ROWTABLEAREA3 - The Array Grid

The ROWTABLEAREA3 control is a specialized ROWTABLEAREA2 grid which is used to bind a two-dimensional Natural array to a grid. The grid cells are rendered as FIELD controls.

Other than with the ROWTABLEAREA2 control, you do not need to define the number of grid columns at design time. Instead, you define the number of columns and rows dynamically at runtime.

The ROWTABLEAREA3 control supports server-side scrolling and sorting, just like the ROWTABLEAREA2 control. This concept is explained in Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting. An example for the usage of server-side scrolling and sorting with the ROWTABLEAREA2 control is contained in the Natural for Ajax demos.

This document covers the following topics:


Example

You can find the following example in the Natural for Ajax demos.

Two-dimensional demo array

The XML layout definition for the grid is:

<rowarea name="Two-Dimensional Demo Array">
    <rowtablearea3 griddataprop="gridArray" gridpropsprop="gridArrayProps"
     rowcount="7" firstrowcolwidths="true" width="100%">
       <tr3>
         <gridcolheader textalign="center" name="Days" width="60"
          propref="selected" withsorticon="false">
         </gridcolheader>
         <gridcolheader3 nameprop="gridColHeaderDays"
          widthprop="headerDaysWidthProp">
         </gridcolheader3>
         <hdist width="100%"></hdist>
       </tr3>
       <repeat3>
         <str3 valueprop="selected" withalterbackground="true">
           <selector valueprop="selected" width="60">
           </selector>
           <field3 width="100%" statusprop="gridStatus" titleprop="gridTitle"
            noborder="true" datatype="string">
           </field3>
           <hdist width="100%"></hdist>
         </str3>
       </repeat3>
    </rowtablearea3>
</rowarea>

The above layout contains three major parts that you need to define for your grid. These parts are described in the topics below:

Defining the General Grid Rendering and Data Binding

In the ROWTABLEAREA3 control, the properties griddataprop and gridpropsprop define the bindings to the Natural application. Other than the ROWTABLEARE2 control, the ROWTABLEAREA3 control supports separate properties for the data shown in the grid cells (griddataprop) and the rendering data for the grid cells (gridpropsprop). Other properties such as rowcount, firstrowcolwidth and width are used in the same way as in the ROWTABLEAREA2 control.

Defining the Grid Headers

The TR3 control is a specialized TR container control that is used to define the grid headers. Since the column count is dynamically defined at runtime by the Natural application, you simply define one GRIDCOLHEADER3 control to render all headers of the grid data.

The GRIDCOLHEADER3 control is a specialized GRIDCOLHEADER control. Other than with the GRIDCOLHEADER control, width and name values are dynamically specified at runtime. For this purpose, the GRIDCOLHEADER3 control supports properties such as nameprop and widthprop.

In the above example, a selector column is defined as the first column, in addition to the real data columns. This selector column does not contain business data; its purpose is just rendering. Therefore, the header for the selector is defined via a GRIDCOLHEADER control and the corresponding rendering values are defined at design time.

GRIDCOLHEADER3 refers to the two-dimensional Natural data array. GRIDCOLHEADER refers to the specific SELECTOR column.

Defining the Grid Content

The grid content is defined within a REPEAT3 block. The REPEAT3 control is a specialized REPEAT control. As in ROWTABLEAREA2, its content defines a row which is repeated within the grid as defined by the rowcount property. Besides the real data shown in a grid, a row can have an additional SELECTOR control and can make use of the HDIST control to fine-tune the rendering in the browser.

The FIELD3 control is a specialized FIELD control which defines the rendering of the grid cells. Since the number of cells is dynamically defined at runtime, you just define one FIELD3 control to specify the rendering of all grid cells in a homogenous way.

The STR3 control is a specialized STR control which contains the above-mentioned parts of a row: SELECTOR (optional), FIELD3 and HDIST (optional).

Adapter Interface

In the parameter data area of the adapter, the grid data of the above example is represented by the data structures described below.

Two-Dimensional Array for the Grid Data

1 GRIDARRAY (A/1:*,1:*) DYNAMIC

The name of the data structure is defined in the griddataprop property of the ROWTABLEAREA3 control. The specific type of a single cell - here (A) DYNAMIC - can be defined in the datatype property of the FIELD3 control.

Data Structure for Rendering

1 GRIDARRAYPROPS 
2 HEADERS (1:*)
3 GRIDCOLHEADERDAYS (A) DYNAMIC
3 HEADERDAYSWIDTHPROP (A) DYNAMIC
2 ROWS (1:*)
3 COLS (1:*)
4 GRIDSTATUS (A) DYNAMIC
4 GRIDTITLE (A) DYNAMIC
3 SELECTED (L)

By default, the name of the data structure is the same as the name of the two-dimensional array (see above), followed by "PROPS". Alternatively, you can specify your own name in the gridpropsprop property of the ROWTABLEAREA3 control.

