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Aptify discourages clients from using shortcut methods, such as cloning an existing Entities record or using a record template, when creating new entities. These features are not designed to replicate all of the intricate functionality inherent in an Entities record.

Aptify's best practice recommendation is for clients to create all new entities from the ground up based on design documentation that should be written and reviewed prior to creating any new entity.
Step-by-Step Instructions
The following steps provide an overview of the basic process for creating a new Entity:

1. Open a new record from the Entities service.

• The Entities service is located in the Aptify Framework Administration application.

1. Enter a name for the entity in the Name field.

• Per Aptify's naming conventions for top-level entities, use spaces in the name. Also, all entity names should be plural.
• For example, use Sample Services rather than Sample Service.
• If using Aptify Web Access, there are certain characters that the Aptify Smart Client and SQL Server support in an entity name that are not supported by the entity model used by Aptify Web Access. For example, the smart client and SQL Server support using a dash in the field name (such as PersonID-Name) but C# considers this an invalid Property Name. So, the entity model fails to generate for entities that has dashes in field names for AWA. Therefore, when a Entities record is saved with a name that contains an invalid character for Aptify Web Access, a warning message is displayed alerting the administrator that the name field is invalid for AWA and that the Entity Model generator will fail to generate. An administrator can then choose to save the entity as is or modify the name of the entity so that it conforms to the AWA standard.
• The entity name should not start with a number. Microsoft SQL server does not allow Database Objects to start with a number.
• This name automatically appears in the Display Name field when you press the Tab key or select another field.

1. Edit the Display Name as necessary.

• For top level entities, this is the name that appears in the Ribbon, Navigation Bar, Folder List, and Services selection dialog.
• For sub-types, this is the name of the tab on the parent entity's form.

1. Enter a culture string to use as the display name of the entity in the Display Culture String field if you want to localize this entity name on a user-by-user basis (based on a user's assigned Culture). See Localization for details.
2. Leave Base DSN and Base Database set to APTIFY (the default setting).

• These fields identify the database where the entity's information, including its table, is stored.

1. Enter a name for the entity's database table in the Base Table field.

• During the Save process, Aptify automatically creates a base table for this entity using the name provided. Note that this assume that the Generate Table box is checked.
• Per Aptify's naming conventions for entities, use the singular form of the Name as the Base Table name.
• For example, if your entity's Name is Sample Services, enter -SampleService in the Base Table field.
• If you want to use multiple base tables with this entity, see Multiple Base Tables for details.

1. Enter vw[Entity Name] in the Base View field.

• Note that for new entities, this field is a text box. It becomes a link box that links to a corresponding Database Objects record after you save the Entities record.
• Per Aptify's naming conventions for entities, enter vw and then the Name as the Base View name.
• For example, if your entity's Name is Sample Services, enter -vwSampleServices in the Base View field.

1. Confirm that the Generate Table and Is Installed options are checked.

• If the Generate Table option is not checked, the system will not automatically generate the required database objects and form templates.
• If the Is Installed option is not checked, the entity will be not be available to any user.

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1. Using the Fields sub-type tab, add one or more fields to the entity.

• Note that the system creates an ID field automatically.
• See Defining Fields for information on how to add different types of fields to a entity (such as a text box, a link box, and a combo box).

1. Click the Configuration tab.
2. Aptify provides support for multiple filegroups to organize how and where SQL objects are stored within the Aptify database. If applicable, you can assign an entity's objects to a particular filegroup from the File Group drop-down menu.

• Once an administrator has created a filegroup with at least one file for the Aptify database within the SQL Server, the filegroup will be available in the File Group drop-down menu.
• See Multiple Filegroups for more details.

1. Aptify also supports the ability to specifically group large text and image fields into a specified filegroup by specifying a filegroup from the Text/Image File Group drop-down menu.

