Tips and recommendations for using the Configuration Console

Configuration development process

When you create configurations in the Configuration Console, it is best to do so in a provisional or test scenario before making the configurations available to all users. If you make the configuration changes directly to a production environment, the changes will be applied as soon as you save them in the Configuration Console. There are two ways to test the changes before committing them to all users:

• Use the My Personalizations console to try out changes.

  The My Personalizations console allows a user to make most of the same changes as an administrator who uses the Configuration Console. However, those changes are available only to the user who made them. You can review the changes and then use the Make Global button in My Personalizations to make the configuration available to all users. The configuration will then be listed in the Configuration Console where you can modify it further.

• Use a test environment to develop configuration changes.

  If you take this approach, you can fully develop the configuration changes you want and then move them to the production environment by using the configuration export and import utilities. For more information, see Configuration Data Utilities.

Naming conventions

When you create class-level configurations such as User Field, User Action, User Relation, User Business Class or new UI items such as User Page, User List, User Form, you should prefix the name with a value so your configurations will not conflict with current or future delivered LPL names.

For example, use “ZZZ” to prefix names. Other suggestions would be to use "Usr" as a prefix or 3 characters from the company name, for example “ACM” for Acme Corp.

You can use the label to give your configuration a more friendly name.

ZZZCompany is Numeric size
                default label is “Company”

For User Action, this recommendation applies when creating an new User Action or User Action Extension. When you configure an existing delivered action, the name cannot be edited.

This recommendation does not affect configuring or personalizing existing UI items (pages, menu, lists, forms, and so on). When you configure an existing item, the name cannot be edited.

Should you edit the LPL?

The LPL, or Landmark Pattern Language, is the language that many of the source files in Landmark are written in, such as those for business classes and user interface objects. Generally, you should not edit this LPL unless you have a detailed knowledge of it and how it works. Such a detailed knowledge is beyond the scope of this user guide. Editing the LPL can lead to invalid configurations.

It can be useful to view the LPL in the Configuration Console in order to better understand possible configuration changes. For example, you might want to view the LPL for your configuration and then compare that to the delivered LPL.

The LPL is exposed through Edit LPL buttons and "view base LPL" links. If you view LPL within the Configuration Console, you can use Ctrl+F to open a search box at the bottom of the LPL pane so that you can search through the LPL text.

If you edit LPL using the LPL editor

If you do decide to edit LPL using the LPL editor, remember:

• Changes you make in the LPL editor may not be maintained when using the Configuration Console GUI, such as the form layout editor. A warning is provided stating this. Once you make changes in the LPL editor, it is best to continue to use the LPL editor for all changes to the record.

• The Configuration Console for web supports LPL comments in configurations. Add the UIEnableLPLComments configuration parameter in your data area to preserve LPL comments when using the Rich Client Configuration Console. This parameter disables the Rich Client Configuration Console’s GUI editor if the configuration has a comment.

• Not all LPL is supported even when using the LPL editor. Use the Configuration Console Reference Guide: Landmark Pattern Language (LPL) for your reference. If something does not work, make an enhancement request to see if it can be added.

Working with data

If you are working with configurations in a production environment, note that in some cases you are viewing the production data. This occurs if you are working with lists within pages. The actual list you are working with displays the production data, so you must take care not to accidentally change it.