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Macros

Much of the behavior of gadgets is handled through the use of macro statements. Macros are signified in an article by the characters (typically called "delimiters") which set them off. A macro statement begins with << and concludes with >>. The text between the delimiters are the instructions the macro will carry out.

For ActivityHD gadgets, there are three primary types of macro:

• action. An action macro executes an ActivityHD action on a specified folder and filter.
• count. A count macro returns the total number of items in a folder and, optionally, an amount total.
• report. A report macro runs an ActivityHD report.

The instructions a macro carries out depend on the values you assign to the macro's parameters. The parameters can be listed in any order. Some parameters are required and some are optional.

In the sections that follow, we will discuss each of the primary ActivityHD macros and the parameters available to each.

The action macro

Syntax

<<action

action: "ActionOption"

package: "Package"

folder: "FolderName"

parameters: "<p><Filter Name='FilterName'/></p>"

label: "HotLinkLabel"

hint: "HintText"

>>

Parameter options

• action

  The action macro requires an action parameter. The value passed as the ActionOption depends on the folder being acted upon. To see the approximate list of actions available on a particular folder, right-click on the folder. The names of the action options are similar to the names of the shortcut menu commands, but may differ in spelling, case, and spacing (there are no spaces in the action option names). Also, although reports are listed in the shortcut menu, reports are run using the report macro, not an action macro. If you attempt to use an action that isn't available on a given folder, you'll receive a message that the action could not be found.

  Expand this link to see a partial list of available action options:

  • Open
  • New
  • NewCopy
  • Read
  • Edit
  • ListEdit
  • Change
  • Proof
  • Merge
  • Process
  • PrintFinancials (General Ledger > Financial Designs folder)
  • Reconcile (Bank Reconciliation > Bank Transactions folder)
  • Charges (Accounts Receivable > Customers folder)
  • Statements (Accounts Receivable > Customers folder)
  • Export (Accounts Receivable > Customers folder)
  • Import (Accounts Receivable > Customers folder)
  • Pay (Accounts Payable > Invoices folder)
  • Disburse (Accounts Payable > Payments folder)
  • Print (Payroll > Checks folder)
  • Reprint (Payroll > Checks folder)
  • DirectDeposit (Payroll > Checks folder)
  • ReprintDirectDeposit (Payroll > Checks folder)
  • ValidateGLAccounts (Payroll > Checks folder)
• package

  The package parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD package without spaces (e.g., AccountsPayable, AccountsReceivable, etc.). To see the complete list of available packages, go to Administration > Security > Resources and browse the Package column.

• folder

  The folder parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD data folder without spaces (e.g., Invoices, NoteTypes, etc.). To see the complete list of available folders, go to Administration > Security > Resources and filter or sort the Type column for "Data Folder".

• parameters

  The parameters parameter (say that ten times fast!) is optional. Use it to provide additional information to the action such as filter names, values for prompting filters, date expressions, etc.

  The parameters which are available to an action depend on both the action selected and the folder it is acting upon.

  Expand this link to see an example using the parameters parameter with an explanation of the syntax.

  Example

  <<action

  action: "Open"

  package: "Payroll"

  folder: "Time Sheet Lines"

  parameters:

  [[<p>

  <Filter Name='For 2nd Shift Employees'/>

  <Filter Name='? Group'>

  <Parameter Name='Group' Value='RegHr'/>

  </Filter>

  <Filter Name='? Work Date Range'>

  <Parameter Name='BeginDate' Expression='begin of prior period of calendar "Weekly"'/>

  <Parameter Name='EndDate' Expression='end of prior period of calendar "Weekly"'/>

  </Filter>

  </p>]]

  label: "RegHr Time Sheet Lines this Payroll Run 2nd Shift"

  >>

  The generic syntax for a filter is <Filter Name='MyFilterName'></Filter>. The filter denoted in red is a non-prompting filter. Since a non-prompting filter has no additional parameters, a shortcut syntax is permissible: <Filter Name='MyFilterName'/>.

  The filter in green is a prompting filter, so it must use the generic filter syntax. In addition, since the filter will prompt for a value, we insert a Parameter tag between the opening and closing Filter tags to indicate the parameter being prompted for and the value we want to assign to it. The syntax for a parameter is similar to the shortcut syntax for a filter: <Parameter Name='ParameterName' Value='ParameterValue'/>.

