progress® rollbase® user's guide

Progress

Rollbase

User's Guide

Copyright

2018 Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved.

These materials and all Progress software products are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by ProgressSoftware Corporation. The information in these materials is subject to change without notice, and ProgressSoftware Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear therein. The references in thesematerials to specific platforms supported are subject to change.

Corticon, DataDirect (and design), DataDirect Cloud, DataDirect Connect, DataDirect Connect64, DataDirectXML Converters, DataDirect XQuery, DataRPM, Deliver More Than Expected, Icenium, Kendo UI, NativeScript,OpenEdge, Powered by Progress, Progress, Progress Software Developers Network, Rollbase, SequeLink,Sitefinity (and Design), SpeedScript, Stylus Studio, TeamPulse, Telerik, Telerik (and Design), Test Studio, andWebSpeed are registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or subsidiariesin the U.S. and/or other countries. Analytics360, AppServer, BusinessEdge, DataDirect Spy, SupportLink,DevCraft, Fiddler, JustAssembly, JustDecompile, JustMock, Kinvey, NativeScript Sidekick, OpenAccess,ProDataSet, Progress Results, Progress Software, ProVision, PSE Pro, Sitefinity, SmartBrowser,SmartComponent, SmartDataBrowser, SmartDataObjects, SmartDataView, SmartDialog, SmartFolder,SmartFrame, SmartObjects, SmartPanel, SmartQuery, SmartViewer, SmartWindow, and WebClient aretrademarks or service marks of Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S.and other countries. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Any other marks containedherein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Please refer to the Release Notes applicable to the particular Progress product release for any third-partyacknowledgements required to be provided in the documentation associated with the Progress product.

Updated: 2018/03/27

3Rollbase: Progress Rollbase User's Guide: Version 5.2

Rollbase: Progress Rollbase User's Guide: Version 5.24

Copyright

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Welcome.....................................................................................19

Chapter 2: Introduction to Progress Rollbase..........................................21Supported browsers and platforms.......................................................................................................24Obtaining an account............................................................................................................................24

Logging in...................................................................................................................................24Updating your profile and logging out........................................................................................25Selecting and modifying your security questions.......................................................................25Switching tenants.......................................................................................................................26

Basic Rollbase concepts.......................................................................................................................26Navigating the Rollbase environment...................................................................................................28

Application page components....................................................................................................31Setup and setup page components...........................................................................................36The Rollbase application............................................................................................................40Search........................................................................................................................................40Printing and PDF generation......................................................................................................46

Sample applications..............................................................................................................................49

Chapter 3: What's New in Rollbase 5.1......................................................51What's New in Rollbase 5.0..................................................................................................................54Upgrading Private Cloud to Version 5.x................................................................................................58Upgrading Private Cloud to Version 4.X...............................................................................................60

Chapter 4: Designing a Rollbase application............................................63Application foundation...........................................................................................................................65

Object definition overview..........................................................................................................65Object attributes.........................................................................................................................67Relationships..............................................................................................................................68

Business logic and customizing the user experience...........................................................................69Rollbase user interface components..........................................................................................69

Setting up accounts for testing..............................................................................................................89Distribution options...............................................................................................................................89

Chapter 5: Laying the foundation...............................................................91Getting started with the Quick Create wizard........................................................................................92Creating and managing applications.....................................................................................................94


Contents

Creating an application your way...............................................................................................94Editing applications....................................................................................................................95Deleting an application.............................................................................................................110Installing applications...............................................................................................................110

Creating and managing objects, fields, and relationships...................................................................114Creating a new object definition...............................................................................................115Creating a tab...........................................................................................................................116Viewing and editing an object definition...................................................................................118Deleting an object definition.....................................................................................................127

Views...................................................................................................................................................128View controls............................................................................................................................128Editing a view component........................................................................................................131Setting the default view on a record list page..........................................................................132

Relationships between objects...........................................................................................................133Global relationship lookup field properties...............................................................................134Changing lookup field behavior................................................................................................134Restricting records for lookup fields.........................................................................................137Related records components...................................................................................................139Related grid controls................................................................................................................139Orphan records........................................................................................................................141

Working with records...........................................................................................................................141Cloning records........................................................................................................................142Protecting records....................................................................................................................144Converting records...................................................................................................................145Comparing and merging records..............................................................................................150Auditing....................................................................................................................................154Sending email..........................................................................................................................156Transferring owners.................................................................................................................159Updating multiple records........................................................................................................159Tagging records........................................................................................................................163

