Views Overview

Views define how data is displayed and edited in Fullfinity’s UI.

View Types

The type field is a Selection whose choices are the registered view types. The engine ships these (in UiView.type plus the core _selection_add):

Type	Description	Use Case
Form	Detail/edit view	Single record editing
List	Table view	Browsing multiple records
Kanban	Card-based view	Visual workflows
Calendar	Timeline view	Date-based data
Gantt	Timeline with dependencies	Scheduling, project tasks (Gantt Views)
Pivot	Cross-tab aggregation table	Reporting/analysis (Pivot & Chart)
Chart	Aggregated chart of records	Reporting/analysis (Pivot & Chart)
TimelineHeatmap	Rows × time-bucket matrix	Load boards, density grids
Dashboard	Configurable home screen	KPI cards, charts, lists, goals
Search	Filters and groupings	Query configuration (Other Views)
Wizard	Transient-model form	Multi-step input before an action (Other Views)
Designer	Visual report/layout designer	Document design

Tree is also an accepted value (a legacy alias for List); use List.

Module-provided view types

Modules register additional view types via a small models/ui_view_types.py that _selection_adds onto UiView.type. Each is rendered by its own React component, so a type is only usable when its owning module is installed:

Type	Provided by
OrgChart	hr
PortalList, PortalDetail	portal
FinancialReport, CustomerStatements, BankReconciliation	accounting (enterprise)

Other modules add their own (e.g. POS, manufacturing) the same way. To add a view type: create <module>/models/ui_view_types.py with an __inherit__ = "UiView" class whose _selection_add = {"type": ["MyType"]}, list the file in models/__init__.py, and add the matching renderer to the React ViewRenderer dispatch.

A view normally sources its data by querying the model’s records. To render computed / non-record data instead, declare a data_method in the arch.

Basic Structure

All views share this structure:

{
  "data_type": "UiView",
  "name": "contact_form_view",
  "identifier": "contact_form_view",
  "type": "Form",
  "model": "Contact",
  "arch": [...]
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
data_type	string	Always "UiView"
name	string	View name (usually same as identifier)
identifier	string	Unique identifier
type	string	View type (Form, List, Kanban, Calendar, Gantt, Pivot, Chart, Search, Wizard, …)
model	string	Model this view displays
arch	array/object	View architecture
inherited_view	string	Parent view identifier (for inheritance)

Architecture Elements

The arch contains the view structure:

Layout Elements

Element	Description
row	Horizontal container (12-column grid)
column	Vertical container with span (1-12)
tab	Tab container with label

Field Elements

Element	Description
field	Data field with widget
statusbar	Status indicator
actionButton	Button triggering model method
linkButton	Statistic button with link

Special Elements

Element	Description
text	Static text
divider	Visual separator
activities	Activity timeline

Element Structure

Each element has:

{
  "type": "field",
  "name": "email",
  "properties": {
    "widget": "TextInput",
    "label": "Email Address",
    "placeholder": "Enter email",
    "visible": "Q(type__eq='company')",
    "groups": ["admin"]
  }
}

Common Properties

Property	Description
type	Element type (structural, at top level)
name	Field name (structural, at top level)
span	Column width 1-12 (structural, at top level)
properties	All field configuration (widget, visibility, behavior)

Element Properties

All behavioral and display properties go inside properties:

{
  "properties": {
    "widget": "TextInput",
    "visible": "Q(status__eq='draft')",
    "readonly": "Q(status__neq='draft')",
    "required": true,
    "groups": ["sales_manager"]
  }
}

Property	Type	Description
widget	String	Widget type to render
visible	Boolean/String	Show/hide element. Can be false or Q-expression. Default: true
readonly	Boolean/String	Make field(s) read-only. Can be true or Q-expression.
required	Boolean/String	Make field required. Can be true or Q-expression.
groups	Array	Required group identifiers for access control.

Note: Structural attributes (type, name, span, content, title) stay at the top level. All behavior and display config goes in properties.

Window Actions

Actions connect views to navigation:

{
  "data_type": "WindowAction",
  "identifier": "contacts_action",
  "name": "Contacts",
  "model": "Contact",
  "modes": "Kanban,List,Form",
  "default_view": "contact_kanban_view",
  "views": ["contact_kanban_view", "contact_list_view", "contact_form_view"],
  "search_view": "contact_search_view"
}

Menus

Menus create navigation structure:

{
  "data_type": "UiMenu",
  "identifier": "contacts_menu",
  "name": "Contacts",
  "parent": "sales_menu",
  "action": "contacts_action",
  "sequence": 10
}

View Resolution

When loading a view:

1. Fetch base view by identifier
2. Find all child views (inherited_view)
3. Apply inheritance operations
4. Return combined view

Dynamic Views

If no view is defined, Fullfinity auto-generates one from the model registry. This allows navigation to any model without requiring a WindowAction or UiView definition.

URL Pattern

/app/:rootMenu/m/:model              # List view
/app/:rootMenu/m/:model/:recordId    # Form view for specific record
/app/:rootMenu/m/:model/new          # Form view for new record

Examples

/app/core_menu/m/Currency           # Currency list view
/app/core_menu/m/Currency/5         # Currency form for record 5
/app/core_menu/m/Currency/new       # New Currency form

Generated Views

View	Fields Included	Layout
List	Char, Selection, ManyToOne, OneToOne, Integer, Float, Monetary	Simple table
Form	All fields except JSON, File, Binary, OneToMany	2-column grid with status bar
Search	Active filter + group-by for Selection/ManyToOne	Basic filters

Priority

1. If a UiView exists in the database for the model, it is used (with inheritance)
2. If no UiView exists, a dynamic view is generated from the model registry

Use Cases

• Quick prototyping without creating view definitions
• Admin/debug access to any model
• Action methods returning get_action(model="ModelName") for navigation

From Action Methods

async def action_view_logs(self):
    """Open audit logs without a WindowAction."""
    return await get_action(model="AuditLog")

async def action_view_record(self):
    """Open a specific record dynamically."""
    return await get_action(model="SomeModel", record_id=self.related_id)

File Organization

Views are stored in modules/<module>/views/:

views/
├── actions.json       # Window actions
├── menus.json        # Menu items
├── contact_views.json # Contact views
└── product_views.json # Product views

Next Steps

• Form Views - Detail/edit views
• List Views - Table views
• Kanban Views - Card-based views
• Pivot & Chart Views - Reporting/analysis views
• Other View Types - Calendar, Search, and Wizard views
• Configuration Forms - The settings DSL
• Dashboard Views - Configurable home screen with widgets
• Stats Banner - Rich visual stats for list/kanban views
• Widgets - Available widgets
• View Inheritance - Extending views