This data structure contains rendering information for the headers and all grid cells. HEADERS, ROWS and COLS are predefined names and are added to this structure correspondingly. Other fields such as GRIDCOLHEADERDAYS, HEADERDAYSWIDTHPROP, GRIDSTATUS, GRIDTITLE and SELECTED are generated based on the properties specified in GRIDCOLHEADER3, FIELD3, HDIST and the container controls of the grid.

Data Structure for Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting (Optional)

1 GRIDARRAYINFO 
2 ROWCOUNT (I4)
2 SIZE (I4)
2 SORTPROPS (1:*)
3 ASCENDING (L)
3 PROPNAME (A) DYNAMIC
2 TOPINDEX (I4)

If the grid has been configured for server-side scrolling and sorting, the data structure contains additional fields that control server-side scrolling and sorting. The usage is the same as in the ROWTABLEAREA2 control.

By default, the name of the data structure is the same as the name of the two-dimensional array (see above), followed by "INFO". Alternatively, you can specify your own name in the gridinfoprop property of the ROWTABLEAREA3 control.

Filling the Data Structure at Runtime

The advantage of the ROWTABLEAREA3 grid is that it separates the data structure for the business data (the GRIDARRAY above) from the data structure for the rendering data (the GRIDARRAYPROPS above). Having two separate data structures allows you to directly bind grids to existing business data. However, having two data structures requires making the two data structures the same size in regard to rows and columns. The Natural application is in charge of resizing the corresponding data structures. See the examples in the Natural for Ajax demos for a simple implementation pattern.

Using Natural Control Variables with Array Grids

To easily find out which cells of the grids have been modified, you can specify the name of a Natural control variable in the njx:natcv property of the ROWTABLEAREA3 control. The control variable can be defined within the grid data structure or outside of the grid data structure.

Example: Control Variable within the Grid Data Structure

<rowtablearea3 griddataprop="lines" njx:natcv="lines(*,*).mycell-cv" rowcount="5" >
   <repeat3>
      <str3 valueprop="selected">
         <selector valueprop="selected">
         </selector>
         <field3 titleprop="fld3titleprop" noborder="true" transparentbackground="true">
         </field3>
         <hdist width="100%">
         </hdist>
         <xcidatadef dataprop="mycell-cv" datatype="C">
         </xcidatadef>
       </str3>
    </repeat3>
</rowtablearea3>

This will generate the following Natural data structure:

1 LINESPROPS 
2 ROWS (1:*)
3 COLS (1:*)
4 FLD3TITLEPROP (A) DYNAMIC
4 MYCELL-CV (C)
3 SELECTED (L)
1 LINES (A/1:*,1:*) DYNAMIC

Example: Control Variable outside of the Grid Data Structure

<rowtablearea3 griddataprop="lines" njx:natcv="mycell-cv(*,*)"  rowcount="5" >
  <repeat3>
     <str3 valueprop="selected">
        <selector valueprop="selected">
        </selector>
        <field3 titleprop="fld3titleprop" noborder="true" transparentbackground="true">
        </field3>
        <hdist width="100%">
        </hdist>
      </str3>
  </repeat3>
</rowtablearea3>
...
<xcidatadef dataprop="mycell-cv" datatype="C" array="true" arraydimension="2">
</xcidatadef>

This will generate the following Natural data structure:

1 LINESPROPS 
2 ROWS (1:*)
3 COLS (1:*)
4 FLD3TITLEPROP (A) DYNAMIC
3 SELECTED (L)
1 LINES (A/1:*,1:*) DYNAMIC
1 MYCELL-CV (C/1:*,1:*)

Built-in Events

Scrolling Events (Natural Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting only)

value-of-griddataprop.onTopindexChanged
value-of-griddataprop.onFirstPage (block scrolling only)
value-of-griddataprop.onLastPage (block scrolling only)
value-of-griddataprop.onPageDown (block scrolling only)
value-of-griddataprop.onPageUp (block scrolling only)

Selection Events (Natural Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting only)

value-of-griddataprop.onCtrlSelect
value-of-griddataprop.onSelect
value-of-griddataprop.onShiftSelect
value-of-griddataprop.onSelectAll
value-of-griddataprop.onDeselectAll

Sort Events (Natural Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting only)

value-of-griddataprop.onSort

Context Menu Events

value-of-griddataprop.reactOnContextMenuRequest

ROWTABLEAREA3 Properties

Basic
griddataprop

Name of the adapter parameter that represents the control in the adapter.

Obligatory  
gridpropsprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the rendering data for the grid cells. If no name is specified a default name derived from the GRIDDATAPROP name is used.