Chapter 6: Adding business logic ...........................................................167Working with templates.......................................................................................................................168

HTML and Script components..................................................................................................169Adding template fields and integration links to an object.........................................................172Template token syntax.............................................................................................................172Iterating through records..........................................................................................................180Using EVAL blocks...................................................................................................................182Creating a record name template.............................................................................................182Email templates........................................................................................................................183Document templates................................................................................................................185Communication logs.................................................................................................................190Localization..............................................................................................................................190New record template................................................................................................................190


Contents

Right to left support in templates..............................................................................................191Formulas.............................................................................................................................................192

Writing and debugging formulas..............................................................................................193Formula return types................................................................................................................194Improved Formula Debugging..................................................................................................195Examples of valid string tokens................................................................................................197Using dates in formulas............................................................................................................197Example using images to represent record status...................................................................198Formula execution limits..........................................................................................................198Group functions........................................................................................................................199Typical mistakes in formulas....................................................................................................200

Triggers and workflows.......................................................................................................................201Trigger overview.......................................................................................................................202

Workflow processes............................................................................................................................239Workflow overview..............................................................................................................................240

Creating a workflow process....................................................................................................240Editing and viewing a workflow process...................................................................................241Working with the Workflow Designer........................................................................................242Workflow Designer Interface....................................................................................................243Designing a Workflow Process................................................................................................247Approvals.................................................................................................................................257Record queues.........................................................................................................................260

Automating business decisions with Corticon rules............................................................................261Supported relationships for request mapping..........................................................................264Supported relationships for response mapping........................................................................265Supported data types and conversions....................................................................................267Creating a Corticon Decision Service Trigger..........................................................................270Overriding functions to provide custom behavior ....................................................................276Example trigger mapping to related objects.............................................................................278Example trigger mapping where response creates a record...................................................280

Reports, charts, and gauges...............................................................................................................283Working with reports.................................................................................................................283Working with charts..................................................................................................................321Working with gauges................................................................................................................325

Multi-currency support........................................................................................................................327Surveys and quizzes...........................................................................................................................330

Creating a survey.....................................................................................................................331Enabling surveys on an existing object....................................................................................332Adding questions to a survey ..................................................................................................334Creating a question library.......................................................................................................336Survey pages and links............................................................................................................336Taking a survey........................................................................................................................337Collecting survey answers.......................................................................................................338Using surveys on portals..........................................................................................................338


Contents

Chapter 7: Customizing the user experience..........................................339Pages, the page editor, and grid controls...........................................................................................340

Creating tabs and pages..........................................................................................................340Managing object pages............................................................................................................342Managing generic pages..........................................................................................................345Editing pages...........................................................................................................................347Using grid controls to manage multiple records.......................................................................361Using buttons on pages...........................................................................................................370Customizing the header and footer..........................................................................................372Customizing application tabs and menus.................................................................................374

UI Blueprints........................................................................................................................................378Setting a Different UI Blueprint on Mobile Devices.............................................................................383Live Preview........................................................................................................................................386Adaptive user interface.......................................................................................................................389

Automatic adaptive features for different devices....................................................................390Cards and card containers.......................................................................................................392Tailoring page components and views to devices....................................................................406Customizing field labels...........................................................................................................408

Responsive user interface..................................................................................................................410Vertical and horizontal responsive design................................................................................412Responsive page title and toolbar............................................................................................414Responsive dashboard pages..................................................................................................415

Working with views..............................................................................................................................416Creating and editing views.......................................................................................................416Adding columns........................................................................................................................417Sorting and grouping................................................................................................................418Calculating values for columns................................................................................................420Filtering views..........................................................................................................................421Editing a view on an application page......................................................................................427

Working with themes...........................................................................................................................434Record List Options, Mobile and Tablet Support ................................................................................436Pagination Control, Responsive Image Fields, and Custom Reports.................................................444Enhanced Smart Images, Notifications, and Others...........................................................................454Improved Editing Capabilities.............................................................................................................460Record View and Record Edit Page Toolbars.....................................................................................471Performance Improvements................................................................................................................474Improved Recycle Bin, Kendo UI Library, and Settings Record..........................................................479Filtering Features and Notification for Pending Changes...................................................................482Programmatic client-side customization.............................................................................................486

