Objective
In this lesson, we’ll cover many of the ways you can customize the user interface in APM during implementation. We’ll cover:
The Custom Menu feature allows Administrators to rename, move, add, or remove Portals, Tabs, and Menu Items. This feature can be found in the Administrator portal under Configuration → Custom Menu Search.
The video 'Customizing Menus in SAP Agent Performance Management' shows the detailed steps to customize the menus and submenus.
In this exercise, you will make three customizations to the menus. First, you will make a simple change to rename the Producers tab to Agents. Then, you will use the Custom Menu Search screen to rename the Producers menu to Agents. Finally, you will add the Licenses and Appointments tabs to the Agents menu.
Change the name of the Producers tab to Agents.
From the Manager portal, select Producers → Producers.
Double-click the Producers title at the top of the window.
In the English column, enter Agents.
Select Save, then Close.
Use the Custom Menu screen to rename the Producers menu to Agents.
From the Administrator portal, select Configuration→Custom Menu Search.
Select Base Manager Menu.
Select Reopen.
Select Edit/View Menu Layout.
Select the pencil next to the Producers menu.
In the Identifier field, type Agents.
Select OK.
Add the Licenses and Appointments links to the Agents menu.
In the Unassigned Menu Items list, select the Licenses entry.
Place the cursor under the Certification Search entry under the Agents tab. A red bar will appear.
Click once on the red bar to insert the menu item.
Repeat these steps to add the Appointments menu item below the Licenses item in the menu.
Select OK.
Select Activate.
To verify the change, return to the Manager portal and expand Producers→Compliance.
Another part of customization involves the management of the various dropdown lists and their values, assigning the lists to a field, and adding the field to search and display forms. We will cover each of these topics from beginning to end, including Entity Fields, Codes, Entity Edits, and Field Defaults. Once we have created these objects, we will configure a form to include the new fields.
The video Customizing Field Labels, Codes, and Dropdown Lists gives an overview of these options.
Any piece of data in APM is referenced as an entity. An entity can refer to a field, record, form, table, and many other items.
The Entity Fields functionality allows you to add user-defined fields to existing entities. Fields added by the Entity Fields functionality have the same functionality as standard out-of-box fields. For example, user defined fields are available in Form Configuration, Entity Edits, Field Defaults, Expressions, Security, Entity Indexes, etc.
In this exercise, we will create two entity fields: Producer Birth Date and Favorite Color.
Create a broker entity field called BirthDate.
In the Portal menu, navigate to Administrator→Entity Configuration and select Entity Field Search.
Select Create(+).
Set the Entity Name to 'Broker'.
Set the Field Name to 'BirthDate'.
Set the Value Type to 'Date'.
Select Save.
Select Activate.
Create a broker entity field called FavoriteColor.
Use the link at the top of the page to return to the Entity Field Search page.
Choose Create.
Set the entity name to Broker.
Set the Field Name to FavoriteColor.
Set the Value Type to Text.
Select the Maximum Length radio button.
In the Maximum Length field, enter 10.
Select Save.
Select Activate.
A Code Type is a pre-configured list of possible values that can be assigned to a specific field. Code Values define the stored and displayed values for code types. Note that the field code type can only be applied to an out of box field and not to user-defined fields.
There are three different code types:
For each of these code types, you can define the display type and display order.
In this exercise, we will configure a dropdown list that allows us to select a favorite color. We will then use Code Values to add values to the list.
Create a Code Type called Color.
From the Administrator portal, select Configuration→Code Type Search.
Select Create (+).
Enter the Code Type ID: Color.
Set the Display Order and Display Type to 'Display Value'.
Change the Stored Value Type to 'Text'.
Set the length to '10'.
Select Save.
Select Activate.
Add Code Values to the Color Code Type.
Scroll down to Related Entities.
On the Header row, select Add (+).
In the Stored Value field, enter Red.
In the English field, enter Red.
Select the Save icon on the Related Entities header.
Repeat these steps to add rows for Blue and Green.
Select Save.
Select Activate.
The Field Defaults process allows you to define a default value for a field, which is used if the field is not populated when the record is created. Field Defaults are managed from the Administrator Portal under Entity Configuration→Field Defaults.
For example, as shown in the following image, if the Full Name field is not populated, the field will be populated with a concatenation of First Name, Middle Name, and Last Name.
Entity edits allow you to create user-defined validations on fields. Use entity edits when you want to create any type of validation on user-defined fields, including dropdown lists.
When you create an entity edit, you will add an expression to define the validation using Groovy.
Entity Edits are managed from the Administrator Portal under Entity Configuration→Entity Edits.
When configuring an entity edit, the expression must return a Boolean result. The result can return a warning, which allows the user to save the record, or an error, which must be corrected before the record can be saved.
The following image shows an example of an entity edit that requires both the First Name and Last Name fields on the Broker record if the Individual box is checked.
The Field Dependency functionality allows you to define relationships between specific fields for an entity and control the valid combinations of field values between the fields. This ensures that valid combinations of field values are used, regardless of whether a record is being created or updated in the user interface, during a posting process, or through any other method. Field Dependencies are managed from the Administrator Portal under Entity Configuration→Field Dependency Search.
The following image shows an example of a field dependency. If the Broker Type is Account Executive, Account Manager, or Agent Manager, the only Broker Subtype that can be selected is Agent. If the Broker Type is Agency, the Broker Subtype can be IMO, FMO, or NMO.
