Chapter 6
Working with Simple Data Screens
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER
- Creating new tables with the LightSwitch Designer
- Setting up table and field properties
- Creating search, new data, and details screens with the Add New Screen dialog
- Understanding how data and layout items describe a screen
- Adding an editable grid screen to your project
- Modifying a screen by setting up layout item properties
In this chapter, you will learn the basics of creating tables and screens. You will start with very simple tasks to help you understand the powerful approach and tools that LightSwitch provides.
This chapter guides you through designing a simple table (TimeCategory) and several screens that enable you to search and edit the table’s data. After going through all the exercises in this chapter, you’ll be able to repeat what you have learned to create another table (ProjectRoleType) with a related screen.
CREATING NEW TABLES
For the example in this chapter, the scenario involves a fictitious company named ConsulArt that has designed the ProjectTrek application to enable project team members to report their activities. In addition to working normal daily business hours (for example, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), project team members sometimes need to put in overtime, and they probably have to work on weekends. The TimeCategory table represents a lookup table that defines these reporting categories. This table is simple, so it is a perfect example to use to learn the basics of creating tables. ...