Custom CSS............................................................................................................................486Personalizing CSS...................................................................................................................489Creating Custom Themes........................................................................................................491HTML event handlers...............................................................................................................492


Contents

Rollbase AJAX APIs.................................................................................................................498Rollbase portals..................................................................................................................................503

Creating a portal.......................................................................................................................505Creating portal pages...............................................................................................................507Creating a custom header and footer.......................................................................................516Changing the main portal page................................................................................................518Assigning pages to a portal......................................................................................................519Portal security..........................................................................................................................519

Hosted files.........................................................................................................................................526Managing hosted files..............................................................................................................526Hosted file tokens.....................................................................................................................527Using hosted file tokens...........................................................................................................528

Chapter 8: Supporting mobile users........................................................529Using the Telerik Platform to create a mobile app..............................................................................530

Creating Progress Data Catalogs for use in the Telerik Platform.............................................531Using the Views first approach.................................................................................................532Creating a mobile app using Code and the Progress Data Service template..........................553

Mobile-Web enabled applications.......................................................................................................557

Chapter 9: Integrating with outside sources...........................................561Creating Rollbase objects from OpenEdge Object Services..............................................................562

Limitations................................................................................................................................562Supported data types...............................................................................................................563Linking Rollbase external objects to OpenEdge data..............................................................564Creating an application from OpenEdge data..........................................................................566

Using DataDirect Cloud to access external data................................................................................580Calling Progress Corticon decision services from Rollbase................................................................583Creating a Rollbase application from Microsoft Access......................................................................583

Uploading the MDB file............................................................................................................583Creating objects from MDB tables...........................................................................................584Mapping fields and creating records........................................................................................585Reviewing results.....................................................................................................................589

Creating a Rollbase application from a Salesforce application...........................................................591Migrating the application..........................................................................................................592

Using external tables as Rollbase objects..........................................................................................593Using an external database and external objects for Private Cloud........................................593Creating an external object from an external database table..................................................598

Importing data.....................................................................................................................................600Compatible import data types..................................................................................................601Importing for existing objects...................................................................................................602Importing to create a new object..............................................................................................604Importing related objects..........................................................................................................605


Contents

Deleting multiple records by importing a spreadsheet........................................................................606Exporting from views and reports.......................................................................................................607Integrating with Google applications...................................................................................................608

Enabling Google integration.....................................................................................................609Incoming Gmail........................................................................................................................610Outgoing Gmail........................................................................................................................612Google spreadsheets...............................................................................................................612Synchronizing with Google Calendar.......................................................................................612Google Maps............................................................................................................................613

Using SOAP or REST to integrate with Rollbase................................................................................615Limits on API calls....................................................................................................................616Monitoring API calls.................................................................................................................616

Integrating apps using Cloud Data Objects........................................................................................617Creating Progress Data Catalogs for external applications.....................................................618

Integrating with Microsoft Exchange Server.......................................................................................619

Chapter 10: Security and access control.................................................621User authentication.............................................................................................................................622

Forgotten password.................................................................................................................623Whitelist IP addresses..............................................................................................................623

Access control.....................................................................................................................................625Role-based access control.......................................................................................................626User-based access control.......................................................................................................639Relationship-based permissions..............................................................................................641Page versions..........................................................................................................................644Location/department/function permissions...............................................................................646

User authentication and password management................................................................................657Enabling an administrative user to log into a customer tenant...........................................................659Enhanced hashing and encryption algorithms ...................................................................................660Security for portals..............................................................................................................................661Enhanced Security and Authentication-related Features....................................................................661

Chapter 11: Publishing and distributing applications............................667Using the Progress Rollbase Marketplace..........................................................................................668

Publishing to the Marketplace App...........................................................................................669Enabling or disabling Marketplace in Rollbase Private Cloud..................................................671Managing the Marketplace using the Marketplace application in Rollbase Private Cloud.......673

Distributing applications in XML format...............................................................................................679Components included in an application XML file.....................................................................679Use of original IDs....................................................................................................................681Locking applications.................................................................................................................682Attaching seed records............................................................................................................683Attaching authentication profiles..............................................................................................683


Contents

Testing and verifying application correctness...........................................................................684Generating application XML.....................................................................................................684Providing a test drive................................................................................................................685Administrative management of published applications............................................................686

Troubleshooting published applications..............................................................................................686

Chapter 12: Advanced setup and administration...................................689Personal setup....................................................................................................................................689

