Designing a custom layout - Cloud - 7.3

Talend Studio User Guide

Version
Cloud
7.3
Language
English
Product
Talend Big Data
Talend Big Data Platform
Talend Cloud
Talend Data Fabric
Talend Data Integration
Talend Data Management Platform
Talend Data Services Platform
Talend ESB
Talend MDM Platform
Talend Real-Time Big Data Platform
Module
Talend Studio
Content
Design and Development
Last publication date
2024-02-13
Available in...

Data Fabric

MDM Platform

Talend Studio provides you with a wizard that simplifies the creation of a layout which you will associate to the selected business entity. You can create more than one layout for the same business entity and associate each form to a specific role or roles.

Before you begin

You have already created data models, business entities and attributes in the data model. For further information, see Creating a data model, Creating business entities in a data model and Adding attributes to the business entity.

About this task

To design a custom layout for a specific business entity, do the following:

Procedure

  1. In the MDM Repository tree view, right-click Custom Layout.
  2. Select New to display the New Custom Layout wizard. This wizard guides you through the steps necessary to design a layout for a specific business entity.
  3. Enter a name for the custom layout.
  4. Click the three-dot button to open a dialog box.
  5. From the Data Models field, select the data model that holds the entity for which you want to create the layout, and then from the list that displays select the entity on which to create the layout.
    Note: You can create more than one custom layout on the same entity and associate it/them with the same or different roles.
  6. Click Add to close the dialog box. The path for the selected entity displays in the corresponding field in the New Custom Layout wizard.
  7. In the New Custom Layout wizard, click Next to proceed to the next step.
  8. Select to display the entity elements or attributes in one, two or three columns, and then click Finish to close the wizard. In this example, the two-columns option is selected.
    Note: You can add columns to an existing layout by dragging a Column element from the Palette.

Results

A custom layout appears in the Studio workspace, a Properties panel opens in the lower part of the workspace and a node for the new custom layout displays under Custom Layout in the MDM Repository tree view.

The custom layout shows two columns as selected in the previous step. The first column lists all the elements (attributes) defined in the selected business entity. Simple-type elements are represented as fields while complex-type elements are represented as panels.

Note: The hierarchy in the custom layout follows the structure of the data model. You can not move a panel out of its parent panel in a complex-type element.

The Properties panel below the form displays the properties of any of the elements you select in the form. If the data model has any foreign keys, they don't show in the custom layout.

What to do next

After creating the custom layout, you can now proceed to distribute the elements between the columns in the custom layout in order to finalize its design.

  1. Use a drag & drop operation in order to distribute the fields and panels between the columns.

    Note: If you want to move a panel, make sure to click on its border first to select the panel and then drop it in the desired column.
  2. From the Palette, you can also drag a Filler element into your layout which can either be left blank, to allow you to insert spaces in your layout, or can be used as a placeholder for custom HTML code such as images and horizontal lines.

    To add custom HTML code, select the Filler element and type the code you want to add in the Properties panel.

  3. You can also drag an Element element from the Palette into your layout. A dialog box appears, allowing you to choose the desired element.

    The Data Models list and the Filter field are automatically populated with your selection. The Xpath field varies with the element you are choosing.

    After selecting the desired element, click Add to add the element to the layout.

    Note that not all elements can be added. Specifically:
    • Only the elements which belong to the current entity but are not available in the current layout can be added.

    • After you add a parent element to the current layout, which is displayed as a panel in the layout, only its child element(s) can be added within the panel.

    The elements which can be added are shown in bold while others are grayed out. Sometimes, even if a node is grayed out, you need to expand it to check whether it has some elements to be added.

  4. Save your layout.
    Note: After you create a layout for a specific business entity in the MDM Repository tree view, you must deploy it to one of the MDM servers defined in your MDM environment. This will enable Talend MDM Web UI to render master data in a web page according to the deployed layout. For further information on deploying items to the MDM server, see Deploying repository items to the MDM Server.