  The filter in blue is also a prompting filter. In this case, however, two dates are being prompted for. Since we are writing a macro, we probably don't want to provide explicit dates (we want the macro to be reusable) but instead want to provide a "description" of the dates we need to use. To do that we use date expressions. The following syntax applies for a parameter which derives its value from an expression: <Parameter Name='ParameterName' Expression='ExpressionSyntax'/>.

• label

  The label parameter is optional. It allows you to specify text to substitute for the default text that would otherwise be used as the HotLinkLabel. The HotLinkLabel is the text the gadget user clicks to trigger the action statement.

• hint

  The hint parameter is optional. You can use the hint parameter to specify text which will display when a user hovers over the HotLinkLabel.

The count macro

The count macro does everything the action macro does plus it shows the total number of items in the folder and, optionally, one of the totals available in the folder's status bar. If filters are applied, the count and any total are restricted to the rows which match the filters. The HotLinkLabel can include tokens to pull the count and/or total into the label. The token for the count is %0; the token for the total is %1. The count and total are active values which update as the values change in the database.

Syntax

<<count

package: "Package"

folder: "FolderName"

parameters: "<p><Filter Name='FilterName'/></p>"

total: "FolderSpecificTotalAmount"

label: "HotLinkLabel"

action: "ActionOption"

action_parameters: "ActionParameters"

report: "ReportName"

report_parameters: "ReportParameters"

hint: "HintText"

bold: "BoldInteger"

highlight: "HighlightInteger"

>>

Parameter options

• package

  The package parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD package without spaces (e.g., AccountsPayable, AccountsReceivable, etc.). To see the complete list of available packages, go to Administration > Security > Resources and browse the Package column.

• folder

  The folder parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD data folder without spaces (e.g., Invoices, NoteTypes, etc.). To see the complete list of available folders, go to Administration > Security > Resources and filter or sort the Type column for "Data Folder".

• parameters

  The parameters parameter is optional. Use it to provide additional information to the actions such as filter names, values for prompting filters, date expressions, etc.

  The parameters which are available to an action depend on both the action selected and the folder it is acting upon.

• total

  The total parameter is optional. This parameter allows you to designate any folder total that is valid for the specified folder. The columns available for totaling depend on the folder selected. The value passed to the parameter should be the caption from the column you want to total on.

• label

  The label parameter is optional. It allows you to specify text to substitute for the default text that would otherwise be used as the HotLinkLabel. The HotLinkLabel is the text the gadget uses to trigger an action or report.

• action

  The action parameter is optional. The action parameter cannot be used if the report parameter is used. The default action is "Open".

• action_parameters

  The action_parameters parameter is optional. It is used in conjunction with the action parameter. The default action parameters are the same as those of the parameters parameter.

• report

  The report parameter is optional. The report parameter cannot be used if the action parameter is used. The report parameter value is the name of the report to be run.

• report_parameters

  The report_parameters parameter is optional. It is used in conjunction with the report parameter.

• hint

  The hint parameter is optional. You can use the hint parameter to specify text which will display when a user hovers over the HotLinkLabel.

• bold

  The bold parameter is optional. You can use the bold parameter to specify a value which is interpreted as an integer. If the count value equals or exceeds the specified value, the result is bolded.

• highlight

  The highlight parameter is optional. You can use the highlight parameter to specify a value which is interpreted as an integer. If the count value equals or exceeds the specified value, the result is highlighted.

The report macro

The simplest way to specify all the dialog options for a report is to use a report profile (aka "saved answer") that includes the customized filtering options from the report's Selection tab. If the date expressions in report profiles and associated filters are adequate, you can proceed to the Print or Preview action from the report gadget.

Syntax

<<report

package: "Package"

report: "ReportName"

parameters: "<p><Answer Name='ReportProfileName'/> <Print/> <Close/> </p>"

label: "HotLinkLabel"

hint: "HintText"

>>

Parameter options

• package

  The package parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD package without spaces (e.g., AccountsPayable, AccountsReceivable, etc.). To see the complete list of available packages, go to Administration > Security > Resources and browse the Package column.

