I have a problem with our current method of providing customer access to KPI reports. Here’s some basic context…
Our customers have access to a portal, which has been constructed using Workshop. One of the Workshop modules is a dedicated KPI viewer, which can render PDFs.
We’ve created KPI reports using Notepad Templates. The Notepad templates contain various Quiver/Contour charts and tables.
We have another workshop tool, which facilitates the upload of PDFs.
The original concept was to convert the Notepad templates to PDF, then use the dedicated tool to upload them for the customer to view in the portal.
The problem is this…some of the Contour tables are quite wide due to the number of columns, all of the columns are required so we can’t make them narrower. Viewing these tables in Notepad isn’t a problem, because you can scroll horizontally. However, if the Notepad is converted to PDF, it effectively screenshots the table so you can only see a portion of it in the PDF.
I need to figure out how to view the Notepad Template in the Workshop module. I’ve tried looking into widgets which support in-application rendering, but the ones I’ve found do not work with the Template version of Notepad. We need to use the Template version as we use parameters to dynamically change the data on a periodic basis. Ideally I don’t want the user to be navigated away form the Workshop either, as ideally we want to provide all their data needs in this same space.
Is anyone able to suggest a solution for this please?
If you don’t mind having a messy directory, you could create a new Notepad file and display that in the Workshop widget. You’re able to set the default directory and a programmatic file name, which could then be loaded into the Notepad widget.
Sure, Workshop has a Notepad Export-button which is based off a Notepad template. It allows you to specify inputs and outputs, meaning you would get a unique RID for the generated document.
The idea is basically that you create a document from the template, like you do now, but then pass that back into the the application, so the user can see this rendered Notepad document. This should work with the Notepad Embedding widget, allowing you to show the document (based off the template) to the user, and keep them inside of Workshop.
Downside is that it will generate a bunch of documents, if the user generates a lot of documents before committing and pushing it to your PDF pipeline. These document can be auto purged, but let’s find out of this solves your problem before going down that route.
In layman’s terms, it makes more sense! I’ll need to do a little research to better understand the technicalities, as I haven’t attempted anything like this before.
From what I gather, very roughly, I need to config the Workshop application as follows…
The “TARGET DOCUMENT ID” needs to be the RID of the Notepad Template.
The “OUTPUT FILENAME“ needs to be the destination folder (would using a static string variable containing the folder destination be OK here?) where the file should be exported to.
In the “Notepad: Embedded Document” widget, I need to reference the RID of the newly created/exported document that’s produced when the user clicks on the export button (“RID OF DOCUMENT TO DISPLAY”).
If the above is correct, how do I properly reference a RID of a document which is yet to be created in step 3)?
If the above is incorrect, could you please point out where I’ve gone wrong?
If you are using a template, you should use the Notepad Template Button.
That widget has an output string, which will be the RID of the generated document.
Once that has been generated, that string will point to your new document – when nothing’s generated it will be empty (or contain the RID of the last document generated in that session).
In the button configuration, you can select the template and the inputs and outputs. In the bottom of that panel, under “On-Click Options” you’ll be able to add events “On Successful Creation” – here you can open a new page/tab/overlay that has the Notepad: Embedded Document-widget.
This widget takes an input string, which should be the RID of a Notepad doc. Set this to the output of the button, and you should be golden.
@jakehop’s solution suggested above should allow users to interact with the embedded Notepad document; such as scrolling through the content. If you run into any issues configuring this workflow, please don’t hesitate to ask more questions!
As an alternative, you might also want to try adjusting your Notepad “Page Settings” to Landscape and Tabloid. You can find the “Page Settings” by clicking the page icon on the left-hand side of the Notepad application. This will give you a bit more space to work with. However, if your charts are still overflowing, you may need to stick with the original approach.
Thanks Rahma for suggesting that layout change, it was close but didn’t quite fit the whole of the table in unfortunately.
Using the Notepad Template Button, I’ve been able to render a report successfully in a linked embed Notepad widget. It’s a bit cramped though as it shares half the screen with the PDF widget. I liked the sound of the button opening an Overlay to display the Notepad report, however, I can’t find this as an option in Event. I’ve tried searching using different terms e.g. modal, dialog, side panel without joy.
I then tried creating a separate module, let’s call it Module 2, which the button would navigate the user to so they could have more screen space to view the report. Unfortunately, I’m unable to select the relevant variable in the Module 2’s embed Notepad widget. I tried assigning that variable an external ID in Module 1, hoping it would appear as an option in Module 2 but it doesn’t.
Any idea why I don’t have Overlay as an event option? Or why the variable with an external ID in Module 1 isn’t available in Module 2?
You can create an overlay in Workshop from the layout menu on the left, like you would create a page. You can call it “Notepad Overlay” or something memorable.
You can then pass the variable to the Notepad widget you embed in that overlay, and add ‘Open Notepad Overlay’ as an event in the ‘On Successful Creation’-part of the Notepad Template Export button’s config.
The issue might be that you hadn’t created the overlay before trying to add it?
Ah man, why can’t AIP tell me something so simple! Thanks Jake, I’ve created and linked the report now. I’ve also set the static save destination so I can manage where all the generated documents end up. I’ll need to look into some sort of auto-purge to ensure the number of docs don’t spiral.
I have one final question please, when I click on the button to display the overlay an option appears at the top of the screen giving the user an option to view the newly created doc…
I’m afraid there isn’t a good way of removing that.
Workshop is sadly missing some crucial features (better styling, more developer control, etc.), so this is the one you might need to caveat to the user – or you could have the overlay be a modal, which might take the user’s attention away from that little banner in the top.
I was afraid that might be the case! I’ve switched it to a modal instead, which looks better from a viewing experience point of view, but the “view document” banner is unfortunately still prevalent!
Thank you again for your prompt and informative help Jake
