/timeline-lwc

:octocat: An interactive timeline for the Salesforce platform.

Primary LanguageJavaScriptMIT LicenseMIT


Timeline

An interactive Lightning Web Component for the Salesforce platform

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timeline demo

Overview

A complete custom experience component. Created to allow users to view related records to a parent on an interactive timeline written with D3.js.

  • Multi Object Support. Plot related records to Lead, Account, Contact, Opportunity and Case.
  • Multi Language Support. All labels and error messages as translatable custom labels.
  • Locale Support for Dates. Date formats change based on your Salesforce locale setting.
  • 3rd Party JS. Demonstrates 3rd Party JS and Apex imperative callouts to populate data in an interactive timeline.
  • Responsive interface. Uses flexipageRegionWidth to determine where in the page it is located.
  • Minimises server roundtrips. Uses Lightning Data Service for tooltips and falls back to queried data when needed.

This sample application is designed to run on Salesforce Platform. If you want to experience Lightning Web Components on any platform, please visit https://lwc.dev, and try out the Lightning Web Components sample application LWC Recipes OSS.

Installation Instructions

  1. Set up your environment. Follow the steps in the Quick Start: Lightning Web Components Trailhead project. The steps include:
  • Enable Dev Hub in your Trailhead Playground
  • Install Salesforce CLI
  • Install Visual Studio Code
  • Install the Visual Studio Code Salesforce extensions, including the Lightning Web Components extension
  1. If you haven't already done so, authenticate with your hub org and provide it with an alias (myhuborg in the command below):
sfdx force:auth:web:login -d -a myhuborg
  1. Clone the timeline-lwc repository:
git clone https://github.com/deejay-hub/timeline-lwc
cd timeline-lwc
  1. Create a scratch org and provide it with an alias (timeline-lwc in the command below):
sfdx force:org:create -s -f config/project-scratch-def.json -a timeline-lwc
  1. Push the app to your scratch org:
sfdx force:source:push
  1. Assign the Timeline_User permission set to the default user:
sfdx force:user:permset:assign -n Timeline_User
  1. Load sample data:
sfdx force:data:tree:import --plan data/timeline-plan.json
  1. Open the scratch org:
sfdx force:org:open
  1. Navigate to Sales, under App Launcher, select the Sales app.

  2. Find the contact Jane Lo and drill into her detailed information.

  3. Navigate to Setup, and select Edit Page

  4. Drag the timeline component into the page - found under custom components

timeline app builder

How it Works

Object Support

Timeline is installed as a custom component available in the App Builder component pallette. Currently the component is available on the following record home pages:

  • Account
  • Contact
  • Lead
  • Opportunity
  • Case

This is a configuration limit specified in timeline.js-meta.xml. Since the timeline is designed to be driven from data it should be possible to extend the usage to other objects.

<targetConfig targets="lightning__RecordPage">
     <objects>
        <object>Contact</object>
        <object>Lead</object>
        <object>Account</object>
        <object>Case</object>
        <object>Opportunity</object>
     </objects>
</targetConfig>

Component Properties

The component has the following properties that can be set at design time in App Builder by an administrator

Attribute Description Validation
Title Adjusts the label String
Height Adjusts the vertical height Picklist (1 - 5)
Historical Time Range (Years) Adjusts the start date Picklist (0.25 - 5)
Future Time Range (Years) Adjusts the end date Picklist (0.25 - 1)
Zoom Based On Adjusts the position of the zoom Picklist (Current Date, Last Activity)
Zoom Range (Days) Adjusts the extent of the zoom Integer min 15 max 120

Custom Labels

Labels can be translated where appropriate. Navigate to Setup -> Custom Labels and add translations for your chosen languages. Note you will need the permission - Manage Transalations.

