Status report using context menu

orThis use case focus on the application of the context menu to provide feedback to the user on a result of a calculation, status or summary. The type of report would depend on the specific use of the vault but could include something like a status report on cases closed in the last hour or the financial summary of a customer’s invoices. The key is the report should be simple, concise and suitable for display in a messagebox text based report.

Graphics, multipage data, matrix data and similar complex reporting is not suitable for this method.

In essence, the context menu provides the capability of actioning the report calculation and to display the result in a feedback window. The action can include the context of the underlying object to return a report specific to the object.

The steps below highlights the elements to focus on for this type of application.

Step 1:

Determine the class or classes of objects involved in the report; create the classes in the Connector and update the data. refer to other sections in the guide for more detail on how to do this.

Prepare the dataset for the report. Note that the result will be built into a procedure with a single parameter (@output) as the formatted result. The Objid and class of the Context object will be used as an input parameter for selecting the data.

Step 2:

Format the output to show in standard text based Window. Note the following

  • ‘\n’ carriage return and a line feed. e.g. “this is first line” + “\n” + “this is second line”

  • or CHAR(10) for line feed e.g. “this is first line” + CHAR(10) + “this is second line”

  • CHAR(09) for a tab

DECLARE @CustomerName NVARCHAR(50),
        @totalOpportunities INT;
SELECT @CustomerName
FROM [dbo].[MFAccount] AS [ma]
WHERE [ma].[ObjID] = @ObjectID;

SELECT @totalOpportunities = SUM([mo].[Estimated_Sales_Value])
FROM [dbo].[MFOpportunity] AS [mo]
WHERE [mo].[Account_ID] = @ObjectID
      AND [mo].[State] = 'Won';

SET @OutPut
    = 'Customer: ' + CHAR(09) + @CustomerName + CHAR(10) + 'Open Opportunities: ' + CHAR(09)
      + CAST(CONVERT(MONEY, @totalOpportunities) AS VARCHAR(10));

The procedure spMFResultMessageforUI is a good illustration of preparing data for the UI Window. The @MessageOUT formatting applies to the context menu UI.

Step 3:

Add the snippet of your procedure into the custom.CM.DoObjectAction sample code. Rename procedure and modify the content to suite your requirements.

Use the following method to debug the Context Menu action item if the message does not appear.

DECLARE @OutPut VARCHAR(1000);
EXEC custom.[Report_Customer_Performance] @ObjectID = 22,   -- ID in the context menu in MF for the selected object
                                          @ObjectType = 124, -- Type in the context menu in MF for the selected object
                                          @ObjectVer = 7,
                                          @ID = 45,         -- id of the action itemm in MFContextMenu
                                          @OutPut = @OutPut OUTPUT,                            -- varchar(1000)
                                          @ClassID = 49     -- int
SELECT @output

Step 4:

Add a context menu Heading and action record. Note the action record must have a action type = 3. Use helper procedures spMFContextMenuActionItem and spMFContextMenuActionItem to add the items to MFContextMenu.

Step 5:

In M-Files, select Customer, right click, select MFSQLConnector option to open menu, and select report

image0