Extending List of Entities Supported by Tasks, Events and Activities

Introduction#

In this topic you will learn how to extend the Related Entity Description field with a custom entity for Tasks, Events and Activities.

Adding Test Work Orders to the Related Entity Description Field

Let’s say you have already created the custom Test Work Orders screen to manage test work orders in your Acumatica ERP application:

There is already NoteID field declared in the TestWorkOrder DAC, managed on the Test Work Orders screen:

[Serializable]
public class TestWorkOrder : IBqlTable
{
    ...

    #region NoteID
    public abstract class noteID : IBqlField { }
    [PXNote]
    public virtual Guid? NoteID { get; set; }
    #endregion


    ...
}

and ActivityIndicator property is set to True for the top-level PXForm container:

<px:PXFormView ID="form" runat="server" ActivityIndicator="true" DataSourceID="ds" Style="z-index: 100" DataMember="ITWO" Width="100%" >

However, when new task, event or activity is created for a test work order, the Related Entity Description control is always empty:

To add the Test Work Order entity to the Related Entity Description selector, you should complete the following steps:

For the PXNoteAttribute on TestWorkOrder.NoteID field, set ShowInReferenceSelector property to True and define BQL expression to select data records displayed in the Entity lookup:
```
[PXNote(
    ShowInReferenceSelector = true,
    Selector = typeof(Search<TestWorkOrder.orderNbr>))]
public virtual Guid? NoteID { get; set; }
```
Decorate the TestWorkOrder DAC with the PXCacheNameAttribute and the PXPrimaryGraphAttribute:
```
[PXLocalizable]
public static class Messages
{
    public const string Opportunity = "Test Work Order";
}

[Serializable]
[PXCacheName(Messages.Opportunity)]
[PXPrimaryGraph(typeof(TestWorkOrderEntry))]
public class TestWorkOrder : IBqlTable
{
    ...
}
```
The PXCacheName attribute defines user-friendly name for the TestWorkOrder DAC (Test Work Order in this case), which will be available in the Type dropdown. The PXPrimaryGraph attribute determines the entry page where a user is redirected for editing a test work order, which is the Test Work Orders screen in the given example.
Decorate some TestWorkOrder fields with the PXFieldDescriptionAttribute. Those field values will be concatenated into a single text label, representing the referenced test work order inside the Related Entity Description field:
```
...
[PXFieldDescription]
public virtual string OrderNbr { get; set; }

...
[PXFieldDescription]
public virtual String Status { get; set; }

...
[PXFieldDescription]
public virtual string POOrderNbr { get; set; }
```

Define the list of columns displayed in the Entity lookup by choosing one of the approaches below:

a. Use the PXNoteAttribute.FieldList property (gets the highest priority):

public abstract class noteID : IBqlField { }
[PXNote(
    ShowInReferenceSelector = true,
    Selector = typeof(Search<TestWorkOrder.orderNbr>),
    FieldList = new Type[]
    {
        typeof(TestWorkOrder.orderNbr),
        typeof(TestWorkOrder.orderDate),
        typeof(TestWorkOrder.status),
        typeof(TestWorkOrder.poOrderNbr)
    })]
public virtual Guid? NoteID { get; set; }

b. Borrow the list of columns defined for the OrderNbr lookup:

public abstract class orderNbr : IBqlField { }
[PXDBString(15, IsKey = true, IsUnicode = true, InputMask = ">CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC")]
[PXDefault()]
[PXUIField(DisplayName = "ITWO Nbr.", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
[PXSelector(typeof(Search<TestWorkOrder.orderNbr>),
    typeof(TestWorkOrder.orderNbr),
    typeof(TestWorkOrder.orderDate),
    typeof(TestWorkOrder.status),
    typeof(TestWorkOrder.poOrderNbr))]
[PXFieldDescription]
public virtual string OrderNbr { get; set; }

c. Show all TestWorkOrder fields with Visibility set to PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible:

...
[PXUIField(DisplayName = "ITWO Nbr.", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
public virtual string OrderNbr { get; set; }

...
[PXUIField(DisplayName = "Order Date", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
public virtual DateTime? OrderDate { get; set; }

...
[PXUIField(DisplayName = "Status", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
public virtual String Status { get; set; }

...
[PXUIField(DisplayName = "Purchase Order", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
public virtual string POOrderNbr { get; set; }

After you completed the 4 steps above, Test Work Orders should be fully supported by the Related Entity Description field on Tasks, Events and Activities