Activity Log Panel Perspectives

Perspectives add a row of filter buttons above an activity log content block within a master panel. Clicking a button reloads the list server-side with the configured filter applied. Clicking the All button restores the unfiltered list.

Perspectives are configured entirely through the Page Layout admin panel — no code changes are required.

Overview

When perspectives are enabled for a resource inside a panel, the UI renders a btn-group bar directly above the activity log list:

[ All ]  [ Recent Active ]  [ My Open ]  [ Closed ]

The active button is highlighted. Clicking any button triggers an AJAX reload of the list using the perspective's backend (a where: filter, a Report, or both with an optional order: and limit:).

Configuration

Perspectives are defined inside view_options of a Master Panel page layout.

Minimal example — `where:` backend

contains:
  resources:
    - activity_log__case_reviews
view_options:
  initial_show: true
  perspectives:
    activity_log__case_reviews:
      - name: recent_active
        label: Recent Active
        where:
          status: active
        order:
          created_at: desc
        limit: 20
      - name: my_closed
        label: My Closed
        where:
          status: closed
      - name: assigned_to_me
        label: Mine
        where:
          assigned_to: '{{current_user_email}}'   # resolved to the logged-in user's email
  default_perspective: recent_active

Example using a Report backend

view_options:
  perspectives:
    activity_log__data_requests:
      - name: my_open
        label: My Open
        report:
          resource_name: dr_my_open_report
          defaults:
            status: open
        limit: 50

Example using a Conditional Calculation backend

view_options:
  perspectives:
    activity_log__case_reviews:
      - name: active_mine
        label: My Active
        conditional_calculation:
          activity_log__case_reviews:
            status: active
            return: return_all_results
        order:
          created_at: desc
        limit: 25

`perspectives` key

The value is a hash keyed by resource name (the activity log's resource name, e.g. activity_log__case_reviews). Each value is an array of perspective definitions.

perspectives:
  <activity_log_resource_name>:
    - name: <slug>          # (required) identifier used in request params
      label: <text>         # (required) button label shown to the user
      where:                # (optional) AR conditions hash — column names are
        <column>: <value>   #   whitelisted against the model's actual columns.
                            #   String values support {{field_defaults}} substitutions
                            #   evaluated against the current user/master context
                            #   (e.g. current_user_email, current_user).
      report:               # (optional, mutually exclusive with where: and conditional_calculation:)
        resource_name: <alt_resource_name>   # report's alt_resource_name
        defaults:                            # (optional) criteria hash passed
          <key>: <value>                     #   to the report runner;
                                             #   supports {{table_name}} and
                                             #   {{schema_name}} substitutions
      conditional_calculation:  # (optional, mutually exclusive with where: and report:)
        <resource_name>:        # CalcActions condition hash; use field: value for equality,
          <field>: <value>      #   or a condition hash for other operators.
          return: return_all_results  # required return directive
      order:                # (optional) whitelisted sort order
        <column>: asc|desc  #   only valid column names are applied
      limit: <integer>      # (optional) max records returned for this perspective

Perspective definition keys

Key	Required	Description
`name`	✅	Slug used in request parameters and in `default_perspective` references. Use `all` with no backend to create an explicit "All" reset button (one is always added automatically).
`label`	✅	Button label displayed to the user.
`where`	—	Hash of `{ column: value }` conditions applied as an ActiveRecord `where`. Column names are validated against the model's columns. String values support `{{field_defaults}}` substitutions evaluated against the current user/master context (e.g. `current_user_email`, `current_user`). Mutually exclusive with `report` and `conditional_calculation`.
`report`	—	Report-based backend. Specify the report's `alt_resource_name` and optional `defaults` criteria. Mutually exclusive with `where` and `conditional_calculation`.
`conditional_calculation`	—	ConditionalActions condition hash targeting the activity log's own resource name. Use `field: value` pairs for equality conditions and `return: return_all_results` as the return-mode directive. `no_masters: {}` is injected automatically. Mutually exclusive with `where` and `report`.
`order`	—	Hash of `{ column: "asc" \| "desc" }`. Column names are validated against the model's columns. When omitted, a default ordering is applied automatically (see Ordering below).
`limit`	—	Integer maximum number of records returned. Overrides the panel-level `limit` view option for this perspective.

Note: If none of where, report, or conditional_calculation is provided, clicking the button returns the full unfiltered list (equivalent to the built-in All button).