Label Name Default translation
Timeline_Error_Apex Apex error
Timeline_Error_JavaScriptResources Unable to load JavaScript resources
Timeline_Error_NoDataHeader No data to display
Timeline_Error_NoDataSubHeader Related records show up here on an interactive timeline. Check your filter or create a record.
Timeline_Error_Unhandled Houston...we've had a problem
Timeline_Label_Days day(s)
Timeline_Label_Items item(s)
Timeline_Label_Showing Showing:
Timeline_Label_Filters Filters (Used in filter panel)
Timeline_Label_Filter_Type_Legend Types to Show (Used in Filter panel)
Timeline_Label_Files Files & Notes (used in Filter when sObject is ContentDocumentLink)
Timeline_Label_Date_Range_Legend Date Range (Used in Filter panel)
Timeline_Label_Apply Label for apply button (Used in Filter panel)
Timeline_Label_Cancel Label for cancel button (Used in Filter panel)

Configuring Child Records to Plot

Specifying which child records to plot is done using the Timeline_Configuration_mdt metadata type. When populating the metadata type the following is a description of the columns and their purpose

Field Name Description
Parent_Object__c The API Name of the parent object that the child record relates to
Object_Name__c The API Name of the object that is the child to plot
Position_Date_Field__c The API Name of the field on the child (Object_Name__c) to use as the date value to use to position the record on the timeline (must be Date or Date/Time)
Detail_Field__c The API Name of the field on the child (Object_Name__c) to use as the description for the record to plot on the timeline
Icon__c A relative url to the image to use for this record
Icon_Background_Colour__c The background colour to use for the above image (rgb and hex supported)
Type_Field__c Reserved for 'Tasks' only. Used to specify the field to distinguish Calls vs Emails. Only used when Object_Name__c is Task
Fallback_Tooltip_Field__c The API Name of the field on the child object to use when the UI API does not support this object. Timeline will use the Detail_Field__c value and the Fallback_Tooltip_Field__c as the tooltip.
Allow_Drilldown__c Should the object support drilling into the individual record. If false then a toast error will appear when a user clicks on that record type

FAQs

How to I specify the fields for the tooltip?

For the most part the component uses the UI API powered by the Lightning Data Service (LDS). This means that the tooltip will use the compact layout of the object automatically in a 2 column format. So just update the compact layout for the object and it works like magic. The bad news is that not all objects have support yet. For a list of supported objects see https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.uiapi.meta/uiapi/ui_api_get_started_supported_objects.htm. If you want to plot an object that isn't included in the list (e.g. Case Comments, Tasks etc) then the timeline can show 2 fields in the tooltip specified by the Detail_Field__c field value and the Fallback_Field__c field value. So fill these fields in only for those objects not supported by the UI API.

Does it support multiple languages other than English?

Yes for left-to-right languages. The users locale setting in Salesforce determines the date formats used. For a list of supported locales see - https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=admin_supported_date_time_format.htm&type=5

All fields have their translated labels returned. Any custom labels can be translated (see Custom Labels).

Right-to-left languages can be supported but there are formatting issues currently that need to be fixed.

Please note that translated values are not currently included - you need to enable transalation workbench and add them yourself. If you would like to provide translated values for a language I would happily incorporate them for everyones benefit.

Does it support Communities?

Probably. We haven't tested it.

Does it support Mobile?

No. The timeline component is really best suited to the desktop. Long term it is a goal to come up with a mobile version suited to reduced real estate. At the moment the component cannot be dragged into a mobile layout.

Does it support Person Accounts?

Untested.

Does it support Files / Notes / Attachments?

Files and Notes (sometimes referred to as enhanced Notes) are supported. We have added any record in the ContentDocumentLink object.

Does it support External Objects / Big Objects?

No. Currently the SOQL is limited to those objects that can be included in a parent join. We would have to consider scale and performance too so for now the component only supports standard and custom objects.

Does it support History Objects?

No. History objects are deliberately removed from the query. They don't make good candidates to plot on the timeline due to the volume of updates typically seen.

Contributing

Contributions are what make the trailblazer community such an amazing place. I regard this component as a way to inspire and learn from others. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

See contributing.md for timeline principles.

Utilities and Dependencies

Dependencies

  • D3.js v 5.7.0
  • moment.js v2.2.4

Code formatting

Prettier is a code formatter used to ensure consistent formatting across your code base. To use Prettier with Visual Studio Code, install this extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace. The .prettierignore and .prettierrc files are provided as part of this repository to control the behavior of the Prettier formatter.

Code linting

ESLint is a popular JavaScript linting tool used to identify stylistic errors and erroneous constructs. To use ESLint with Visual Studio Code, install this extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace. The .eslintignore file is provided as part of this repository to exclude specific files from the linting process in the context of Lightning Web Components development.

Codacy

Codacy automates code reviews and monitors code quality over time. Static analysis, code coverage and metrics for JavaScript and Apex. Tests for common styling and security issues.