About auto-fill navigation

Auto-Fill is a navigation item behavior that controls how content is automatically placed in panes of a layout without manually configuring each view of a running ViewApp.

Before Auto-Fill navigation executes in a running ViewApp, appropriate layouts must be assigned to the available screens of a screen profile in a specific sequence.

• First, layouts are determined by examining the current navigation item to determine if there are any specific layouts that should be applied to screens.

• If any screens remain empty without layouts, the parent navigation item is queried to continue to search for layouts appropriate for screens.

• This process continues until the root node of the navigation hierarchy is reached, or all screens are assigned layouts.

After the appropriate layouts are determined, Auto-Fill navigation executes against the available layouts. If you link a layout to an asset and create a custom navigation item in a ViewApp with the navigation item set to the asset context, the autofill will attempt to fill the pane from the linked asset. You can override that autofill behavior by dragging and dropping content into the layout.

The ViewApp Editor contains a set of selectable Auto-Fill options to control how content is automatically placed in panes.

Note: The ViewApp's assigned layout panes must have the Use For Auto-Fill property enabled. For more information about layout pane properties, see About pane properties.

• None

  In None mode, no content is automatically shown unless specific commands have been created to show content. You must assign all layouts for all screens and manually assign content to specific panes using drag and drop operations. Any commands in parent navigation nodes or child navigation nodes are not considered in assigning content to screens or panes. The None option is available only for custom navigation items.

• Current only

  In Current only mode, you must assign layouts to screens, but any navigation item content is automatically placed in the available panes using the best available pane algorithm.

• Current, then up

  In Current, then up mode, Auto-Fill searches for layouts that initially fill the screens prior to determining the content to be shown in specific panes. The current navigation item is inspected for any commands which place layouts or content full screen. For any screens that remain empty, Auto-Fill examines the parent navigation item for additional ShowLayout or ShowScreen commands to apply to empty screens.

  After content has been assigned to screens, any content residing on the current navigation item is shown to the screen using the best available pane algorithm for each individual piece of content. For any remaining empty panes, Auto-Fill looks up to the parent navigation item for additional commands or content, which apply to empty panes. This process continues until all panes are filled, or the root of the navigation hierarchy is reached. If Auto-Fill intends to replace a pane’s content with the same content already in the pane, the command is skipped to avoid disturbing the existing content. In Current, then up mode, some panes may remain empty.

• Current, up, then down

  The Current, up, then down mode is identical to Current, then up mode with an additional action. If the Auto-Fill search reaches the root of the navigation hierarchy and there are still empty screens or panes, the first child of the current navigation item is inspected to see if it has content that applies to the available screens or panes. This process continues down the navigation hierarchy by inspecting the first child navigation item at each level until arriving at a leaf node, then Auto-Fill stops.