My Settings page.....................................................................................................................690Third Party Settings page.........................................................................................................691My Localization Settings page.................................................................................................691My Preferences page...............................................................................................................692My Security Settings page.......................................................................................................694Change Password page...........................................................................................................694Recycle Bin page.....................................................................................................................695

Administration setup...........................................................................................................................695Configuring Administrative Preferences...................................................................................697Transfer owners.......................................................................................................................702Using company-wide settings..................................................................................................702Backup and restore..................................................................................................................706Currency formats......................................................................................................................708Batch jobs................................................................................................................................712Billing and support settings......................................................................................................714Global text search....................................................................................................................714

Monitoring setup.................................................................................................................................714Support................................................................................................................................................715Language support...............................................................................................................................716

Adding support for other languages in Private Cloud..............................................................718Translating applications............................................................................................................719

Enabling Google Apps for Rollbase Private Cloud.............................................................................729

Chapter 13: Installing and administering Private Cloud........................731Introduction.........................................................................................................................................731

Platforms supported for Private Cloud.....................................................................................733Licensing..................................................................................................................................734OpenEdge license restrictions.................................................................................................734Private Cloud updates..............................................................................................................734Included Rollbase applications.................................................................................................734Third party software you can install..........................................................................................735

Installation...........................................................................................................................................736Prerequisites............................................................................................................................737Using the Rollbase installer......................................................................................................737Postrequisites...........................................................................................................................743


Contents

Using your own instance of Tomcat ........................................................................................743Setting up Rollbase manually...................................................................................................744Configuring a supported database...........................................................................................748Configuring PD4ML..................................................................................................................752Starting components and logging In.........................................................................................753Activating your license.............................................................................................................754Troubleshooting........................................................................................................................755

Administration.....................................................................................................................................757Overview..................................................................................................................................758System Tab Interface ..............................................................................................................759Managing customer tenants.....................................................................................................799Managing databases................................................................................................................808Marketplace and Support Portal...............................................................................................811Setting up ISV partners............................................................................................................812

Private Cloud security and access control..........................................................................................813Supported Methods to Authenticate Users..............................................................................813Security questions for authentication.......................................................................................842Configuring Rollbase Private Cloud to use HTTPS..................................................................844

Multi-server environments...................................................................................................................844Planning your multi-server architecture....................................................................................845Configuring multiple instances of Rollbase components ........................................................851Configuring high availability.....................................................................................................852Migrating to a Rollbase Cluster Setup on AWS ......................................................................858Deploying Rollbase on AWS....................................................................................................862Installing NGINX.......................................................................................................................866Configuring NGINX..................................................................................................................867

CDN Support.......................................................................................................................................872Configuration file reference.................................................................................................................874

license.xml.........................................................................................................................874node-config.json...............................................................................................................874

PAS command line reference.............................................................................................................876The tcman command...............................................................................................................876Manager actions.......................................................................................................................878Server actions..........................................................................................................................889General actions........................................................................................................................909

Chapter 14: Setup and administration for ISVs.......................................913Getting started....................................................................................................................................914System applications............................................................................................................................915Creating a custom login page.............................................................................................................916Creating a page for users to retrieve passwords................................................................................916Customizing page title tags.................................................................................................................917Using a third-party cloud service for storage......................................................................................918

Using Amazon S3....................................................................................................................918


Contents

Using Microsoft Azure..............................................................................................................920Using the ISV Partner application.......................................................................................................921

Creating and managing customer tenants...............................................................................922Pushing application updates to other tenants.....................................................................................922Installing application updates..............................................................................................................923Version history and rolling back..........................................................................................................924

Chapter 15: Reference...............................................................................925Server-side API...................................................................................................................................925

API error messages.................................................................................................................926Query API.................................................................................................................................926Object Script API......................................................................................................................943User selection API....................................................................................................................959Miscellaneous methods............................................................................................................962Date, time, and currency API...................................................................................................968PDF processing API.................................................................................................................973Hosted file API.........................................................................................................................975HTTP API.................................................................................................................................976XML processing API.................................................................................................................982JSON processing API..............................................................................................................983Trigger to trigger API................................................................................................................984Trigger environment API..........................................................................................................986Debugging API.........................................................................................................................990Log API....................................................................................................................................993Email API.................................................................................................................................995User session data API..............................................................................................................998