• report

  The report parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD report. To see a list of available reports, go to Administration > Security > Resources and filter or sort the Type column for "Report".

• parameters

  The parameters parameter is optional. Use it to provide additional information to the report such as a report profile name (Answer Name).

  Expand this link to see a partial list of available report parameters with syntax. For a complete list, see "Dashboard and AAS parameter syntax".

  The additional parameter elements for a report macro are essentially values and commands which allow control of the report dialog that is associated with the report. These additional parameter elements include:

  • <Answer Name='MyReportProfile'/>
  • <Preview/>
  • <Print/>
  • <Email MyAttributes/>
  • <Export MyAttributes/>
  • <ShowForm/>
  • <Close/>

  Like the Email and Export parameter elements listed above, some parameter elements require attributes to be passed in order to specify needed details.

  As an example, the Export parameter element needs the following attributes to export information in PDF format:

  • <FormatType='PortableDocFormat'/>
  • <DestinationType='DiskFile'/>
  • <DiskFileName='MyPathAndFilename'/>

  To export information in .csv or .txt format, the Export parameter element needs the following attributes:

  • <FormatType='CharSeparatedValues'/>
  • <DestinationType='DiskFile'/>
  • <DiskFileName='MyPathAndFilename'/>
  • <DiskFilePrompt='True'/>
  • <CharFieldDelimiter=''/>
  • <CharStringDelimiter=''/>
  • <UseReportDateFormat='False'/>
  • <UseReportNumberFormat='False'/>
• label

  The label parameter is optional. It allows you to specify text to substitute for the default text that would otherwise be used as the HotLinkLabel. The HotLinkLabel is the text the gadget uses to trigger a report.

• hint

  The hint parameter is optional. You can use the hint parameter to specify text which will display when a user hovers over the HotLinkLabel.

The tile macro

The tile macro is similar to the count macro except in its presentation format. Instead of a linear text presentation, the tile macro shows a rectangular button (tile) with the count and an optional total.

The tile macro permits both a basic syntax using unnamed parameters and a standard syntax using named parameters.

Basic syntax

The basic syntax of the tile macro is simply <<tile>> with unnamed parameters inside the paired angle brackets. The meaning of the unnamed parameters in order is: package, folder, interest parameters, total. The action is always "Open"; the label is the package and folder; the hint is something on the order of "Open the <package><folder>". The behavior is similar to the behavior when using unnamed parameters in the count macro.

Standard syntax

Using named parameters is far more flexible than using unnamed parameters. The syntax for named parameters is described below:

<<tile

package: "Package"

folder: "FolderName"

parameters: "<p><Filter Name='FilterName'/></p>"

total: "FolderSpecificTotalAmount"

label: "HotLinkLabel"

action: "ActionOption"

action_parameters: "ActionParameters"

report: "ReportName"

report_parameters: "ReportParameters"

hint: "HintText"

highlight: "HighlightInteger"

>>

Parameter options

• package

  The package parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD package without spaces (e.g., AccountsPayable, AccountsReceivable, etc.). To see the complete list of available packages, go to Administration > Security > Resources and browse the Package column.

• folder

  The folder parameter is required. Typically, this is the name of the ActivityHD data folder without spaces (e.g., Invoices, NoteTypes, etc.). To see the complete list of available folders, go to Administration > Security > Resources and filter or sort the Type column for "Data Folder".

• parameters

  The parameters parameter is optional. Use it to provide additional information to the actions such as filter names, values for prompting filters, date expressions, etc.

  The parameters which are available to an action depend on both the action selected and the folder it is acting upon.

• total

  The total parameter is optional. This parameter allows you to designate any folder total that is valid for the specified folder. The columns available for totaling depend on the folder selected. The value passed to the parameter should be the caption from the column you want to total on.

• label

  The label parameter is optional. It allows you to specify text to substitute for the default text that would otherwise be used as the HotLinkLabel. The HotLinkLabel is the text the gadget uses to trigger an action or report.

• action

  The action parameter is optional. The action parameter cannot be used if the report parameter is used. The default action is "Open".

• action_parameters

  The action_parameters parameter is optional. It is used in conjunction with the action parameter. The default action parameters are the same as those of the parameters parameter.