Optional  
gridinfoprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the data related to scrolling and sorting. If no name is specified a default name derived from the GRIDDATAPROP is used.

Optional  
rowcount

Number of rows that are rendered inside the control.

There are two ways of using this property - dependent on whether you in addition define the HEIGHT property:

If you do NOT define the HEIGHT property then the control is rendered with exactly the number of rows that are defined as ROWCOUNT value.

If a HEIGHT value is defined in addition (e.g. as percentage value "100%") then the number of rows depend on the actual height of the control. The ROWCOUNT value in this case indicates the maximum number of rows that are picked from the server. You should define this value in a way so that it is not too low - otherwise your grid will not be fully filled. On the other hand it should not be defined too high ("100") because this causes more communication traffic and more rendering effort inside the browser.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

height

Height of the control.

There are three possibilities to define the height:

(A) You do not define a height at all. As consequence the control will be rendered with its default height. If the control is a container control (containing) other controls then the height of the control will follow the height of its content.

(B) Pixel sizing: just input a number value (e.g. "20").

(C) Percentage sizing: input a percentage value (e.g. "50%"). Pay attention: percentage sizing will only bring up correct results if the parent element of the control properly defines a height this control can reference. If you specify this control to have a height of 50% then the parent element (e.g. an ITR-row) may itself define a height of "100%". If the parent element does not specify a width then the rendering result may not represent what you expect.

Optional

100

150

200

250

300

250

400

50%

100%

width

Width of the control.

There are three possibilities to define the width:

(A) You do not define a width at all. In this case the width of the control will either be a default width or - in case of container controls - it will follow the width that is occupied by its content.

(B) Pixel sizing: just input a number value (e.g. "100").

(C) Percentage sizing: input a percantage value (e.g. "50%"). Pay attention: percentage sizing will only bring up correct results if the parent element of the control properly defines a width this control can reference. If you specify this control to have a width of 50% then the parent element (e.g. an ITR-row) may itself define a width of "100%". If the parent element does not specify a width then the rendering result may not represent what you expect.

Sometimes obligatory

100

120

140

160

180

200

50%

100%

firstrowcolwidths

If set to "true" then the grid is sized according to its first row. This first row typically is a header-TR-row in which GRIDCOLHEADER controls are used as column headers for the subsequent rows.

Default is "false", i.e. the grid is sized according to its "whole content".

Please note: when using the GRIDCOLHEADER control within the header-TR-row this property must be set to "true" - otherwise column resizing (by drag and drop) does not work correctly.

Sometimes obligatory

true

false

maxcols

$en/popupwizard/rowtablearea_attr_maxcols$

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
withborder

If set to "false" then no thin border is drawn around the controls that are contained in the grid.

Default is "true".

Optional

true

false

hscroll

Definition of the horizontal scrollbar's appearance.

You can define that the scrollbars only are shown if the content is exceeding the control's area ("auto"). Or scrollbars can be shown always ("scroll"). Or scrollbars are never shown - and the content is cut ("hidden").

Default is "hidden".

Optional

auto

scroll

hidden

vscroll

Definition of the vertical scrollbar's appearance.

You can define that scrollbars only are shown if the content is exceeding the control's area ("auto"). Or scrollbars can be shown always ("scroll"). Or scrollbars are never shown - and the content is cut ("hidden").

Default is "scroll".

Optional

auto

scroll

hidden

firstrowcolwidths (already explained above)    
clipboardaccess

If switched to true then the content of the grid can be selected and exported into the client's clipboard.

Optional

true

false

withblockscrolling

If switched to "true" then the grid will show small scroll icons by which the user can scroll the grid's content. Scrolling typically is done by using the grid's scrollbar - the scroll icons that are switched on by this property are an additional possibility to scroll.

Optional

true

false

touchpadinput

If set to "true" then touch screen icons for scrolling are displayed in addition.

Default is "false".

Optional

true

false

requiredheight

Minimum height of the control in pixels. Use this property to ensure a minimum height if the overall control's height is a percentage of the available space - i.e. if value of property HEIGHT is a percentage (e.g. 100%).

Please note:You must not use FIXLAYOUT at the surrounding row container (ITR and ROWAREA). Otherwise: if the available space is less than the required height the end of the control is just cut off.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

tablestyle

CSS style definition that is directly passed into this control.

With the style you can individually influence the rendering of the control. You can specify any style sheet expressions. Examples are:

border: 1px solid #FF0000

background-color: #808080

You can combine expressions by appending and separating them with a semicolon.

Sometimes it is useful to have a look into the generated HTML code in order to know where direct style definitions are applied. Press right mouse-button in your browser and select the "View source" or "View frame's source" function.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

darkbackground

Normally the background is in light colour but the CIS style sheets also have a dark(er) grey colour to be used.

