10.9.1.1.2 Add External App Links to Module Explorer

System Administrators can add external links to the Module Explorer, allowing users to quickly access external applications or websites. Organizations can choose how external apps are displayed when accessed from EPC: either within the EPC interface or in a new browser tab.

In this topic, we’ll explore how to add an app link, how to delete them, and we’ll provide the code example to easily integrate the Parser and/or DBP modules.

Adding an App Link

1. Navigate to the System Admin section.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Locate the APPS_URL field.
4. Click on the edit icon () to modify the URLs.

!The format is in JSON. If the format is changed, the feature will not be working.

5. Define objects enclosed in curly brackets ‘{ }’ with the following attributes:
   • “type”:“iframe”: Used to allow the link to open within the EPC interface. If you prefer that the link opens in a new browser tab, don’t use this attribute.
   • “url”: The URL of the external site or application.
   • “title”: The title displayed in the module explorer.
   • “icon” (optional): The icon used next to the title. Find available icons here.
   • “children” (optional): Used to group elements together.

Separate objects with commas ‘,’. All objects must be within square brackets ‘[ ]’. See the example code below:

[
  {
    "url": "http://urlapplication.com/",
    "title": "APPS",
    "icon": "zmdi zmdi-apps",
    "children": [
      {
        "url": "http://www.cnn.com",
        "title": "CNN",
        "icon": "zmdi zmdi-yahoo"
      },
      {
        "url": "http://www.bbc.com",
        "title": "BBC",
        "icon": "zmdi zmdi-vimeo"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "url": "http://www.yahoo.com",
    "title": "Yahoo",
    "icon": "zmdi zmdi-yahoo"
  },
  {
    "url": "http://google.ca",
    "title": "Google",
    "icon": "zmdi zmdi-google"
  }
]

*BBC and CNN will be children under APPS

6. After making changes, click on ‘Copy Link and Apply Changes’ at the top of the page to apply them.

7. The code will result in this menu:

8. Here’s an example of the code needed to open the link within the EPC interface:

[
{
"type":"iframe",
"url":"https://example.interfacing.com/reporting",
"title":"Reporting",
"icon":"fa fa-line-chart"
},
{
"type":"iframe",
"url":"https://example.interfacing.com/parser/",
"title":"Parser",
"icon":"fa fa-line-chart"
}
]

9. The code will result in this menu:

10. The ‘Reporting’ app link will open in EPC like so:

Deleting an App Link

To delete a link, simply delete the entire object denoted in brackets { }.

Integration of Parser and Digital Business Platform (DBP)

This functionality allows integrating external modules like Parser and DBP directly into the Module Explorer. Here’s an example code for integrating these modules:

[
 {
 "url": "https://YOURDBP.interfacing.com/dbp/#/",
 "title": "EQMS",
 "icon": "zmdi zmdi-widgets" 
},
  {
    "url": "https://YOUREPC.interfacing.com/parser/",
    "title": "Parser",
    "icon": "zmdi zmdi-assignment"
 }
]