• report

  The report parameter is optional. The report parameter cannot be used if the action parameter is used. The report parameter value is the name of the report to be run.

• report_parameters

  The report_parameters parameter is optional. It is used in conjunction with the report parameter.

• hint

  The hint parameter is optional. You can use the hint parameter to specify text which will display when a user hovers over the HotLinkLabel.

• highlight

  The highlight parameter is optional. You can use the highlight parameter to specify a value which is interpreted as an integer. If the count value equals or exceeds the specified value, the result is highlighted.

To support styling of the results of the new macro, a new Style:Tile gadget is included. This gadget permits a variety of customizations including color, size, etc. This gadget uses the named colors from the Palette:Colors gadget by default.

Simple links

Internal links

In general, links are enclosed in pairs of double brackets: [[Link]]. An internal link can be as simple as the name of the object being linked to.

Links to files or folders

When creating a link to a file, the default program for the file type is used to open the file.

When creating a link to a folder path without specifying a file name, File Explorer runs and opens to the specified path.

Syntax

[[LinkDisplayText|file: path to file or folder]]

Links to websites

A valid URL is automatically interpreted as an external link.

When creating a link to a website, use the full URL including "http:" or "https:".

Syntax

[[LinkDisplayText|url]]

Templates

Templates are useful for capturing repeated and complex markup so that the markup can be reused.

The body of a template is a Javascript function of the form function(place,params), where place is the parent DOM Document Object Model element and params is an array of parameters which are passed when the template is instantiated Moved from the abstract (template) to the concrete (an actual instance of the template).. Template code can directly manipulate the DOM by appending children to place. Template code can also return a string to be parsed as markup text and rendered in place.

HTML and CSS

In addition to the gadget-specific syntax, the dashboard can also interpret HTML and CSS.

Embedded HTML

To embed HTML code in a gadget, simply enclose valid XHTML between <html> tags.

<html><p>Perform the following steps:</p><ol><li>List Item 1</li><li>List Item 2</li></ol></html>

Embedded iframes

You can even use iframes to pull in content from a website. To do so, enclose the iframe in <html> tags and specify, at a minimum, the source document.

<html><iframe style="width:100%; height:800px;" src="http://www.accountingware.com" /></html>

Custom CSS class wrappers

It's also possible to define a custom CSS class wrapper. The inner text of the wrapper is placed inline between <span> tags of the class(es), or between <div> tags if the inner text starts and ends with a new line. You can define styles for the class in the style sheet. The following example shows the syntax to use to reference the custom class wrapper for a class named .button which creates a button labeled "Click!".

{{button title{Click!}}}

Scripts

You can use inline Javascript scripts when creating dashboard gadgets. The general format for a <script> tag is:

<script show label="label" title="title">Javascript goes here</script>

All qualifiers (show, label, title) are optional.

• show. Causes the Javascript code to render literally in the gadget output.
• label. Causes a clickable link to be created. When the link is clicked, the script is executed.
• title. Adds a hover hint to the clickable link.

If no qualifiers are present, the script is executed when the gadget is rendered. The return value from the script is interpreted as wiki markup text. A place parameter can be passed if direct manipulation of the DOM is needed.

Several formatting options are available for customizing dashboard gadgets. You can create bulleted or numbered lists, checkboxes, tables, and even tabs for grouping multiple gadgets.

Comments

You can insert comments in the body of an article. Comments have no effect on the rendered gadget; they are only visible in the markup. To add comments, enclose them between /% and %/.

Text

Text formatting is useful for emphasis and for setting off section headings.

Bold

To bold text, type two apostrophes before and after the text to be bolded.

Italics

To italicize text, type two forward slashes before and after the text to be italicized.

Bold italics

To bold and italicize text, nest the italics format inside the bold format.

Underline

To underline text, type two underscores before and after the text to be underlined.

Strikethrough

To strike through text, type two dashes before and after the text to be struck through.

Superscript

To superscript text, type two carets before and after the text to be raised.

Subscript

To subscript text, type two tildes before and after the text to be lowered.

Highlight

To highlight text with color, type two "at" symbols before and after the text to be highlighted. The default highlight color is yellow.