If DARKBACKGROUND is set to true then the darker background colour is chosen. This property typically is used to integrate light coloured controls into darker container areas.

Optional

true

false

invisiblemodeincompletelastrow

If set to "invisible" an incomplete last row is not shown.

Optional

invisible

visible

Binding
oncontextmenumethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user presses the right mouse button in the grid, but not on an existing row, but in an empty area of the grid.

Optional  
fwdtabkeymethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user presses the TAB key within the very last cell of the grid (last cell within the last line). Use property FWDTABKEYFILTER to associate this call with a grid column.

Optional  
fwdtabkeyfilter

By default the FWDTABKEYMETHOD is called if the user presses the TAB key within the veryfirst cell of the grid. Input the name of a cell's VALUEPROP to associate the method call with any other column.

Optional  
bwdtabkeymethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user presses SHIFT and TAB keys within the first cell of a grid line. Use property BWDTABKEYFILTER to associate this call with a cell of choice.

Optional  
bwdtabkeyfilter

By default the BWDTABKEYMETHOD is called if the user presses the SHIFT and TAB keys within the very first cell of the grid. Input the name of a cell's VALUEPROP to associate the method call with any other column.

Optional  
Hot Keys
hotkeys

Comma separated list of hot keys. A hotkey consists of a list of keys and a method name. Separate the keys by "-" and the method name again with a comma

Example:

ctrl-alt-65;onCtrlAltA;13;onEnter ...defines two hot keys. Method onCtrlAltA is invoked if the user presses Ctrl-Alt-A. Method "onEnter" is called if the user presses the ENTER key.

Use the popup help within the Layout Painter to input hot keys.

Optional  
Natural
njx:natname

If a Natural variable with a name not valid for Application Designer (for instance #FIELD1) shall be bound to the control, a different name (for instance HFIELD1) can be bound instead. If the original name (in this case #FIELD1) is then specified in this attribute, the original name is generated into the parameter data area of the Natural adapter and a mapping between the two names is generated into the PROCESS PAGE statement of the Natural adapter. This mapping must not break a once defined group structure. If for instance a grid control that is bound to a name of GRID1 contains fields that are bound to FIELD1 and FIELD2 respectively, the corresponding njx:natname values may be #GRID1.#FIELD1 and #GRID1.#FIELD2, but not #GRID1.#FIELD1 and #MYGRID1.#FIELD2.

Optional  
njx:natcv

Name of a Natural control variable that shall be assigned to the control.

Optional  
njx:natcomment

The value of this attribute is generated as comment line into the parameter data area of the Natural adapter, before the field name. The Map Converter, for instance, uses this attributes to indicate for a generated statusprop variable to which field the statusprop belongs.

Optional  

TR3 Properties

Basic
visibleprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the information if this control is displayed or not. As consequence you can control the visibility of the control dynamically.

Optional  
height

Height of the control.

There are three possibilities to define the height:

(A) You do not define a height at all. As consequence the height of the control will follow the height of its content.

(B) Pixel sizing: just input a number value (e.g. "20"). Please note: the row content may overrule this setting. The height setting "100px" of an embedded textbox will beat a row height of "50px".

(C) Percentage sizing: input a percantage value (e.g. "50%"). Pay attention: percentage sizing will only bring up correct results if the parent element of the control properly defines a height this control can reference. If you specify this control to have a height of 50% then the parent element may itself define a height of "100%". If the parent element does not specify a width then the rendering result may not represent what you expect.

Optional

100

150

200

250

300

250

400

50%

100%

withalterbackground

Flag that indicates if the grid line shows alternating background color (like rows within a textgrids). Default is false. Please note: controls inside the row must have transparent background. In case of the FIELD control simply set property TRANSPARENTBACKGROUND to true.

Optional

true

false

trstyle

CSS style definition that is directly passed into this control.

With the style you can individually influence the rendering of the control. You can specify any style sheet expressions. Examples are:

border: 1px solid #FF0000

background-color: #808080

You can combine expressions by appending and separating them with a semicolon.

Sometimes it is useful to have a look into the generated HTML code in order to know where direct style definitions are applied. Press right mouse-button in your browser and select the "View source" or "View frame's source" function.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

trstyleprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically provides explicit style information for the control.

Optional  
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  

GRIDCOLHEADER3 Properties

Basic
nameprop

Name of adapter parameter which dynamically provides the text that is shown inside the control.

Sometimes obligatory  
textidprop

Name of the adapter property that provides the multi language dependent text which is displayed inside the control. The "textid" is translated into a corresponding string at runtime.

Do not specify a "name" inside the control if specifying a "textid".

Sometimes obligatory  
widthprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provided the width of the control.