Client-side AJAX API........................................................................................................................1003Queries...................................................................................................................................1003Field Manipulation..................................................................................................................1030Data Formatting.....................................................................................................................1035Grid Control Examples and API.............................................................................................1039Miscellaneous........................................................................................................................1064Display Functions...................................................................................................................1080User session data..................................................................................................................1092

Client-side JavaScript.......................................................................................................................1098Objects...................................................................................................................................1099Functions................................................................................................................................1107Properties...............................................................................................................................1111Custom events.......................................................................................................................1121

Code Generator................................................................................................................................1123Using the Code Generator.....................................................................................................1124

Metadata API and XML Reference...................................................................................................1125Metadata XML reference........................................................................................................1125SOAP Metadata Methods......................................................................................................1142


Contents

REST Metadata Methods.......................................................................................................1155Rollbase REST Methods...................................................................................................................1168

appXML .................................................................................................................................1169bulkCreate .............................................................................................................................1170bulkCreateOrUpdate .............................................................................................................1171bulkDelete .............................................................................................................................1172bulkUpdate ............................................................................................................................1173clearDataObjectCache...........................................................................................................1174create ....................................................................................................................................1175createArr................................................................................................................................1176createCustomer .....................................................................................................................1178create2 ..................................................................................................................................1179createRecord..........................................................................................................................1180delete ....................................................................................................................................1182deleteArr ................................................................................................................................1182deleteRecord..........................................................................................................................1183getApplicationIds....................................................................................................................1184getAuthentication...................................................................................................................1185getBinaryData........................................................................................................................1186getBuildStatus........................................................................................................................1188getCodeById .........................................................................................................................1188getCount ................................................................................................................................1189getDataField ..........................................................................................................................1190getDataObj ............................................................................................................................1192getIdByCode .........................................................................................................................1194getIdByOriginalId....................................................................................................................1195getLDFIDs..............................................................................................................................1196getPage .................................................................................................................................1197getPermissionsByRole...........................................................................................................1198getPermissionsByUser...........................................................................................................1200getPicklist...............................................................................................................................1202getRecord...............................................................................................................................1202getRelationships ....................................................................................................................1204getRoleById............................................................................................................................1205getRoles.................................................................................................................................1206getTopology............................................................................................................................1208getUpdated ............................................................................................................................1209install .....................................................................................................................................1211installByAppId .......................................................................................................................1211licenseUpdate........................................................................................................................1212login........................................................................................................................................1213logout.....................................................................................................................................1214resetPassword.......................................................................................................................1215runAction................................................................................................................................1216runTrigger ..............................................................................................................................1217


Contents

search ...................................................................................................................................1218selectNumber ........................................................................................................................1219selectQuery ...........................................................................................................................1220selectValue ............................................................................................................................1222setAuthentication....................................................................................................................1223setBinaryData.........................................................................................................................1232setDataField ..........................................................................................................................1234setPermissionsByRole...........................................................................................................1235setPermissionsByUser...........................................................................................................1237update ...................................................................................................................................1238updateArr...............................................................................................................................1239updateCustomer ....................................................................................................................1240updateRecord.........................................................................................................................1241update2..................................................................................................................................1242authenticationProfile - Create.................................................................................................1244authenticationProfile - Edit.....................................................................................................1245authenticationProfile - Delete.................................................................................................1246getAllAuthenticationProfiles...................................................................................................1247getAuthenticationProfileById..................................................................................................1257mapAuthenticationToRole......................................................................................................1258

Rollbase SOAP Methods..................................................................................................................1259DataObj Container Class.......................................................................................................1260DataField Container Class.....................................................................................................1261SearchFilter Class .................................................................................................................1261bulkCreate() ..........................................................................................................................1262bulkCreateUpdate() ...............................................................................................................1263bulkUpdate() ..........................................................................................................................1264clearDataObjectCache().........................................................................................................1265create() ..................................................................................................................................1265createArr() .............................................................................................................................1266createArr2() ...........................................................................................................................1268createArrNoAudit() ................................................................................................................1269createCustomer() ..................................................................................................................1270createRecord().......................................................................................................................1270delete() ..................................................................................................................................1271deleteArr() .............................................................................................................................1272deleteArrNoAudit().................................................................................................................1273deleteRecord().......................................................................................................................1273deleteRecords()......................................................................................................................1274detailedSearch().....................................................................................................................1275getBinaryData() .....................................................................................................................1276getCodebyId() .......................................................................................................................1277getCount() .............................................................................................................................1277getIdByCode() .......................................................................................................................1278getDataField() .......................................................................................................................1279


