A Digital-Clay system may consist of the following elements:

• ClayCentral: The server to which all clients connect.
  
  
• The database back-end: For example: SQL Server or an MDB file. Handled by ClayCentral only.
  
  
• Clients:
  
  
• ClayStudio: The tool for administrators, managers and solution builders. This is the only client that cannot synchronize an offline database.
  
  
• ClayStation: The tool for end-users, consisting of a customized toolbar, a user profile, and an optional offline database (MDB).
  
  
• ClayStation for Outlook: An Outlook version of the ClayStation that runs inside, and synchronizes data with Outlook.
  
  
• Web ClayStation: A web-based version of ClayStation that can be run inside Web browsers. See the Clay Wiki for more information.
  
  
• ClayIntegrator: A tool for integrating with, and importing data from other systems.
  
  

The Digital-Clay Application Engine has been used successfully to develop highly configurable systems for a wide range of industries, including systems with hundreds of fields and tables, hundreds of automation rules, databases with millions of records, and systems with hundreds of concurrent users. The code has been optimized and fine-tuned for years and can provide a solid solution to any enterprise-scale system. The flexible architecture of Digital-Clay supports dynamic environments and can easily scale and adapt as needs change.
Digital-Clay provides hundreds of features and tools for building any conceivable system, all using fast and user-friendly visual interfaces, and requiring no code, scripting languages or SQL. These features include:


Data Management

• Add hundreds of custom tables and fields.
  
  
• Add advanced types of fields, including e-mail, sequential numbers, functions, pictures, and attachments.
  
  
• Link any table to any table even multiple times.
  
  
• Link tables together using optional joins (outer joins).
  
  
• Hide a complex database structure from users and other solution builders using Custom Links.
  
  
• Customize each field on a role level.
  
  
• Customize each form layout on a user level.
  
  
• Add documents/attachments to any record or to public folders.
  
  
• Fast bulk changes to many records using several advanced tools.
  
  
• Full record histories for tracking changes on a field level.
  
  

Notes on Custom Links:

When dealing with joined tables, Custom Links provide the base for all Digital-Clay Application Engine features. Digital-Clay features a unique patent-pending design that offers the following usability benefits:

• Links are unlimited in flexibility: Tables can be linked to other tables via multiple fields, to themselves, and to distant tables via multiple intermediate tables. These complex links can be used anywhere in the GUI without restrictions on depth or amounts of tables.
  
  
• The complexity of data structures is hidden from other builders/users: Links can be created by one solution builder who designs the data structure, then other solution builders or even end-users can add columns to lists, build reports, dashboards, BI, automation rules, etc. without knowing anything about the structure. E.g. a user can create an analysis table that links dozens of tables together by simply selecting the needed entities from a list.
  
  
• Link Grouping unique benefits: Multiple indicators can be summarized in a single table and grouped by a single dimension even though they are joined to the dimension in different ways. Filters on multiple tables, graphs, charts, etc in a single dashboard or report can be set once at the dashboard level even though each of these objects uses different joins and tables.
  
  

Business Intelligence, Analysis and Reporting

• Build advanced filters with a simple interface. This includes OR/AND grouping, negative filters, inverse queries, and custom functions as filters.
  
  
• Filter by searching inside documents or attachment keywords.
  
  
• Add dynamic, user-defined filter values to any list, table, dashboard, or report.
  
  
• Use or create any conceivable KPI/Indicator, including KPIs built using custom functions.
  
  
• Slice indicators by unlimited dimensions.
  
  
• Aggregate, combine, or apply a variety of transformations to indicator values.
  
  
• Highlight indicator values using rules.
  
  
• Drill-down into your analysis data in multiple ways.
  
  
• Indicators can be sliced, aggregated, combined and compared while maintaining uniqueness. See below for notes.
  
  
• Combine multiple analysis results into a single table, or combine analysis results using matrix calculations.
  
  
• Build several different kinds of eye-pleasing, informative, fully-customizable analysis graphs.
  
