You can form groups for each work area. This helps you structure ELO Dropzone, as the tiles are spread across different display groups. Areas are defined by the administrator. Individual users can dynamically determine which groups they'd like to see. It is also possible to move individual tiles between work areas. You can also access the database directly via the individual display groups. Information from the selected database can then be used for the metadata.

Open the Configure display groups dialog box from the ELO Dropzone context menu. Click Edit groups.

On the left, you can see the display groups created up to now.

Plus icon: Add a new display group.

Delete icon: Delete a display group selected on the left.

Name: Enter a name for the display group.

Icon: To change the icon for the display group, click the gray tile icon.

Color: Click the color square to change the color of the display group.

Database: To connect to an external database, the database has to be configured on the ELO Indexserver (ELOix). This configuration in ELOix has a name, which has to be specified here. If you use the same database as ELO, you can leave the field blank and do not have to configure anything for ELOix.

SQL query: Formulate an SQL query in this field. In the example above (see figure), the Microsoft sample database (Northwind) is accessed. You should know what tables and column names exist in the selected SQL database. Select the columns you want to use as variables in the return. You can prepare and test the SQL query in a tool of your choice, for example SQL Server Management Studio. Once the query returns the desired results in the tool, you can replace the query text with a placeholder for user input. This placeholder is: {{P1}}.

Filter field beside SQL query: If the database query works properly, you can test the SQL statement via this filter field. The first selected data set is entered to the Return table. This allows you to configure the return step by step. You can define an identifier for the return for each selected data set.

Return: Define the variable in the the Identifier column per number. In the Identifier column, double-click the field you'd like to change. Complete your entry by pressing the ENTER key. If you click elsewhere, your input will be discarded. With the arrow keys, you can navigate between fields and activate the desired field by pressing the ENTER key in order to edit it. You can transform any columns of the database into variables. Ideally, you can configure the variables using the filter field (see above). Choose variable names that clearly indicate where the variables come from. The result is a better structured group, helping you to prevent errors in assigning variables to metadata fields in the tile definition.

Display: Configure what is displayed and how. You can drag the defined variables from the Return field to the desired position in the Display field. You can also enter fixed texts. The test output is shown in the field on the right.

Save: Once you have finished configuring the display group, click Save.

Cancel: The configuration for the selected display group is not saved.