Contents

getDataField2() .....................................................................................................................1280getDataObj() ..........................................................................................................................1281getExchangeRate() ...............................................................................................................1282getPage() ..............................................................................................................................1282getRelatedIDs()......................................................................................................................1284getRelationships() .................................................................................................................1284getRuntimeStatus() ...............................................................................................................1285getUpdated() .........................................................................................................................1286getRecord()............................................................................................................................1287login().....................................................................................................................................1288login2()...................................................................................................................................1288logout() ..................................................................................................................................1289resetPassword().....................................................................................................................1290selectNumber() ......................................................................................................................1290selectQuery() .........................................................................................................................1291selectValue() ..........................................................................................................................1293setBinaryData() .....................................................................................................................1294setDataField() ........................................................................................................................1295setDataField2() ......................................................................................................................1296setExchangeRate() ...............................................................................................................1297setRelationship() ...................................................................................................................1298setRelatedIDs() .....................................................................................................................1299textSearch() ...........................................................................................................................1300update() .................................................................................................................................1300updateArr() ............................................................................................................................1301updateArrNoAudit()................................................................................................................1302updateCustomer() .................................................................................................................1303updateRecord()......................................................................................................................1304

Rollbase CSS Styles for the Classic UI............................................................................................1305Table Styles............................................................................................................................1305Table Cell Styles.....................................................................................................................1306Table Row Styles....................................................................................................................1309Text Styles..............................................................................................................................1311Page Editor Styles..................................................................................................................1312Link Styles..............................................................................................................................1312Sidebar Styles........................................................................................................................1313

Field types.........................................................................................................................................1313Text field.................................................................................................................................1313Text Area Field.......................................................................................................................1314Checkbox Field......................................................................................................................1314Decimal field...........................................................................................................................1314Currency field.........................................................................................................................1314Base Currency field................................................................................................................1315Date Field...............................................................................................................................1315Date/Time field.......................................................................................................................1316


Contents

Time field................................................................................................................................1316Email Field.............................................................................................................................1316Phone Number field...............................................................................................................1316Password Field.......................................................................................................................1316Integer field............................................................................................................................1317Percent Field..........................................................................................................................1317Picklist Field...........................................................................................................................1317Picklist Multiselect..................................................................................................................1319Radio Button Field..................................................................................................................1319Group Checkbox Field...........................................................................................................1319URL Field...............................................................................................................................1320Auto-number Field..................................................................................................................1320Auto-number Functional Changes.........................................................................................1321File Upload field.....................................................................................................................1323Image Upload field.................................................................................................................1323Shared Image field.................................................................................................................1324Formula Field.........................................................................................................................1324Expression Field.....................................................................................................................1325Roll-Up Summary Field..........................................................................................................1325Template Field........................................................................................................................1326Document Template Field......................................................................................................1326Email Template Field..............................................................................................................1326Related Field..........................................................................................................................1327Integration Link Field..............................................................................................................1327Dependent Picklist Field.........................................................................................................1327Version Number Field.............................................................................................................1328Reference Field......................................................................................................................1328Advanced field properties.......................................................................................................1328System Field Types................................................................................................................1329Portal Field Types..................................................................................................................1331

Chapter 16: Getting help .........................................................................1333

Chapter 17: Third-party Acknowledgements.........................................1335Rollbase Private Cloud Third-party Acknowledgements...................................................................1335


Contents


Contents

1Welcome

Welcome to the Progress Rollbase product documentation!

The Rollbase product documentation provides an overview of the Rollbase Platform, information on how tocreate, customize and distribute applications.

The entire documentation is grouped into different sections that help easily locate information pertaining to aspecific task that you intend to perform. Also, there are supporting sections which contain additional informationsuch as UI descriptions, APIs and so on, that may further help you in working with the Rollbase platform.

If you wish to skip reading the first few introductory topics on Rollbase platform and get started with creatingapplications, the following table contains links to specific topics that provide you with a start point for a chosenactivity.

Upgrading Private Cloud to Version 5.x

Setting up Rollbase Manually

Creating an application

Installing an application

Editing an application

Deleting an application

Adding a new database

Creating an Authentication Profile

Creating a new object definition

Creating a tab

Viewing and editing an object definition

Adding fields


Creating a Workflow Process

Creating Triggers

Creating a Tabular Report

Running Reports

Publishing and Distributing Applications

Using the Progress Rollbase Marketplace

To quickly access information without browsing through the contents of the Product Documentation, you canuse the search feature.

