ROWTABLEAREA2 - The Flexible Control Grid

The ROWTABLEAREA2 is a container control that allows other controls to be arranged inside its grid management.

This document covers the following topics:


Example

There is a grid that contains a header row and 10 lines. Each line contains one check box and two fields. Some of the lines are highlighted.

graphics/image129.png

The XML layout definition is:

<rowarea name="Grid">
    <rowtablearea2 griddataprop="lines" rowcount="10" width="100%" withborder="true">
        <tr>
            <hdist>
            </hdist>
            <label name="First Name" asheadline="true">
            </label>
            <label name="Last Name" asheadline="true">
            </label>
        </tr>
        <repeat>
            <str valueprop="selected">
                <checkbox valueprop="selected" flush="screen" width="30">
                </checkbox>
                <field valueprop="firstname" width="50%">
                </field>
                <field valueprop="lastname" width="50%">
                </field>
            </str>
        </repeat>
    </rowtablearea2>
    <vdist height="10">
    </vdist>
    <itr>
        <button name="Add new Line" method="onAddLine">
        </button>
        <hdist>
        </hdist>
        <button name="Remove selected Lines" method="onRemoveLines">
        </button>
    </itr>
</rowarea>

Note the following:

  • There is a ROWTABLEAREA2 definition with the property griddataprop="lines". There is a rowcount definition of "10". This is the same as for the text grid processing: the grid container is bound to a server-side collection. Similar to the TEXTGRIDSSS2 definition, there is a row count that defines the number of lines.

  • Inside the ROWTABLEAREA2 definition, there is first the definition of a normal table row (TR) in which a distance and two labels are defined. The labels are rendered with asheadline="true".

  • Inside the REPEAT definition, there is a special table row definition "STR" (selectable table row) that itself contains one CHECKBOX and two FIELD definitions. CHECKBOX and FIELDs are bound to properties themselves.

  • After the ROWTABLEAREA2 definition, there is a vertical distance and a row that contains two buttons with which a user can manipulate the grid.

The content of the REPEAT block is repeated as many times as defined inside the rowcount definition of ROWTABLEAREA2. The content holds a table row (STR) - therefore the result is a grid.

The Java code of the adapter is:

// This class is a generated one.

import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Vector;

import com.softwareag.cis.server.Adapter;
import com.softwareag.cis.server.util.GRIDCollection;

public class rowtabarea2_adapterAdapter
    extends Adapter
{
    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // inner classes
    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // class >LinesItem<
    public class LinesItem
    {
        // property >firstname<
        String m_firstname;
        public String getFirstname() { return m_firstname; }
        public void setFirstname(String value) { m_firstname = value; }

        // property >lastname<
        String m_lastname;
        public String getLastname() { return m_lastname; }
        public void setLastname(String value) { m_lastname = value; }

        // property >selected<
        boolean m_selected;
        public boolean getSelected() { return m_selected; }
        public void setSelected(boolean value) { m_selected = value; }
    }
    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // property access
    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // property >lines<
    GRIDCollection m_lines = new GRIDCollection();
    GRIDCollection getLines() { return m_lines; }

    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // public adapter methods
    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    /** */
    public void onAddLine()
    {
        LinesItem l = new LinesItem();
        m_lines.add(l);
    }

    /** */
    public void onRemoveLines()
    {
        Vector v = new Vector();
//      collect all elements to be deleted
        Iterator iter = m_lines.iterator();
        while (iter.hasNext())
        {
            LinesItem l = (LinesItem)iter.next();
            if (l.getSelected() == true)
                v.addElement(l);
        }
//      delete elements
        iter = v.iterator();
        while (iter.hasNext())
            m_lines.remove(iter.next());
    }
}

Programming the grid is very simple. Define an instance of the class GRIDCollection in which you hold the items. This instance is referenced by the griddataprop definition inside the ROWTABLEAREA2 tag.

Each element inside the collection itself supports the properties that are referenced by the controls inside the REPEAT block. In our example, the properties are referenced by the STR, CHECKBOX and FIELD controls.

Use any "normal controls" inside the REPEAT block. For example, use either the BUTTON control or the ICON control. Properties of these included controls are called inside the item class lines and not directly in the adapter class.

The class GRIDCollection is the parent of TEXTGRIDCollection. It manages all aspects of server-side scrolling that is used internally.

Using rowcount and height

Similar to the TEXTGRIDSSS2 control, the ROWTABLEAREA2 controls offers two properties for defining its height:

  • rowcount and

  • height

If only rowcount is defined, the control will be always rendered with exactly the same number of lines - the one defined by the rowcount property.

If the height is specified additionally, the height of the grid will follow the height definition. The number of rows consequently follows the available vertical space. In this case, rowcount is the maximum number of rows that is exchanged.