  
• Build complex hierarchical charts and Gantt charts with a few clicks.
  
  
• Easily build dashboards with a point-and-click interface.
  
  
• Add custom lists, graphs, charts and dashboards to data form layouts.
  
  
• Build powerful HTML/MHTML/Word/Excel reports containing pages of text, fields, analysis tables and graphs, etc.
  
  

Notes on Indicator Uniqueness

When combining two or more indicators with dimensions into one table, this usually means that query restrictions are shared between them. Digital-Clay offers a unique patent-pending approach of easily adding several indicators to an analysis table which are sliced using the same dimensions without this affecting the indicator values. I.e.:

• Indicators that aren't joined to one another can still be sliced together and shown in a single table.
  
  
• Including more indicators in a table does not affect the results of existing indicators.
  
  
• Specific filters can be applied per indicator.
  
  
• Different date fields can be used as timescale dimensions per indicator.
  
  

Workflows, Business Rules and Automation

• Use a powerful event-rule-action based automation system to implement and enforce business rules.
  
  
• Use scheduled events to enforce rules, check-up on activities, and create periodical reports, newsletters or notifications.
  
  
• Build fully customized workflows using filter rules and events.
  
  
• Automatically change, update, escalate, assign or add records based on any events.
  
  
• Ensure data integrity with validation rules.
  
  
• Provide automated data-entry with auto-fill events.
  
  
• Automatically notify users on any activities.
  
  
• Allow managers or users to add their own notification or automation rules to specific records.
  
  
• Track automation events using logging and debugging tools.
  
  

Security

• Use secure authentication mechanisms to thwart attacks.
  
  
• Enforce password policies.
  
  
• Apply optional encryption for privacy.
  
  
• Build a powerful User-Role-Workgroup security hierarchy.
  
  
• Apply record-level permissions based on complex user-record relationships.
  
  
• Apply field-level security per role.
  
  
• Apply document-type-level permissions for attachments/documents.
  
  

Collaboration

• Set-up remote or web access with restricted permissions for outside users.
  
  
• Allow remote connectivity and synchronization via e-mail even through firewalls.
  
  
• Send any record, attachment, list, analysis table, graph, chart, dashboard, report to other users with a few clicks.
  
  
• Share any of the above mentioned Digital-Clay objects in a public folder.
  
  
• Use automated messaging and mail for notification of activities in the system.
  
  
• Automatic notification of changes while editing a record.
  
  
• Export data as shareable HTML, Word, or Excel reports.
  
  

Administration & User Management

• Build user hierarchies using workgroups.
  
  
• Manage and customize all user profiles from a single machine on a user, role, or workgroup level.
  
  
• Add any item a user needs including form templates, lists, data entry forms, analysis tables and graphs, charts, tools, reports, and dashboards to a user's profile.
  
  
• Customize user layouts with only the specific fields, lists and tabs the user needs.
  
  
• Fine-tune the system using many ClayCentral configuration settings.
  
  
• Manage user connections, login histories and analyze system usage remotely.
  
  
• Enforce software updates with easy and fast centrally-managed automatic updates.
  
  

Integration & Imports

• Import data from any other system using the ClayIntegrator.
  
  
• Import millions of records maintaining links between multiple records and complex data structures.
  
  
• Schedule regular imports from other systems.
  
  
• Export data to CSV.
  
  
• Inject data from remote systems, local applications or web sites using e-mail, database triggers, custom code, etc.
  
  
• Add custom web-applications to form layouts.
  
  

Additional Features

• Allow users to synchronize their offline databases and work offline.
  
  
• Run complex and massive mail-merge or mail-sending tasks from within Digital-Clay.
  
  
• Easily attach and track e-mails and documents sent to any contact inside Digital-Clay, including Outlook mail.
  
  
• Synchronize Outlook Contacts, Tasks, and Appointments with Digital-Clay records automatically.
  
  

Digital-Clay Application Engine
Engine Technical Overview