There are three possibilities to define the width:

(A) You do not define a width at all. In this case the width of the control will either be a default width or - in case of container controls - it will follow the width that is occupied by its content.

(B) Pixel sizing: just input a number value (e.g. "100").

(C) Percentage sizing: input a percantage value (e.g. "50%"). Pay attention: percentage sizing will only bring up correct results if the parent element of the control properly defines a width this control can reference. If you specify this control to have a width of 50% then the parent element (e.g. an ITR-row) may itself define a width of "100%". If the parent element does not specify a width then the rendering result may not represent what you expect.

Obligatory  
Appearance
nowrap

The textual content of the header is not wrapped automatically. No line break will be performed automatically by the browser. If you want the text of the header to be wrapped, set the value to "false".

Optional

true

false

stylevariant

Some controls offer the possibility to define style variants. By this style variant you can address different styles inside your style sheet definition file (.css). If not defined "normal" styles are chosen, if defined (e.g. "VAR1") then other style definitions (xxxVAR1xxx) are chosen.

Purpose: you can set up style variants in the style sheet defintion and use them multiple times by addressing them via the "stylevariant" property. CIS currently offerst two variants "VAR1" and "VAR2" but does not predefine any semantics behind - this is up to you!

Optional

VAR1

VAR2

VAR3

VAR4

textalign

Alignment of text inside the control.

Optional

left

center

right

rowspan

Row spanning of control.

If you use TR table rows then you may sometimes want to control the number of rows your control occupies. By default it is "1" - but you may want to define the control to span over more than one columns.

The property only makes sense in table rows that are snychronized within one container (i.e. TR, STR table rows). It does not make sense in ITR rows, because these rows are explicitly not synched.

Optional

1

2

3

4

5

50

int-value

colspan

Column spanning of control.

If you use TR table rows then you may sometimes want to control the number of columns your control occupies. By default it is "1" - but you may want to define the control to span over more than one columns.

The property only makes sense in table rows that are snychronized within one container (i.e. TR, STR table rows). It does not make sense in ITR rows, because these rows are explicitly not synched.

Optional

1

2

3

4

5

50

int-value

Binding
nameprop (already explained above)    
textidprop (already explained above)    
widthprop (already explained above)    
titleprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the text which is shown as tooltip for the control.

Either specify the text "hard" by using this TITLE property - or use the TITLETEXTID in order to define a language dependent literal.

Optional  
titletextidprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the text ID which is passed to the multi lanaguage management - representing the tooltip text that is used for the control.

Optional  
withsorticonprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the flag which indicates if a small sort indicator is shown within the right corner of the control. Default is TRUE.

Optional  
sorttitleprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the text which is shown as tooltip for the sort indicator.

Either input text by using this SORTTITLE property - or use the SORTTITLETEXTID in order to define a language dependent literal.

Optional  
sorttitletextidprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the text ID which is passed to the multi lanaguage management - representing the tooltip text for the sort indicator.

Optional  
Comment
comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  

STR3 Properties

Basic
valueprop

Name of the adapter parameter that defines if the row is selected or not.

Obligatory  
withalterbackground

Flag that indicates if the grid line shows alternating background color (like rows within a textgrids). Default is false. Please note: controls inside the row must have transparent background. In case of the FIELD control simply set property TRANSPARENTBACKGROUND to true.

Optional

true

false

showifempty

Flag that indicates if an unused row is visible. Example: if set to false a grid with rowcount ten and a server side collection size of seven will hide the three remaining rows.

Default is false.

Optional

true

false

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Binding
valueprop (already explained above)    
onclickmethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user clicks a line.

Optional  
ondblclickmethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user double clicks a line.

Optional  
contextmenumethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user presses the right mouse button in an empty area.

Optional  
proprefprop

Name of the adapter parameter that is filled when the user clicks a FIELD control. The VALUEPROP of the clicked field control will passed.

Optional  
backgroundcolorprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically provides the background color for this control.

Optional  
Natural
njx:natname

If a Natural variable with a name not valid for Application Designer (for instance #FIELD1) shall be bound to the control, a different name (for instance HFIELD1) can be bound instead. If the original name (in this case #FIELD1) is then specified in this attribute, the original name is generated into the parameter data area of the Natural adapter and a mapping between the two names is generated into the PROCESS PAGE statement of the Natural adapter. This mapping must not break a once defined group structure. If for instance a grid control that is bound to a name of GRID1 contains fields that are bound to FIELD1 and FIELD2 respectively, the corresponding njx:natname values may be #GRID1.#FIELD1 and #GRID1.#FIELD2, but not #GRID1.#FIELD1 and #MYGRID1.#FIELD2.

Optional  
njx:natcv

Name of a Natural control variable that shall be assigned to the control.

