Preview and Printable Page Flows

Last Updated 24-Nov-2003

General Description

Web applications embed content within visual and active user interface elements. When previewing or printing content it may be necessary to remove many of these elements. This guideline shows flows for the following:

Guideline Attributes

Spec Version # - 3.1
Spec Contributors - Betsy Beier, Mervyn Dennehy, Lisa Rinderknecht
UI Models - all models
Example Products - all products
Related Guidelines - Preview and Printable Page Templates, Step By Step Flow, Browse Pages Flow

Interaction and Usage Specifications

Previewing Business Objects

The following page templates are used in the preview flows:

Previewing Native BLAF Objects Flow

The following flow is used whenever a native BLAF object is previewed within a BLAF page:
  1. Any BLAF page with a native BLAF object to be viewed.
    1. Select the Preview [ObjectName|ObjectType] button. "ObjectName" is preferred unless the object name is too long or not readily recognizable. If both the object name and object type are overly long, they may be omitted.
  2. Preview Page
    1. View the object.
    2. Select a context-specific UI control, depending on application requirements. If users are likely to need to print, provide a Printable Page button as well.
  3. Depending on the task flow, either return to starting page or parent page of starting page using a "Return to XXX" link, or using the browser Back button.


Previewing Third Party Objects Flow

The following flow is used whenever a third party object is to be previewed:
  1. Any BLAF page with a third party object to be viewed.
    1. Select the Preview [ObjectName|ObjectType] button. "ObjectName" is preferred unless the object name is too long or not readily recognizable. If both the object name and object type are overly long, they may be omitted.
  2. Secondary Preview Window
    1. View the object in the secondary window.
    2. Unless specific controls are provided in the viewer, use browser controls to close the window.


Printable Pages

The following page templates are used in the printable page flows:

Basic Printable Page Flow

The following flow is used whenever a user needs to print all content from a single BLAF page, but with most UI elements removed:

  1. Any BLAF page with content to be printed.
    1. Select the "Printable Page" button.
  2. Printable Page (in new window)
    1. Use the browser Print function to print the page.
    2. Use a browser Close control to dismiss the window.


Print Object Flow

The following flow is used whenever a user needs to print all of an object's content but the content is spread over more than one page. Most UI elements will be removed.

  1. Any BLAF page displayed on completion of creating/updating/viewing an object.
    1. Select the "Print {ObjectType}" button.
  2. Printable Page with full set of object data (appears in new window, and may scroll extensively).
    1. Use the browser print function to print the page.
    2. Use a browser Close control to dismiss the window.



Print With Options Flow

The following flow is used whenever a user needs to print part of an object's content, or part of a page. Most UI elements will be removed.
  1. Any multi-section BLAF page or any single page from an object with subordinate elements displayed over multiple pages.
    1. Select the "Print Specific Content" button.
  2. Print Specific Content page, with multi-select table (or form layout).
    1. Place a check mark in the selection column for each element to be printed (or select elements using form controls)
    2. Select the "Print {ObjectType}" or "Print Selected Content" button to display a printable page. If "Print {ObjectType}" results in a button label that does not match the range of possible selections, use the "Print Selected Content" label instead.
  3. Printable Page with selected object data (in new window).
    1. Use the browser Print function to print the page.
    2. Use a browser Close control to dismiss the window.


Open/Closed Issues