Emdash

To create an emdash, type two dashes surrounded by single spaces where the emdash belongs.

Indentation

To indent text, type a colon in front of the text to be indented. The more colons in front of the text, the greater the indentation.

Monospaced Text (for mimicking code)

To cause text to display in a monospaced font, surround the text with triple braces. This method works for inline text and multi-line text.

Special characters

To enter special characters which aren't available on the keyboard or which may be reserved characters used in markup, you can use the equivalent HTML entity name or entity number.

Horizontal rules

To draw a dashed horizontal line, say, to separate some gadget content from the rest, simply type four dashes.

Line Break

A line break can be useful if you need to create separate lines in a table cell or for a list item. To create a line break, type <br>.

Suppressing Formatting

On occasion you may need to render some of the characters used for gadget markup literally. To do so, you can enclose the text within triple braces or in <nowiki> tags. Triple braces will format the content like code (i.e., in a Courier font); the <nowiki> tags will format the content like the rest of the text in the dashboard.

Images

Typically, image files will be external to the dashboard. To insert an image, use this general format: [img[filepath/image.jpg]].

To insert an image inline, use the general format.

You can also left- or right-align an image. To left-align, insert a less than sign (<) immediately after the opening bracket; to right-align, use a greater than sign (>).

You can also link to an internal resource or external resource, so that when the image is clicked, the resource opens.

[img[C:/Images/AccountingWare logo.jpg][Post to AP]] (internal)

[img[C:/Images/AccountingWare logo.jpg][http://www.accountingware.com]] (external)

Headings

Headings are achieved by typing exclamation points in the front of the line you want to serve as a heading—one exclamation point for each level of heading.

Checkboxes

You can display multiple links in a list with checkboxes. You can use checkboxes to mark your progress through a process.

The symbol name for a checkbox option always begins with "chk", and the name must be unique among all other options.

Syntax

<<option symbol_name>>

Lists

Numbered lists

To create numbered lists, type a pound sign in front of the lines you want numbered at the top level, type two pound signs in front of lines you want numbered at the second level, etc.

Bulleted lists

To create bulleted lists, type an asterisk in front of the lines you want bulleted at the top level, type two asterisks in front of lines you want bulleted at the second level, etc.

Definition lists

Definition lists present a term formatted in bold followed by the definition indented on the line below. To designate a term, precede it with a semi-colon. To designate a definition, precede it with a colon.

Mixed lists

You can intermingle numbered, bulleted, and definition list items. The first level item in the list should be preceded by the formatting character that denotes the type of list you want to start out with (# for numbered, * for bulleted, etc.). Second level numbered or bulleted items will be preceded by the character that preceded the first level item followed by the formatting character for the type of item you want on the second level. Third level numbered or bulleted items will be preceded by the two characters that preceded the second level items followed by the formatting character for the type of item you want at the third level, and so on. Terms and definitions can be inserted at the desired level by using the number of semi-colons or colons which correspond to that level. Note that with terms and definitions, the term and definition (although indented) share the same level.

Block quotes

To indicate a block quote, precede the quoted line with a greater than sign (>). For successive levels of block quotes, add additional greater than signs.

Nested block quotes

Multi-line block quotes

Block quotes which contain multiple lines are enclosed in triple less than signs (<<<).

Mixed block quotes

You can also have combinations of nested and multi-line block quotes.

Tables

The contents of a gadget can be arranged in table format. Each cell of the table can contain simple text or even the result of an ActivityHD action statement.

To format a table, use the pipe (|) character to indicate column boundaries.

Extended tables

The dashboard supports an alternative table format which uses markup that closely resembles that used by MediaWiki. This format gives you finer control over table attributes, and a single row can span multiple lines of markup.

Tabs

Tabs let you organize multiple gadgets into a single display unit.

Gadget Name	Description
AR - Aged Receivables	AR - Aged Receivables
AR - Deposit Activity	AR - Deposit Activity
AR - Invoice Activity	AR - Invoice Activity
AR - Month End	AR - Month End Procedures
AR - Receipt Activity	AR - Receipt Activity
AR - Recent Activity	AR - Recent Activity
Markup	Example markup syntax
PR - Process Payroll	PR - Process Payroll