Optional  
njx:natcomment

The value of this attribute is generated as comment line into the parameter data area of the Natural adapter, before the field name. The Map Converter, for instance, uses this attributes to indicate for a generated statusprop variable to which field the statusprop belongs.

Optional  

FIELD3 Properties

Basic
width

Width of the control.

There are three possibilities to define the width:

(A) You do not define a width at all. In this case the width of the control will either be a default width or - in case of container controls - it will follow the width that is occupied by its content.

(B) Pixel sizing: just input a number value (e.g. "100").

(C) Percentage sizing: input a percantage value (e.g. "50%"). Pay attention: percentage sizing will only bring up correct results if the parent element of the control properly defines a width this control can reference. If you specify this control to have a width of 50% then the parent element (e.g. an ITR-row) may itself define a width of "100%". If the parent element does not specify a width then the rendering result may not represent what you expect.

Sometimes obligatory

100

120

140

160

180

200

50%

100%

comment

Comment without any effect on rendering and behaviour. The comment is shown in the layout editor's tree view.

Optional  
Appearance
width (already explained above)    
length

Width of FIELD in amount of characters. WIDTH and LENGTH should not be used together. Note that the actual size of the control depends on the font definition if using the LENGTH property.

Optional

5

10

15

20

int-value

maxlength

Maximum number of characters that a user may enter. This property is not depending on the LENGTH property - please do not get confused by the similar naming. MAXLENGTH has nothing to do with the optical sizing of the control but only with the number of characters you may input.

Optional

5

10

15

20

int-value

autotab

If set to true, an automatic tab is executed for fields with a specified MAXLENGTH when the maxlength value is reached. For fields without a MAXLENGTH specified it has no effect. Default is true.

Optional

true

false

textalign

Alignment of text inside the control.

Optional

left

center

right

password

If set to "true", each entered character is displayed as a '*'.

Optional

true

false

displayonly

If set to true, the FIELD will not be accessible for input. It is just used as an output field.

Optional

true

false

direction

Presets the default(BiDi) direction of the control. Use black string in order to have the default value.

Optional

rtl

ltr

uppercase

If "true" then all input is automatically transferred to upper case characters.

Optional

true

false

align

Horizontal alignment of control in its column.

Each control is "packaged" into a column. The column itself is part of a row (e.g. ITR or TR). Sometimes the size of the column is bigger than the size of the control itself. In this case the "align" property specifies the position of the control inside the column. In most cases you do not require the align control to be explicitly defined because the size of the column around the controls exactly is sized in the same way as the contained control.

If you want to directly control the alignment of text: in most text based controls there is an explicit property "textalign" in which you align the control's contained text.

Optional

left

center

right

valign

Vertical alignment of control in its column.

Each control is "packaged" into a column. The column itself is part of a row (e.g. ITR or TR). Sometimtes the size of the column is bigger than the size of the control. In this case the "align" property specify the position of the control inside the column.

Optional

top

middle

bottom

colspan

Column spanning of control.

If you use TR table rows then you may sometimes want to control the number of columns your control occupies. By default it is "1" - but you may want to define the control to span over more than one columns.

The property only makes sense in table rows that are snychronized within one container (i.e. TR, STR table rows). It does not make sense in ITR rows, because these rows are explicitly not synched.

Optional

1

2

3

4

5

50

int-value

rowspan

Row spanning of control.

If you use TR table rows then you may sometimes want to control the number of rows your control occupies. By default it is "1" - but you may want to define the control to span over more than one columns.

The property only makes sense in table rows that are snychronized within one container (i.e. TR, STR table rows). It does not make sense in ITR rows, because these rows are explicitly not synched.

Optional

1

2

3

4

5

50

int-value

fieldstyle

CSS style definition that is directly passed into this control.

With the style you can individually influence the rendering of the control. You can specify any style sheet expressions. Examples are:

border: 1px solid #FF0000

background-color: #808080

You can combine expressions by appending and separating them with a semicolon.

Sometimes it is useful to have a look into the generated HTML code in order to know where direct style definitions are applied. Press right mouse-button in your browser and select the "View source" or "View frame's source" function.

Optional

background-color: #FF0000

color: #0000FF

font-weight: bold

noborder

Boolean value defining if the control has a border. Default is "false".

Optional

true

false

transparentbackground

Boolean value defining if the control is rendered with a transparent background. Default is "false".

Optional

true

false

bgcolorprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the background color of the control.

Optional  
fgcolorprop

Name of the adapter parameter that passes back a color value (e.g. "#FF0000" for red color). The color value is used as text color in the control. - The background color is automatically chosen dependent from the text color: for light text colors the background color is black, for dark text colors the color is default. Use BGCOLORPROP to choose both - text and background color.

