Layouts

Layouts are used to filter and organize the data shown on datasheets. The Layout determines which Attributes appear on the datasheet, and how they are ordered and organized under headings.

Layouts are defined within a Table, and may include any of the Attributes and Meta-Attributes defined in the Table, as well as headings, and links to related records.

Tables that include different classes of data, such as the MaterialUniverse Table, typically include a number of different Layouts. Other Tables with a narrower range of data, such as Composite Pedigree or AM builds in the MI Training database, only need one Layout.

Some Attributes will be included in several different Layouts, for example, common properties like Density, while other Attributes may only appear in Layouts designed for use with specific types of data. For example:

In MI Explore, Layouts are used to specify:
  • The headings and Attributes that appear in the application Search panel
  • The headings, Attributes, Meta-Attributes, and linked records that appear on datasheets when viewing and when editing data.
Different Layouts can be used for the Search panel, for viewing datasheets, and for editing datasheets.

It is possible to define Display Names for Layout names and Layout headings. Where Display Names have been defined, application users will see these instead of the Layout Name and headings defined in the schema, for example, in datasheets and Layout selection UI. See Display Names.

In MI Viewer, Layouts define the headings, Attributes, Meta-Attributes, Tabular columns, and linked records that appear on datasheets.