Managing Drill Down Links
Manager Contents
User Contents

The Drill Down Link page enables you to define links from specific fields that can make context-sensitive data from any source available to users when the links are clicked, or to take some other desired action. Drill down links are accessed from the field definition page for particular fields.

Drill down links work in conjunction with data links. Data links define the source of the data and how CATSWeb interfaces with the data source. Drill down links define where in CATSWeb the data is accessible from, and how it is to be formatted for the user. Drill down links are managed from the Field Definitions page for each field.

Each field in a CATSWeb form can have multiple drill down links associated with it. When only a single drill down link exists for a field, it is acted on immediately when clicked. When multiple drill down links exist for a field, users are given a list of the links (with descriptions) and may choose which one to use. Drill down links only appear in the read-only (view) version of a form. Optional Text Cell controls and Drill Down Button controls may be installed via scripts for enhanced capabilities.

Applications for drill down links include:

  • Implementing a master/detail relationship with details provided by an external information system, database, file, etc. For example, details of a supplier (address, phone, quality rating, etc.) could be provided whenever the supplier name is clicked in an issue record. The external system does not have to be web-enabled. CATSWeb is capable of formatting and displaying data from any source.
  • Enabling pre-designed queries to be executed against Internet search engines, knowledge bases, or other systems inside or outside your company. Parameters for the query are taken from the current CATSWeb record, in any combination, and automatically sent to the external system. Users clicking on the drill down link are presented the results of the search or query, in real time, with no intermediate steps required.
  • Implement custom and automatic links between CATSWeb records, or to records in other information systems. For example, an audit tracking application may use CATSWeb Subtasks to represent individual audits under a parent Action project that oversees all audits. CATSWeb Issue records are used to represent audit findings for each individual audit (Subtask). A drill down link can provide a direct, one-click navigation link between the related entities.
  • Making a custom action available. See the documentation for the EmailDataLinks optional feature script for an example of a custom action.

The fields on the Drill Down Link page include:

  • Title - A title for the drill down link that uniquely identifies it within the collection of drill down links for a field (255 characters max). The title is also shown at the top of the target page for the drill down link, except when the page is an independent page specified via a URL data link.
  • Description - A description of the drill down link. This is presented to users when they must choose from multiple drill down links defined for a single field.
  • Data Link - The data link that specifies how and where CATSWeb obtains the data (or destination) for the drill down link. Only Stored Procedure, ActiveX DLL , or URL data links may be used.
  • Display Mode - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, this parameter specifies how the resulting data is presented to the user. A form presentation is most appropriate when only a single record will be displayed to the user, such as a detail record (multiple records will be shown as multiple forms, one after another). The table presentation is best when multiple records, summary data, or navigation lists will be displayed.
  • Fields per Row - When Display Mode is set to Form, this parameter specifies how many fields per row are used in the form. Most CATSWeb forms use 2 fields per row. The Drill Down Link form is an example of a form which uses 1 field per row.
  • Suppress Page Header - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, checking this box causes the CATSWeb page header to be suppressed when displaying the resulting data. This setting is ignored when the drill down is based on a URL data link.
  • Suppress Title - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, checking this box causes the drill down title to be suppressed when displaying the resulting data. This setting is ignored when the drill down is based on a URL data link.
  • Show Subtitle - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, checking this box causes a subtitle to be displayed with the resulting data which indicates which record the drill down link was clicked on, and the field name and field value clicked on. This setting is ignored when the drill down is based on a URL data link.
  • Help File - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, this specifies the HTML help file that is launched when the user clicks the Help button on the page displaying the resulting data. If not specified, the help file will be the CATSWeb User Guide Table of Contents (contents.htm). If you create your own help file for the page, it should be placed in the CATSWeb\Doc directory on the web server. This setting is ignored when the drill down is based on a URL data link.
  • No Data Message - For drill down links that derive from Stored Procedure or ActiveX DLL data links, this specifies the message that is displayed to the user when the associated data link does not return any data. If not specified, CATSWeb will provide a generic message. This setting is ignored when the drill down is based on a URL data link.
  • Apply Changes to All Categories - Check this box to have changes you make in this form copied to all other categories (to the same field the drill down link is being defined for, not all fields). This also applies to new drill down links or those being deleted.

Optional Links in Results Section

This section allows URL links in the resulting data to be defined. All settings in this section are ignored if the drill down link is itself based on a URL data link.
  • Link Field - The field name(s) returned by the data link stored procedure or ActiveX DLL that is to become a link. Multiple field names may be listed and separated (delimited) by a pair of pipe characters ("||"). For example: "Customer||PartNumber||Process" defines 3 fields. Each field defined must be accompanied by a Link to URL entry (i.e. if 3 fields are defined, there must be 3 URLs). If the number of fields is different from the number of URLs, CATSWeb will ignore all of the field and URL settings.
  • Link to URL - The URL to link to, including optional replaceable parameters. Note that parameter replacements are made using the data returned by the data link stored procedure or ActiveX DLL, not from the record the user originally clicked on to launch this drill down link. Multiple URLs may be listed and separated (delimited) by a pair of pipe characters ("||"). The number of URLs listed must match the number of link fields listed.
  • URL Parameter Replacements - Specify optional URL parameter replacements. Multiple parameter replacements may be listed and separated (delimited) by a pair of pipe characters ("||"). For more information on defining replaceable parameters, please read the URL Data Link section of the Data Link topic.

    Note that the parameter replacements will apply to all the URLs listed above. The number of parameter replacements does not have to match the number of URLs and fields. A single replacement such as "XYZ={Field Value}" may suffice to make replacements in many URLs.

    If fields in the output data already contain valid URLs, they may be enabled as active links by defining a "URL" and replacement parameter that results in the entire "URL" being replaced with the field data. For example, assume that the resulting data has a field named "CompanyWebSite" and it contains values such as "http://www.microsoft.com", "http://www.assurx.com", etc. Entries such as the following will enable those values to be active links:

    Link Field CompanyWebSite
    Link to URL FakeURLText
    URL Parameter Replacements FakeURLText={Field Value}

Restricted Personalities

When a drill down link is being edited, a list of restricted personalities will be shown. Employees with personalities in the Restricted Personalities list will receive a permissions error if they attempt to access the drill down link. Restricted personalities may be added and deleted directly from the list.