Optional  
invisiblemode

If the visibility of the control is determined dynamically by an adapter property then there are two rendering modes if the visibility is "false":

(1) "invisible": the control is not visible.

(2)"cleared": the control is not visible but it still occupies space.

Optional

invisible

cleared

Binding
alwaysflush

If set to TRUE then a specified server flushmethod is also called in case the value has not changed. The default is FALSE, meaning that a server flushmethod is only called for a changed value.

Optional

true

false

flush

Flushing behaviour of the input control.

By default an input into the control is registered within the browser client - and communicated to the server adapter object when a user e.g. presses a button. By using the FLUSH property you can change this behaviour.

Setting FLUSH to "server" means that directly after changing the input a synchronization with the server adapter is triggered. As consequence you directly can react inside your adapter logic onto the change of the corresponding value. - Please be aware of that during the synchronization always all changed properties - also the ones that were changed before - are transferred to the adapter object, not only the one that triggered the synchonization.

Setting FLUSH to "screen" means that the changed value is populated inside the page. You use this option if you have redundant usage of the same property inside one page and if you want to pass one changed value to all its representaion directly after changing the value.

Optional

screen

server

flushmethod

When the data synchronization of the control is set to FLUSH="server" then you can specify an explicit event to be sent when the user updates the content of the control. By doing so you can distinguish on the server side from which control the flush of data was triggered.

Optional  
contextmenumethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user presses the right mouse button in an empty area.

Optional  
displayprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically passes information whether the field is displayonly("true") or not ("false"). Notice that in the Natural code the type for the field is alphanumeric.

Optional  
statusprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically passes information how the control should be rendered and how it should act. Valid parameter values at runtime: "INVISIBLE", "FOCUS", "FOCUS_NO_SELECT", "ERROR", "ERROR_NO_FOCUS". Use DISPLAYPROP to dynamically define whether the field is displayonly.

Optional  
valuetextprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides a "human understandable" description for the value: in some cases you enter an id into a FIELD but want to display the id and a description to the user. At runtime, the values provided by the VALUEPROP- and the VALUETEXTPROP-property are combined into one text (string) that is returned into the FIELD.

Optional  
textidmode

If using property "valuetextprop" then a field knows an id and a text for a certain value. There are three types of display: either both are shown together, separated by an "-" (e.g. "id - text"). Or only text is shown or only the id is shown. If not defined at all then the system's default text id-mode will be chosen. The default mode can be defined as part of the CIS session context.

Optional

0

1

2

titleprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically defines the title of the control. The title is displayed as tool tip when ther user moves the mouse onto the control.

Optional  
bgcolorprop (already explained above)    
fgcolorprop (already explained above)    
autocallpopupmethod

Name of the adapter parameter that controls that the field's value help event is sent to the adapter with a certain offset (milliseconds) after last key down event.

Optional

true

false

lengthprop

Name of the adapter parameter that dynamically provides the width of the FIELD in amount of characters.

Optional  
maxlengthprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the maximum number of characters that a user may enter. Consider to use MAXLENGTH to define this number in a static way.

Optional  
Validation
datatype

By default, the FIELD control is managing its content as string. By explicitly setting a datatype you can define that the control...

...will check the user input if it reflects the datatype. E.g. if the user inputs "abc" into a field with datatype "int" then a corresponding error message will popup when the user leaves the field.

...will format the data coming from the server or coming form the user input: if the field has datatype "date" and the user inputs "010304" then the input will be translated into "01.03.2004" (or other representation, dependent on date format settings).

In addition valeu popups are offered for the user automatically for some datatypes: e.g. when specifying datatype "date" the automatically the field provides a calendar input popup.

Please note: the datatype "float" is named a bit misleading - it represents any decimal format number. The server side representation may be a float value, but also can be a double or a BigDecimal property.

Optional

date

float

int

long

time

timestamp

color

xs:decimal

xs:double

xs:date

xs:dateTime

xs:time

------------------------

N n.n

P n.n

string n

L

xs:boolean

xs:byte

xs:short

editmask

NATPAGE only: Natural edit mask.

Optional  
validationrules

Contains information used for Data Validation.

Use the Validation Rules Editor to make changes!

Optional  
validation

Regular expression against which the content of the field is checked on client side when the user changes the field. If the validation fails then an error message popup up and informs the user about the wrong input.

Optional

[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]

{1,}\\@[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]

{1,}\\.\\w{2,}\\d{5}

[0-9 )(-/+]+

validationprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides a regular expression for the validation of the field. Works the same way as VALIDATION but in a dynamic way.

Optional  
validationuserhint

If a client side validation fails due to wrong user input then an error popup is opened. If you define a hint inside this property then the hint is output to the user in order to tell in which way to input the value. The hint is not language dependent.