• If the entity contains a field with a qualifying SQL Data Type, this field is enabled and a filegroup can be selected to manage text and image fields from this menu.
• See Adding Text and Images to Filesgroups for more details.
• Aptify also supports the ability to display a preview pane at the bottom of list views that provides easy access to a sub-set of information from a particular record by specifying the appropriate form template in the Default Preview Pane link box.

• See "Specifying a Default Preview Pane" on page 158 and the Viewing System: List Views Viewing System: List Views chapter in the Aptify User Guide for information on this feature.

  If the new entity is a sub-type entity, the Order By field is displayed and defines the order in which sub-type records are sorted within a Sub-Type Listing. This field is not visible for Entities records that are not sub-type entities. See Defining the Sort Order for Sub-Type Listings for more details.

1. By default, Record History are enabled for new entities. If you want to disable Record History for this entity, remove the check mark from the Track Versions box.
2. See "Enabling and Disabling Record History" on page 148 and the Record History section of the "Forms and Records" -chapter in the Aptify User Guide for more information on this feature.
3. If you want to require users to enter a justification each time a record is created or modified, place a check mark in the Require Comments for each Save box. See "Requiring Comments on Save" on page 152 for more information.
4. Place a check mark in the Place a check mark in the Enable Recordset Query Limitation box if you want to limit limits the number of records that can appear in a view based on the user's permissions. See "Recordset Query Limitation" on page 313 for more information.
5. If you want to allow records from the entity to appear in the Most Recently Used Records component for dashboards, place a check mark in the Enable Most Recently Used box. See "Enabling Support for Most Commonly Used Records" on page 155 for more details.
6. If you want to configure the label text and background color for required fields, place a check mark in the Customize Required Field Font Name and Font Color. Four additional fields appears, set the color, font style, size, and background color as desired. See "Configuring the Appearance of Required Fields" on page 156 for more information.
7. Allow Record History Restore is an optional Record History feature that is also enabled by default for new entities. Clear the Allow Record History Restore option if you want to disable this Record History Restores for this entity.

• Note that the Allow Record History Restore option is not applicable when the Track Versions box is unchecked.
• See Enabling and Disabling Record History and the Record History section of the Forms and Records -chapter in the Aptify User Guide for more information on this feature.

1. Click the Security tab and add permissions for at least one user or group to the new entity.

• See Entity Security for more information on how to setup entity security and for additional security options.

1. Click the Applications tab.
2. Select the Selected column for one or more applications to add the entity to an application.

• Note that this step is not applicable for sub-types since they do not appear in the Ribbon, Navigation Bar, or Folder List.

1. Save the entity.

• Aptify automatically calculates the maximum row size of the entity's tables. If any exceed the row size limit of 8060 bytes, Aptify displays a warning message. See Multiple Base Tables for details.
• Aptify automatically generates the Base Table(s), Base View, Stored Procedures, and Form Templates for the entity (assuming that the Generate Table option is checked).
• Aptify also automatically regenerates the spGetDependants stored procedure for entities linked to this new entity. See spGetDependants for details.
• Aptify automatically generates four Process Components to create, read/load, update, or delete records for this entity (known as the CRUD components). These components simplify Process Flow creation and alleviates the need to write custom components to perform these tasks. See the CRUD Components section in the Standard Configuration Items appendix of the Aptify Process Pipeline Guide for more information.

1. If the new entity is a top-level entity and you want to add a sub-type, click the Sub-Types tab.
2. Right-click in the gray area and select New from the pop-up menu.

• A new Sub-Type entity form appears.

1. Repeat the steps above to create the sub-type entity.

• See Multiple Filegroups for more information.

1. Create additional sub-type records as necessary. When finished, save and close the -Entities record.

   Note Concerning Aptify Web Access Entity Naming Validation: When an Entities record is saved with a field whose name contains an invalid character for Aptify Web Access, a warning message is displayed alerting the administrator that the name field is invalid for AWA and that the Entity Model generator will fail the generate.

2. Close and relaunch Aptify.
3. Login as a user who has permissions to the new entity and confirm that new entity appears as intended.