Contact InfoAddresses of Progress Software Corporation offices in different geographical zones are available online athttps://www.progress.com/company/offices. For more information on Progress Rollbase, visit the web sitehttps://www.progress.com/rollbase.


Chapter 1: Welcome

https://www.progress.com/company/officeshttps://www.progress.com/rollbase

2Introduction to Progress Rollbase

Welcome to Progress Rollbase, a web-based platform for creating, customizing and distributing applications.Rollbase applications run in an integrated online environment and share a common security model, data modeland user interface. Rollbase exemplifies Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). There is no hardware or software tobuy or install, both developers and end-users access Rollbase using a web browser. Rollbase allows you tofocus on creating business value for users rather than on the expensive, complex and time-consuming tasksof managing software and infrastructure.

The Rollbase development environment supports citizen developers and business users who want to createcustom applications. Its framework of wizards and dialogs provide drag-and-drop and point-and-clickconvenience. You can create sophisticated applications without writing a line of code, but you also have theoption to use standards such as JavaScript and HTML to customize the logic and user interface. To get started,you define a foundation for your app, by creating objects, their fields, and relationships between objects.


From the app foundation, Rollbase generates a starter set of pages that end users interact with to view, create,update, and delete records. The following shows a few screens from an example application. The generatedpages are highly customizable.

The following image illustrates the typical process for developing Rollbase applications:


Chapter 2: Introduction to Progress Rollbase

Rollbase offers a flexible and mature environment, suitable for the most demanding of applications:

Platform optionsRollbase offers both hosted and Private Cloud environments. Private Cloud users install Rollbase componentson their own servers or on another cloud platform. Private Cloud users manage their own infrastructure,while Progress manages the hosted cloud infrastructure for all hosted cloud users. For information on hostedand Private Cloud, See www.progress.com/products/rollbase.

Support for affiliates, resellers, and ISVsResellers and ISVs can use Progress Rollbase for developing and delivering custom SaaS Applications totheir customers. Rollbase provides white label programs for both hosted and private cloud customers. Formore information about working with Rollbase as a reseller or ISV, see Setup and administration for ISVson page 913

Application MarketplaceThe Rollbase Application Marketplace provides an online exchange where you can browse and installready-made applications such as a CRM system, a suite of integrated HR applications, a bug trackingsystem, and others. Once a Rollbase application is installed, you can customize it to meet your specificbusiness needs.

Get started quickly and learn by doing


http://www.progress.com/products/rollbase

The Rollbase Fast Track page contains links to theQuick Start tutorial, companion videos that demonstratebasic Rollbase features, and links to related information in this documentation set. The tutorial helps youexercise key Rollbase functionality and can be completed in about an hour. Check it out!

For details, see the following topics:

Supported browsers and platforms

Obtaining an account

Basic Rollbase concepts

Navigating the Rollbase environment

Sample applications

Supported browsers and platformsYou can use any modern browser to access Rollbase, but Progress recommends use of one that we testagainst. For Rollbase Private Cloud, you will also be interested in the supported operating systems anddatabases. See Supported Platforms for the latest release.

Obtaining an accountOn hosted Rollbase, the first person to sign up from a particular organization becomes an administrator of theRollbase tenant. (A tenant is a virtual space for creating and managing apps.) On Rollbase Private Cloud, theperson whose email address is entered during installation becomes the first administrator of the Private Cloudtenant(s). Administrators can create user accounts, install applications from the Application Directory,customize applications for specific business needs, and create applications.

Administrators create user accounts by addingUser records. EachUser record has a requiredUser Role field.Any Rollbase user with theAdministrator role has complete administrative privileges. See Role-based accesscontrol on page 626 for information about roles.

Private Cloud and ISV Partners have the option create multiple tenants, which they do by adding Customerrecords. Therefore, the documentation often refers to these as customer tenants. Typically, those with theability to create tenants will want to use separate tenants for development and production. See Managingcustomer tenants on page 799 for more information.