Optional  
validationuserhintprop

If using validation expressions (either property "validation" or "validationprop") then a popup comes up if the user inputs wrong values into a field. Inside this popup a certain text may be added in order to explain to the user what he/she did not correctly input. This text can be either statically defined or dynamically - by using this property.

Optional  
digits

Number that specifiies how many digits are to be displayed (ie digits before the comma). If using this feature then the DATATYPE property must be set to 'float'. See also DECIMALDIGITS.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

digitsprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides information how many digits are to be displayed (i. e. digits before the decimal character). If this feature is used, the DATATYPE property must be set to 'float'.

Optional  
decimaldigits

Specifies the number of displayed decimal digits. If using this feature then the DATATYPE property must be set to 'float'.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

decimaldigitsprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides information how many decimal digits are to be displayed (i. e. digits before the decimal character). If this feature is used, the DATATYPE property must be set to 'float'.

Optional  
spinrangemin

An integer value which defines the lower bound of the value range.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

spinrangemax

An integer value which defines the upper bound of the value range.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

Valuehelp
popupmethod

Name of the event that is sent to the adapter when the user requests value help by pressing F4 or F7 or by clicking into the FIELD with the right mouse button. When using the popupmethod together with the NJX:EVENTDATA control in a grid, then the event name must have the griddataprop name as prefix. Example: mygrid.mypopupmethod. If the POPUPMETHOD is defined, a small icon is shown inside the field to indicate to the user that there is some value help available.

Optional

openIdValueCombo

openIdValueHelp

openIdValueComboOrPopup

popupinputonly

Boolean property that control if a field with POPUPMETHOD defined is still usable for keyboard input. If "false" (= default) then the user can input a value either directly via keyboard or by using the popupmethod's help. If set to "true" then no keyboard input is possible - but only selection from the popup-method's help.

Optional

true

false

popupprop

Name of the adapter parameter that provides the information whether a POPUPMETHOD is available or not. This feature is used in scenarios in which a FIELD offers e.g. value help or not, depending on business logic inside the adapter.

Optional  
popuponalt40

Value help in a field is triggered either by clicking with the mouse or by pressing a certain key inside the field. The "traditional" keys are "cusrsor-down", "F7" or "F4". Sometimes you do not want to mix other "cursor-down" behaviour (e.g. scrolling in lists) with the value help behaviour. In this case switch this property to "true" - and the value help will only come up anymore when "alt-cursor-down" is pressed.

Optional

true

false

popupcombowidth

Pixel width of the standard "openIdValueCombo" popup dialog. Default is field width or at least 150 pixel.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value

popupicon

URL of image that is displayed inside the right corner of the field to indicate to the user that there is some value help available.. Any image type (.gif, .jpg, ...) that your browser does understand is valid.

Use the following options to specify the URL:

(A) Define the URL relative to your page. Your page is generated directly into your project's folder. Specifiying "images/xyz.gif" will point into a directory parallel to your page. Specifying "../HTMLBasedGUI/images/new.gif" will point to an image of a neighbour project.

(B) Define a complete URL, like "http://www.softwareag.com/images/logo.gif".

Optional

gif

jpg

jpeg

touchpadinput

Boolean property that decides if touch pad support is offered for the FIELD control. The default is "false". If switched to "true" then you can input data into the field via a touch pad. As consequence you can use this control for making inputs through a touch terminal.

Optional

true

false

onlinehelp
helpid

Help id that is passed to the online help management in case the user presses F1 on the control.

Optional  
title

Text that is shown as tooltip for the control.

Either specify the text "hard" by using this TITLE property - or use the TITLETEXTID in order to define a language dependent literal.

Optional  
titletextid

Text ID that is passed to the multi lanaguage management - representing the tooltip text that is used for the control.

Optional  
formula

Contains information used by the Formula Editor.

Use the Formula Editor to make changes!

Optional  
Hot Keys
hotkeys

Comma separated list of hot keys. A hotkey consists of a list of keys and a method name. Separate the keys by "-" and the method name again with a comma

Example:

ctrl-alt-65;onCtrlAltA;13;onEnter ...defines two hot keys. Method onCtrlAltA is invoked if the user presses Ctrl-Alt-A. Method "onEnter" is called if the user presses the ENTER key.

Use the popup help within the Layout Painter to input hot keys.

Optional  
Miscellaneous
testtoolid

Use this attribute to assign a fixed control identifier that can be later on used within your test tool in order to do the object identification

Optional  
autocallpopupmethodoffset

The offset (milliseconds) after the last key down event for calling the AUTOCALLPOPUPMETHOD. Makes only sense if an AUTOCALLPOPUPMETHOD is specified.

Optional

1

2

3

int-value