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Overview of types of views and how to create them

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This topic applies to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises). For the Power Apps version of this topic, see: Understand model-driven app views

With Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises), use views to define how a list of records for a specific entity is displayed in the application. A view defines:

  • The columns to display
  • How wide each column should be
  • How the list of records should be sorted by default
  • What default filters should be applied to restrict which records will appear in the list

A drop-down list of views is frequently displayed in the application so that people have options for different views of entity data.

The records that are visible in individual views are displayed in a list, sometimes called a grid, which frequently provides options so that people can change the default sorting, column widths, and filters to more easily see the data that’s important to them. Views also define the data source for charts that are used in the application.

Types of Views

There are three types of views: personal, system, and public.

This topic is about how system administrators and system customizers work with system and public views. For more information about personal views, see Create, edit, or save an Advanced Find search.

Personal views

You and anyone else who has at least User level access to actions for the Saved View entity can also create personal views. As system administrator, you can modify the access level for each action in the security role to control the depth to which people can create, read, write, delete, assign, or share personal views.

Personal views are owned by individuals and, because of their default User level access, they are visible only to that person or anyone else they choose to share their personal views with. You can create personal views by saving a query that you define by using Advanced Find or by using the Save Filters as New Views and Save Filters to Current View options in the list of views. These views are typically included at the bottom in lists of system or public views that are available in the application. While you can create a new personal view based on a system or public view, you cannot create a system or public view based on a personal view.

System views

As a system administrator or system customizer, you can edit system views. System views are special views the application depends on, which exist for system entities or are automatically created when you create custom entities. These views have specific purposes and some additional capabilities.

System Views Description
Quick Find The default view used when searches are performed using Quick Find. This view also defines which fields are searched when using search capabilities of Quick Find and Lookup views.
Advanced Find The default view used to display results when using Advanced Find. This view also defines the columns used by default when new custom public views or personal views are created without defining a view to use as a template.
Associated The default view that lists the related entities for a record.
Lookup The view you see when you select a record to set for a lookup field.

These views are not shown in the view selector and you can’t use them in sublists in a form or as a list in a dashboard. You cannot delete or deactivate these views. More information: Remove views

System views are owned by the organization so that everyone can see them. For example, everyone has organization-level access to read records for the View (savedquery) entity. These views are associated with specific entities and are visible within the solution explorer. You can include these views in solutions because they are associated with the entity.

Public views

Public views are general purpose views that you can customize as you see fit. These views are available in the view selector and you can use them in sub-grids in a form or as a list in a dashboard. Some public views exist by default for system entities and for any custom entity. For example, when you create a new custom entity, it will have the following combination of public and system views.

Name Type
Active <entity plural name> Public
Inactive <entity plural name> Public
Quick Find Active <entity plural name> Quick Find
<entity name> Advanced Find View Advanced Find
<entity name> Associated View Associated
<entity name> Lookup View Lookup

You can create custom public views. You can delete any custom public views you create in an unmanaged solution. You cannot delete any system-defined public views. Custom public views added by importing a managed solution may have managed properties set that can prevent them from being deleted, except by uninstalling the managed solution.

Create or edit views

You can create or edit views in two ways:

  • Using the App Designer: If you’re creating views for the first time, you may want to start with the App Designer, which provides a simple and intuitive UI with drag-and-drop capabilities. More information: Create and edit public or system views by using the app designer.
  • Using the Solution Explorer: If you’re already experienced with Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, you may want to use the Solution Explorer. More information: Create or edit a view.

Customize views

As a system administrator and system customizer, you can customize the views through controls by making grids (lists) editable and compatible for Unified Interface. The following controls are used:

See also

Get started with customization
Create and design forms