Logging inEvery User record has a required Email Address field. After an administrator creates a User record, the newuser will receive a confirmation email with a temporary password and a login URL. Progress recommendschanging passwords periodically. For Rollbase Private Cloud, administrators can require that passwords fortheir tenant meet certain criteria, such as length and inclusion of numbers. See Configuring PasswordAuthentication on page 818 for more information.



https://documentation.progress.com/output/rb/index.htmlhttps://www.progress.com/rollbase/rollbase-supported-platforms

For Rollbase Private Cloud, administrators can also require users to answer security questions as part oflogging in. When security questions are enabled, users will be prompted to select security questions and providethe answers the next time they log in. Administrators create the questions, configure how many questions eachuser can choose, and set the number of questions a user must answer when logging in. For example, anadministrator might create five security questions, require users to provide answers to three of the questionsas part of their profile, and require users to answer one of the questions when logging in.

See Security questions for authentication on page 842 for information about configuring security questions.

See Selecting and modifying your security questions on page 25 for details about managing the securityquestions in your user profile.

Updating your profile and logging outThe page banner includes a drop-down menu next to the profile avatar:

The menu includes the following options:

Update Profile Opens the My Profile page where you can manage your personal settings and changeyour password. See Personal setup on page 689 for details.

Log Out Logs you out of the system.

Selecting and modifying your security questionsIf an administrator has configured security questions as part of the login process, you will be prompted to selectand answer questions the next time you log in. The questions and answers become part of your user profile.At subsequent logins, you will be prompted to answer randomly selected security questions after entering thecorrect login name and password. You can change the questions you want to answer and provide the answerson the Change Password page.

To change your selected security questions and answers to your user profile:

1. From the profile menu at the upper right corner of the browser, click Update Profile. The My Profile pageopens.

2. Click Change my Password. The Change Password page opens.

3. The Security Questions section allows you to select the number of questions you are required to answerfor your profile. Select each question from the drop-down and type your answer to each.

4. Click Save. The questions are now part of your user profile.

You can return to the Change Password page at any time to select a different set of questions or to changeyour answers.

When you log in to Rollbase, you are prompted to answer a random list of security questions selected fromyour user profile. You can optionally select the Remember this computer and skip security questions nexttime I login check box. If checked, Rollbase sets a security cookie on your computer. If this cookie is presentwhen you log in to Rollbase the next time, the system will bypass the security questions. You should only usethis option on your personal computer.


Obtaining an account

Example: In the following graphic, the user has answered a single security question and checked the optionto remember this computer:

Switching tenantsOn hosted Rollbase, you can switch to a different tenant if you have an account on that tenant with the sameemail address. This is useful if your organization runs different applications on different tenants and you needto access those applications.

To switch to a different tenant:

1. From the user profile, menu, select Switch Tenant. This option is only available if you have an account ona different tenant.

The Switch Tenant dialog opens.

2. From the Switch Tenant dialog, select the tenant to which you want to switch. If you want this tenant to beyour default tenant, click Make Selected As Default. Click Switch Tenant to switch to that tenant.

You are now logged in to the other tenant.

Basic Rollbase conceptsRollbase enables development and deployment of of browser-based Web apps and mobile apps. You firstcreate the Web app. Rollbase browser-based Web applications consist of a set of configurable components.Core application components include objects, tabs and portals. Each of these core components containssub-components. The process of creating a Web application in Rollbase involves defining core componentsand then building them out by adding and configuring sub-components. The Rollbase environment, whetherhosted or Private Cloud, transparently handles the data storage for Rollbase Web applications.



To provide a more specific mobile experience, you can:

Take advantage of the Rollbase features that support multiple devices. Rollbase's responsive and adaptiveUI adapts to display nicely on a variety of devices, and you can configure specific devices to renderapplications in a way that best suits each device.

Expose objects to the Telerik Platform, where you can quickly build modern mobile apps that access Rollbasedata.

See Supporting mobile users on page 529 for more information on these options.

Rollbase capabilitiesThe Rollbase application development environment allows you to:

Create an application data model by defining objects, fields, and relationships. Customize the user interface by modifying components such as pages, views, and templates, by adding

custom icons and logos, and by selecting themes for applications.

Define and customize workflow processes, statuses, and actions. Develop automated programmatic business logic such as with triggers. Generate and process template-based documents in MS Word, MS Excel, HTML, and plain text email

formats.

Enrich the user interface and workflow using client-side and server-side APIs. Use sophisticated full text search and filtering. Process data records using conversion mapping, comparison, parallel and sequential approvals, record

queuing, multi-currency support, and other built-in functionality.

Use built-in survey capabilities to create quizzes or qu

progress® rollbase® user's guide

Documents