overview-pages

Overview Pages - CRUD Page Pattern

Overview

Standard pattern for creating CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) pages in Mendix using MDL syntax. This pattern consists of:

1. Navigation Snippet - Reusable menu for consistent navigation
2. Overview Page - Lists all objects with a DataGrid and navigation snippet
3. NewEdit Page - Form for creating/editing a single object

Pattern Summary

Component	Type	Purpose	Key Widgets
Entity_Menu	Snippet	Vertical sidebar navigation	NAVIGATIONLIST with ITEM actions
Entity_Overview	Page	List all records	SNIPPETCALL (sidebar), DATAGRID, Heading
Entity_NewEdit	Page	Create/Edit form	DataView, Input widgets, Save/Cancel

Navigation Menu Snippet

Create a reusable navigation snippet using NAVIGATIONLIST for vertical sidebar menus:

create snippet Module.Entity_Menu
{
  navigationlist navMenu {
    item itemCustomers (caption: 'Customers', action: show_page Module.Customer_Overview)
    item itemOrders (caption: 'Orders', action: show_page Module.Order_Overview)
    item itemProducts (caption: 'Products', action: show_page Module.Product_Overview)
  }
}

Snippet Syntax

create [or replace] snippet Module.SnippetName
[(
  params: { $ParamName: Module.EntityType }
)]
[folder 'path']
{
  -- Widget definitions (same as pages)
}

NAVIGATIONLIST Syntax

The NAVIGATIONLIST widget creates a vertical menu with navigation items:

navigationlist widgetName {
  item itemName (caption: 'Caption', action: show_page Module.PageName)
  item itemName (caption: 'Caption', action: microflow Module.MicroflowName)
  item itemName (caption: 'Caption', action: close_page)
}

Overview Page Template

Lists all objects of an entity type with a data grid and navigation menu in a sidebar layout.

Layout Structure:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ layoutgrid                                  │
│ ┌────────┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ COL 2  │ COL 10                           │
│ │ menu   │ Heading + datagrid               │
│ │snippet │                                  │
│ └────────┴──────────────────────────────────┤
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