User Manual of the functionality to generate data by periodicity

In the Start Date text box, we must indicate the date for the first entry of the value we intend to generate.

In the Frequency we can choose how often we want to repeat our values.

In Quantity we put the number of times that our value will be created.

In Values we will write what we intend to create.

With each change, we will generate a new listing with the data you want.

Time Frame

Installation and Usage Manual

Time Frame is a component that allows you to automatically create dates fulfilling periodicities, such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. You can also associate a value or description to each generated date.

Installation

To install Time Frame, follow these steps:

1. Download the Time Frame component from the Forge: https://www.outsystems.com/forge/component-overview/14742/time-frame
2. Open Service Studio and click on Manage Dependencies.
3. Select the TimeFrame module and add it to your application.
4. Publish your application.

Usage

To use Time Frame, follow these steps:

1. In Service Studio, open the screen or action where you want to create dates with periodicities.
2. Drag and drop the TimeFrame action from the TimeFrame module to your logic flow.
3. Set the StartDate parameter of the action to the date you want to start generating dates from.
4. Set the EndDate parameter of the action to the date you want to stop generating dates at.
5. Set the Periodicity parameter of the action to one of the following values: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly.
6. Set the Value parameter of the action to an optional value you want to associate with each generated date.
7. Set the Description parameter of the action to an optional description you want to associate with each generated date.
8. Use the OutputList parameter of the action as the source of your widget or logic that displays or uses the generated dates.

Example

Here is an example of how to use Time Frame in a screen that displays a chart with quarterly sales data.

1. Create a screen called SalesChart with an input parameter called Year.
2. Create a local variable called SalesList of type List(Sales) and assign it to a sample data source of sales records.
3. Create a local variable called ChartData of type List(ChartData) and leave it empty. ChartData is a structure with two attributes: Date and Value.
4. Drag and drop the TimeFrame action from the TimeFrame module to your preparation logic.
5. Set the StartDate parameter of the action to CurrDate().
6. Set the EndDate parameter of the action to AddYears(CurrDate(), 1).
7. Set the Periodicity parameter of the action to Quarterly.
8. Leave the Value and Description parameters empty.
9. Set the OutputList parameter of the action to ChartData.
10. Add a For Each loop after the TimeFrame action and set its List property to ChartData.
11. Inside the loop, use an Aggregate to filter and sum the sales records by quarter using the Date attribute of ChartData as a filter criterion.
12. Assign the result of the Aggregate to the Value attribute of ChartData using an Assign node.
13. Drag and drop a Column Chart widget from Charts under your screen.
14. Set the Source Data Point List property of the widget to ChartData.
15. Add expressions to display date and value data as desired.

This way, you can display a column chart with quarterly sales data using Time Frame.

Test Page

If you want to test the Time Frame component, you can access the following page:

https://ruihmendes.outsystemscloud.com/TimeFrameEngine/

This page allows you to enter a start date, an end date, and a periodicity and see how many dates are generated by Time Frame. You can also see their values and descriptions if provided.

Questions and Answers

In this section, you will find some common questions and answers about the Time Frame component.

What is the purpose of the Time Frame component?

The Time Frame component allows you to automatically create dates fulfilling periodicities, such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. You can also associate a value or description to each generated date.

How does the Time Frame component work?

The Time Frame component uses an action that takes a start date, an end date, and a periodicity as input parameters and returns a list of dates with the specified periodicity between the start and end dates. The action also takes optional value and description parameters that can be associated with each generated date.

What are some use cases for the Time Frame component?

The Time Frame component is useful for scenarios where you need to create dates with periodicities for reporting, analysis, or visualization purposes. For example, you can use it to create quarterly sales reports, monthly budget charts, or yearly performance dashboards.