User interface environment

It is important to note that the standard user interface environment when the Planning application is integrated with the M3 BE is based on the Main menu. You can also use the Planning, Scheduling and the Component Overview menu in specialized cases. Refer to online help for more information on the menu scenarios.

This topic describes the components of the user interface environment.

The Planning application has a user environment organized in a window-like format. Frame windows provide the user with an organized way of interacting with the systems functionality. To customize changes to the user interface, you must understand how the frame window in the Planning application is constructed.

Most windows in the Planning application show a title bar, command and help buttons and icons, background text, check boxes, and fields. These features are part of the permanent window structure and remain the same each time you specify and re-specify information in the window. As system standard the background text is always aligned to the left, within the sections of the window that are available.

A data field may or may not contain system-defined values. Data fields located in the background text are classified either as:
  • Input fields: In which users can change the information
  • Output fields: In which users can not change the information

All information that are specified in an input field is read or acted upon by the system. The information in an output field comes from the system and is usually the result of a procedure or condition that serves as information to the user.

Whether a field is an input field depends on which starting control character has been defined in the panel file.

The windows in the Planning application are constructed by using a series of panels, which are present in varying combinations in each window type.

To customize a window for a client-company you must know which panel you want to change. To change a particular panel in a window, specify the panel file and carry out the changes using a standard text editor.

The two major types of windows in the Planning application user interface are described in these subsections: