AX1138

Using the Axiom Designer tab

Use the features on the Axiom Designer tab to assist with setting up Axiom files. The tab contains various tools and special commands intended to be used for file development and testing.

By default, the Axiom Designer tab is only available to administrators, however, your organization can choose to expose the tab to other users if desired. Additionally, the contents of the tab can also be customized. For more information, see Configuring the Axiom Designer ribbon tab.

The following sections detail the default contents of the Axiom Designer tab.

Function Library

Use the Function Library to insert an Axiom function into the currently selected cell. The library is organized into the following sections:

Item Description

Navigation

Functions used to link to other files, such as: GetDocumentHyperlink, GetDocument, and all functions relating to creating hyperlinks in Axiom forms

File Group

Functions relating to file groups, such as: GetFileGroupID, GetFileGroupVariable, GetCalcMethod, and GetPlanFileAttachment

File Processing

Functions used in file processing, such as IsRunningMultipass and GetCurrentValue

Actions

Functions that perform an action, such as RunEvent

Data Retrieval

Functions that retrieve data from the database or system data, such as GetData, GetDataElement, GetPeriod, GetSecurityInfo, GetSystemInfo, and GetUserInfo

Current Document

Functions that return information about the current document, such as GetColumnLetter, GetRowNumber, and GetDocumentInfo

Clicking on a function in the library places a "starter" version of the function into the current cell, and opens the function wizard. For most functions this is the Excel function wizard (available in the Excel Client only); however some functions have a specialized wizard available, such as GetData and GetDocumentHyperlink. You can complete the function parameters using the wizard, or you can click OK to close the wizard and complete the function parameters manually.

Protection

Use the features in the Protection group to turn off or apply various protections and display settings in the file.

Item Description

Show Everything

Turns off all protections and display controls in the file, whether applied via Axiom functionality or manually. Workbook and worksheet protections are disabled, frozen panes are removed, all sheets are unhidden, and all rows and columns are unhidden.

This is intended to be used as a one-click solution to display everything in the file so that you can perform further file development. Any protections and controls that were configured via Axiom functionality remain configured, and will be reapplied the next time the file is opened (or by clicking Apply Control Sheet Settings). Any protections and controls that were applied manually are now removed.

This feature is only available to administrators or to users with unprotect permissions to the file.

Apply Control Sheet Settings

Turns on all configured protections and display controls in the file, including workbook/worksheet protection, sheet visibility, freeze panes, and the default view.

If you had protections or controls in the file that were manually applied (instead of by using the Control Sheet), and then you removed them using Show Everything, then using Apply Control Sheet Settings will not reapply those manual settings.

This feature is only available to administrators or to users with unprotect permissions to the file.

Active Cell(s)

Indicates whether the currently selected cell or cells are locked.

  • A locked lock icon indicates that the cells are locked.
  • An unlocked lock icon indicates that the cells are unlocked.
  • A grayed out lock icon indicates that some cells are locked and some are unlocked.

You can change the configuration of the selected cells to be locked or unlocked by clicking the button.

Generally speaking, a cell must be unlocked if you want to allow a user to edit the cell (assuming sheet protection is applied to the sheet). Certain Axiom form features also require target cells to be unlocked, in order to update the sheet with the current component status. This toggle is provided to make it easier for you to see and change the locked status of a cell.

Refresh

Use the features in the Refresh group to perform advanced refresh actions.

Item Description

Refresh

This is the same as the Refresh button on the main Axiom tab, replicated here for convenience. You can refresh the entire workbook or just the active sheet.

Refresh Axiom Query

Refresh a single selected Axiom query. The drop-down list displays all active Axiom queries defined in the file, organized by sheet. Only the selected Axiom query will be run; formulas are still refreshed as normal.

Refresh Formulas

Refresh only the formulas in the file. No Axiom queries will be run.

Document History

Use the features in the Document History group to create document versions and to restore prior document versions.

Item Description

Restore Previous Version

Restores a selected document version. You can select from any available document version.

IMPORTANT: Using this feature will replace the current document with the selected version, it will not open the version in a separate tab. If the current document has unsaved changes, you will first be prompted to save.

Once the selected version is opened, if you want to save it as the current version you must save the document. If you close without saving, then the document will remain at the state it was in before you opened the prior version.

For more information about document versions and version availability, see Viewing document history.

Create Restore Point

Saves the document as a new document version, so that if needed you can restore it later using Restore Previous Version.

Normally, a new document version is created only once per lockout session (for more information, see Viewing document history). The Save and Create Restore Point feature allows you to create as many versions as needed within the current session, so that you can later return to any point of the file.

NOTE: These features are not related to the separate "restore point" feature for plan files. For more information on that feature, see Restoring plan files from restore points

Action Codes

Use the Action Codes group to process action codes on demand (independent of running Axiom queries or other means of triggering action codes).

Clicking the Process button brings up a list of ActionCodes tags in the document, organized by sheet. If the tag is named, it displays by name, otherwise it displays based on location in the sheet. The following example shows one named tag (MyName) and one unnamed tag (located in cell P19):

Clicking on a tag name or location will process the actions just for that particular ActionCodes tag. This is intended to assist in action code setup and troubleshooting.

Developer

Use the features in the Developer group to assist in file development.

Item Description

Developer Mode

Enable or disable Developer Mode for the current session. Developer Mode provides access to certain features and tools to help test and troubleshoot your files. For more information, see Using Developer Mode.

Tools

The Tools menu provides access to the following features:

  • Add a Control Sheet: Add any type of control sheet to the current file.
  • Find Formula Errors: Search the current file for formula errors.
  • Refresh File System: Refresh the current file system. Sometimes this is necessary to update the file list on the Reports menu or other items.
  • Clear UDF Data Cache: Clear the UDF cache. This may be necessary when testing or troubleshooting formula-related issues, to start with a clean cache.
  • Process Alerts: Process alerts defined in the current file.

The Tools menu is only visible to administrators, with one exception: users with access to Process Alerts on the Axiom tab will also see it here if they have access to the Axiom Designer tab.

Clean Document

Clears the following items in the document:

  • Time stamps in the Last refresh time field for Axiom queries (used when Refresh only if primary table changed since last refresh is enabled)

  • The Result and IsError columns for any DataLookup data sources