields is where you declare the field/values that trigger the change of the tab to be shown/hidden.

In the example above we have the tab More Information to hide when name is Example.

If we wanted it to hide if it was either Example or another value such as User then a new value would be added like so:

'activeOnFields' => [
  'name' => ['Example', 'User'],
],

Hidden Tab - Name User

Target Display Type

targetDisplayType should be either show or hide.

If you have a tab you would like to hide until a field has a certain value, you can add 'display' ⇒ 'hide':

    'LBL_PANEL_ADVANCED' =>
        [
            'newTab' => true,
            'display' => 'hide',
            'panelDefault' => 'expanded',
            'displayLogic' => [
                'hide_on_name' => [
                    'key' => 'displayType',
                    'modes' => [
                        0 => 'detail',
                        1 => 'edit',
                        2 => 'create',
                    ],
                    'targetDisplayType' => 'show',
                    'params' => [
                        'fieldDependencies' => [
                            'name'
                        ],
                        'activeOnFields' => [
                            'name' => [
                                'Example',
                            ],
                        ],
                    ],
                ],
            ],
        ],

3. Action Display Logic

3.1 Example Scenario

As an example of how to hide / show a button, we are going to create a new button on the Contacts module and hide/show the button depending on another field’s value.

3.2 Logic Metadata definition

The first thing to define is the new button that is being used.

Then we are going to define the displayLogic entry which will define the triggers to hide/show the button.

In the following example we are going to add the button to the Contacts module detailviewdefs.php.

3.2.1 Steps to add the logic on the custom viewdef

To set up adding the button to your view. First:

Create a new metadata folder within the public/legacy/custom/modules/Contacts directory.
Create a new file within the metadata folder called detailviewdefs.php.
Copy the contents of /modules/Contacts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php and paste in the newly created file.

Within the recordActions→`actions` array, add your custom button here. for example:

        "recordActions" => [
            "actions" => [
                "print-as-pdf" => [
                    "key" => "print-as-pdf",
                    "labelKey" => "LBL_PRINT_AS_PDF",
                    "asyncProcess" => true,
                    "modes" => ["detail"],
                    "acl" => ["view"],
                    "aclModule" => "AOS_PDF_Templates",
                    "params" => [
                        "selectModal" => ["module" => "AOS_PDF_Templates"],
                    ],
                ],
                "send_fax" => [
                    "key" => "send_fax",
                    "display" => "hide",
                    "asyncProcess" => true,
                    "labelKey" => "LBL_SEND_FAX",
                    "modes" => ["detail"],
                    "acl" => ["view"],
                    "displayLogic" => [
                        "send_fax_visibility" => [
                            "modes" => [
                                0 => "detail",
                                1 => "edit",
                                2 => "create",
                            ],
                            "params" => [
                                "activeOnFields" => [
                                    "phone_fax" => ["01234 999999"],
                                ],
                            ],
                        ],

                    ],
                ],
            ],
        ],

In the example above we have the button to show if the Phone Fax field is the number shown then the button will show on the frontend to Send a Fax to the contact.

In this example you can see the key modes is used. This is used to set the views where the button will show/hide.

3.3 Display Logic Examples

When setting displayLogic on a button, all Logic Operators work here the same as they do for other display logic.

Below are some examples using different operators to hide/show the button.

OR

When defining display logic you can set the button to show based on one field’s value, that field with another value, or a new field with its own value.

                    "displayLogic" => [
                        "custom_action_visibility" => [
                            "modes" => [
                                0 => "detail",
                                1 => "edit",
                                2 => "create",
                            ],
                            "params" => [
                                "activeOnFields" => [
                                    "phone_fax" => ["01234 999999"],
                                ],
                            ],
                        ],
                        "send_fax_visibility" => [
                            "modes" => [
                                0 => "detail",
                                1 => "edit",
                                2 => "create",
                            ],
                            "params" => [
                                "activeOnFields" => [
                                    "phone_fax" => ["01234 5555555"],
                                ],
                            ],
                        ],
                    ],

Adding the above code your button will now show if the phone_fax field is set to "01234 5555555" OR "01234 999999".

AND

You can also use multiple criteria for the same field. For example if you wanted to add your button to show if the employees is greater than 5 and less than 100 then your code should look something like this:

                    "displayLogic" => [
                        "my_custom_button" => [
                            "modes" => [
                                0 => "detail",
                                1 => "edit",
                                2 => "create",
                            ],
                            "params" => [
                                'activeOnFields' => [
                                    'employees' => [
                                        [
                                            'operator' => 'greater-than',
                                            'value' => 5
                                        ],
                                        // AND
                                        [
                                            'operator' => 'less-than',
                                            'value' => 100
                                        ],
                                    ],
                                ],
                            ],
                        ],
                    ],

For more information on operators see here.