How to show alert or toast messages in OutSystems without disrupting user flow?

Displaying Non-Intrusive Alerts or Toast Messages in OutSystems

In OutSystems, notifying users without disrupting their experience is crucial for maintaining an intuitive and seamless user interface. This guide provides a detailed step-by-step approach to creating alert or toast messages that ensure your application's user flow remains uninterrupted.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of OutSystems' interface and development environment.
• A working OutSystems application where you intend to implement toast or alert messages.
• Familiarity with JavaScript and client actions in OutSystems for creating custom behaviors.

Understanding Toast Messages

• Toast messages are brief notifications appearing on the screen that automatically disappear after a few seconds.
• They are ideal for providing feedback to users without requiring additional actions, such as acknowledging a dialog box.

Setting Up a Toast Message in OutSystems

• Open your OutSystems environment and navigate to the module where you want to add toast notifications.
• Create a new Web Block (if not already available) to encapsulate the toast message behavior.
• Add necessary styles in your module's stylesheet to define the appearance of toast messages. Example CSS could be:

      .toast-message {
          position: fixed;
          bottom: 20px;
          right: 20px;
          min-width: 200px;
          padding: 10px;
          background-color: #333333;
          color: #ffffff;
          border-radius: 5px;
          text-align: center;
          opacity: 0.9;
      }
      

Configuring the Web Block for Toast Messages

• Add a Container to the Web Block to serve as the toast message display area.
• Assign the previously defined CSS class (e.g., `toast-message`) to this container.
• Introduce a text or expression widget within the container to dynamically hold the message content.

Implementing Client Side Logic

• Create a Client Action for displaying the toast message.
• Utilize JavaScript to control the visibility and timing of the toast. A sample JavaScript integration could be:

      var toast = document.createElement("div");
      toast.className = "toast-message";
      toast.innerHTML = $parameters.Message;
      document.body.appendChild(toast);
      setTimeout(function(){
          toast.style.display = "none";
          document.body.removeChild(toast);
      }, 3000); // Display time of 3 seconds
      

• Use the Input Parameter (`Message`) to dynamically change the content of toast messages based on context.

Triggering Toast Messages

• In the desired screen or action flow, call the Client Action when you need to display messages (e.g., on button click, form submission, etc.).
• Pass the appropriate message text to the Client Action to ensure the correct message is shown to the user.
• Test the integration in the preview mode to ensure messages appear as expected and do not disrupt other ongoing processes.

Testing and Ensuring User Flow Continuity

• Verify that the toast messages appear correctly across different devices and screen sizes.
• Ensure that messages are non-blocking and that user interactions can continue seamlessly while toast messages are displayed.
• Adjust styling and timing as needed to improve the user experience and application aesthetics.

By following these steps, you can effectively incorporate toast messages into your OutSystems applications, providing users with timely feedback while preserving the flow of interaction. This ensures an efficient, non-disruptive user experience that enhances satisfaction and engagement.