Interface Mechanisms in 1C:Enterprise 8.2 Managed Application
The task of 1C:Enterprise 8 platform's interface mechanisms is to provide
interaction of a user with an applied solution.
Managed application entirely changes all the interface level, in comparison
to previous versions of the platform (1C:Enterprise 8 ver 8.1 and earlier).
These changes concern command interface, forms and windowing system.
This section describes the new main interface functionality.
Windowing
System in 1C:Enterprise 8.2 (Managed Application)
1C:Enterprise provides a modern GUI design and improved user convenience for
continuous work with the system. It is implemented for business (economical) and
managerial sort of tasks and focused on providing high ergonomic and efficiency
in working with business applications.
General Interface
Description
1C:Enterprise 8 Managed Application implements new 'task-oriented' user
interface. Its specific feature is in refusal of MDI technology, where there is
a main application window and some child windows opened inside of it.
Now the system interface is based on separate, independent windows, each of
them dealing with a separate task: there is a main window to navigate across an
entire application, there are auxiliary windows to process some 'big' tasks
(such as document entry, report generation, etc.) and there are modal windows
where all 'brief' actions are performed.
This new interface is meant for casual, mass users, having not much
experience in using computers. It is focused on usage in corporate applied
solutions with fair volume of functionality. With the new interface, users can
operate without reading instructions. For big companies it means reduce in staff
training costs and IT-consulting costs; also increase in staff operating
efficiency.
User Operation
As the system starts, the main application window is opened. In the window
users can see all structure of the applied solution:
Main application
window
The main (the largest) division of functionality is shown at the top of the
window, as 'section pane'. This is corresponds to the configuration's
subsystems.
The subsystems define
functionality sections
When a subsystem is activated, all its functionality (including nested
subsystems) is accessible in two panes (navigation pane on the left and action
pane at the top).
When a user selects a command to open lists, they are displayed in the
working area of the application main window, replacing a form opened before:
'Items' command selected
When input commands or object edit commands are called, also at opening
reports and data processors, separate (auxiliary) application windows are
opened. These windows are displayed independently from the main application
window. Therefore, classic MDI interface is not used.
Click on 'Item' command causes a separate
auxiliary window 'Item (create)' to appear
To enter objects, containing little properties, auxiliary windows are used.
They block working with the main window so that users could quickly enter
necessary data and close the window (see picture).
Small auxiliary window opened to enter new warehouse information
Auxiliary windows can also have a navigation panel, within the windows one
can move on to forms (without opening a new window) logically linked to the main
window form. For example, one can move from a catalog item's form on to a list
of subordinated catalogs.
So all navigation – moving between some types of activity or work stages – is
done in the main application window, while most of work is done in separate
auxiliary windows.
Reports
All reports in MA are made basing on the
data composition system, with its extended set of report settings. The
settings are split into report variants and user settings.
Variant for sales flow
chart
Report variants use all customization capabilities of data composition
system. In fact, report variants allow both developers and users to create
specific reports based on one
data composition scheme, predefined in a report.
As for user settings, they represent a limited set of frequently used
settings that all users are going to apply. A set of the settings is specified
for each report variant, considering which settings are needed for a particular
variant. This allows significant simplifying adjustment of reports for ordinary
users.
There are several service tools in the managed application to make users'
navigation across the application more convenient.
Desktop
The main application window supports desktop mode. It is a special mode when
several forms are displayed at a time, providing the most up-to-date and
frequently used information.
Application desktop window
Links
There is a possibility to get string references to various data blocks and
system operation modes. Naturally, there is a way to go to the links:
Getting a link for the current window
History
History mechanism keeps information on added or modified data with the
possibility of quick navigation to them.
History functionality
Favourites
Users can compose a list of favourites – most used data and operation modes,
to use them quickly.
Favourites window
Messages
Messages displayed to users now appear in immediate proximity of
corresponding fields. This allows the system to activate the elements containing
mistakes and mark them visually:
Messages mechanism
Continuous
Processes State
For continuous processes (such as department payroll calculation), a status
panel is used. It displays some text information and a progress indicator.