Ordering

The ordering applied to a perspective result follows this priority (highest wins):

Priority	Condition	Ordering applied
1	`order:` is present in the perspective config	The specified columns/directions. Column names are whitelisted; invalid names are silently ignored.
2	`report:` backend, no `order:`	The row order returned by the report SQL is preserved using `array_position`. Write `ORDER BY` in your report SQL to control it.
3	Any other backend, no `order:`	`action_when_attribute DESC, id DESC` — matching the chronological ordering used on the master panel (mirrors the activity log's `Master` has_many scope).

action_when_attribute is the field configured on the activity log definition (e.g. called_when, completed_when). If it is set to alt_order, created_at is used instead.

Report perspectives intentionally do not fall back to action_when_attribute because the report author controls the ordering via the SQL ORDER BY clause. Add an explicit order: to override it.

`default_perspective` key

Set at the panel level inside view_options to specify which perspective button should be active when the panel first loads.

view_options:
  perspectives:
    activity_log__case_reviews:
      - name: recent_active
        label: Recent Active
        where:
          status: active
  default_perspective: recent_active   # slug of the perspective to activate by default

If default_perspective is omitted, the All button is active by default.

Per-user default via App Configuration

The panel-level default_perspective can be overridden on a per-user (or per-role) basis using the default activity log perspective Admin::AppConfiguration entry.

The configuration value is a YAML hash where each key is an activity log resource name and the value is the perspective slug to activate:

activity_log__case_reviews: recent_active
activity_log__data_requests: my_open

Conditional substitutions (evaluated against the current user) are supported:

activity_log__case_reviews: |
  {{#is role_name '===' 'coordinator'}}
    coordinator_view
  {{else is role_name '===' 'reviewer'}}
    reviewer_view
  {{/is}}

Precedence (highest to lowest):

default activity log perspective app configuration (per user / role)
Panel-level default_perspective in view_options
Built-in All (no filter)

Complete example

contains:
  resources:
    - activity_log__case_reviews
view_options:
  initial_show: true
  limit: 25
  perspectives:
    activity_log__case_reviews:
      - name: recent_active
        label: Recent Active
        where:
          status: active
        order:
          created_at: desc
        limit: 20
      - name: my_closed
        label: My Closed
        where:
          status: closed
      - name: high_priority
        label: High Priority
        report:
          resource_name: case_review_high_priority_report
          defaults:
            schema_name: "{{schema_name}}"
        order:
          priority_rank: asc
        limit: 50
  default_perspective: recent_active

HTML structure

The perspectives bar is rendered as a Bootstrap btn-group above the activity log list:

<div class="activity-log-perspectives btn-group"
     data-resource="activity_log__case_reviews"
     data-panel-name="my-panel-name">

  <a class="btn btn-default btn-xs activity-log-perspectives__btn active"
     data-perspective=""
     data-remote="true">All</a>

  <a class="btn btn-default btn-xs activity-log-perspectives__btn"
     data-perspective="recent_active"
     data-remote="true">Recent Active</a>

  <!-- … additional perspective buttons … -->
</div>

The active CSS class is toggled on the clicked button by the JavaScript handler in app/assets/javascripts/app/page_layouts.js.

Notes

Perspectives only appear when the perspectives key is present in view_options for the resource. If the key is absent the button bar is not rendered.
Column names in where: and order: are whitelisted against the model's actual database columns. Invalid column names are silently ignored.
When order: is omitted, results are ordered by action_when_attribute DESC, id DESC for where:, conditional_calculation:, and no-backend perspectives. For report: perspectives, the SQL row order from the report is preserved; use ORDER BY in the report SQL to control it.
Access control is respected: if a user does not have access to the underlying Report resource, the perspective returns nil and the full unfiltered list is shown instead.
The conditional_calculation backend uses ConditionalActions with no_masters: {} injected automatically so the query runs directly against the activity log table (not joined through masters). Use return: return_all_results as a field-level directive to collect matching records. If the calculation returns no results the full unfiltered list is shown instead. Results are always re-scoped through the activity log class and master record to prevent cross-resource or cross-master leakage.
The limit on an individual perspective overrides the panel-level limit view option only for that perspective.

Navigation Menu

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Activity Log Panel Perspectives

Overview

Configuration

Minimal example — `where:` backend

Example using a Report backend

Example using a Conditional Calculation backend

`perspectives` key

Perspective definition keys

Ordering

`default_perspective` key

Per-user default via App Configuration

Complete example

HTML structure

Notes

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Activity Log Panel Perspectives

Overview

Configuration

Minimal example — where: backend

Example using a Report backend

Example using a Conditional Calculation backend

perspectives key

Perspective definition keys

Ordering

default_perspective key

Per-user default via App Configuration

Complete example

HTML structure

Notes

Minimal example — `where:` backend

`perspectives` key

`default_perspective` key