Background information: if you have a look at the generated HTML page for an XML layout definition containing a ROWTABLEAREA2 grid, then you will see that each row of the grid is rendered into corresponding controls. If a ROWTABLEAREA2 contains 10 lines where each line has three FIELD controls, then the result will be an HTML page containing 30 fields.

Consequently, the rowcount property - when also specifying the height - should be carefully selected. You must not simply define a rowcount of "100" because then you will get very large HTML pages that become too large to be operated in a fast way. On the other hand, the rowcount should fit into normal screen sizes and should not be too low. Have in mind the screen sizes of your users and decide accordingly.

When does it make sense to have a height and a rowcount definition? Typically, it does not make sense to define a fixed height (for example, "200") for ROWTABLEAREA2 controls: instead of defining fixed heights, you should size the grid by using rowcount only. But it makes sense if you have flexible heights, for example, a height of "100%". In this case, the actual height depends on the size of the user's screen and the grid can thus be sized in a flexible way.

Making Grids Look like Grids

Fields typically contain a high number of FIELD controls. Typically, a FIELD control has a certain rendering that renders a field with a border and with a certain background color.

Be aware that inside the FIELD definition, there are two important properties:

  • noborder - if set to "true", no border will be drawn

  • transparentbackground - if set to "true", the field will always take over the background of the controls in which it is positioned (e.g. STR row).

Have a look at the difference between the following screens. One screen uses the properties, the other screen does not use them.

This is a grid:

graphics/rowtablearea2-grid.png

This is collection of fields:

graphics/rowtablearea2-fields.png

For information on how to build the lines of a grid dynamically, see the description of the FLEXLINE control.

Special Events in ROWTABLEAREA2 Processing

If using input controls (FIELD, CHECKBOX, COMBOBOX) inside a grid, then there are two special events that may be passed to your application.

  • FWDTABKEYMETHOD of ROWTABLEAREA2: this is the method that is called when the user presses the TAB key within the rightmost field of the grid.

  • BWDTABKEYMETHOD of ROWTABLEAREA2: this is the method that is called when the user presses SHIFT+TAB on the leftmost control of the grid.

You can use these events for various purposes:

  • You may create a new item below the existing one when the user leaves the rightmost field.

  • You may want to trigger the scrolling of the grid if the user tabs through the last right field.

In the following example, every time the user leaves the rightmost field of the grid, a new item is created:

graphics/image133.png

When the user now presses TAB in the last field, the screen will look as follows:

graphics/image134.png

The XML layout is:

...
...
...
<rowtablearea2 griddataprop="lines" rowcount="10" fwdtabkeymethod="endofLineProcessing">
    <tr>
        <label name=" " width="30" asheadline="true" labelstyle="text-align:center">
        </label>
        <label name="Item" width="30" asheadline="true">
        </label>
        <label name="Article" width="400" asheadline="true">
        </label>
        <label name="Quantity" asheadline="true" labelstyle="text-align:right">
        </label>
        <label name="Price" width="50" asheadline="true" labelstyle="text-align:right">
        </label>
    </tr>
    <repeat>
        <str valueprop="selected">
            <checkbox valueprop="selected" flush="screen" width="30">
            </checkbox>
            <textout valueprop="itemNumber" width="30" textoutstyle="text-align:center">
            </textout>
            <field valueprop="article" width="100%" noborder="true"
                   transparentbackground="true">
            </field>
            <field valueprop="quantity" width="50" noborder="true"
                   transparentbackground="true">
            </field>
            <field valueprop="price" width="50" noborder="true"
                   transparentbackground="true" datatype="float" decimaldigits="2">
            </field>
            <hdist>
            </hdist>
        </str>
    </repeat>
</rowtablearea2>
...
...

Be aware that the method that is associated with the "tab" event is called in the item object in which the "tab" event was thrown.

The server-side processing looks as follows:

...
...
public class rowtab2_specEventsAdapter
    extends Adapter
{
    // class >LinesItem<
    public class LinesItem
    {
        public LinesItem(int itemNumber)
        {
            	m_itemNumber = itemNumber;
            	m_focussedItemNumber = itemNumber;
        }

        public String getArticleStatus()
        {
            if (m_itemNumber == m_focussedItemNumber)
                return "FOCUS";
            else
                return "EDIT";
        }

        int m_itemNumber;
        public int getItemNumber() { return m_itemNumber; }
        public void setItemNumber(int value) { m_itemNumber = value; }

        int m_focussedItemNumber;
        public int getfocussedItemNumber() { return m_itemNumber; }
        public void setfocussedItemNumber(int value) { m_itemNumber = value; }

        // property >article<
        String m_article;
        public String getArticle() { return m_article; }

        // property >price<
        double m_price;
        public double getPrice() { return m_price; }

        // property >quantity<
        int m_quantity;
        public int getQuantity() { return m_quantity; }

        // property >selected<
        boolean m_selected;
        public boolean getSelected() { return m_selected; }
        public void setSelected(boolean value) { m_selected = value; }

        public void endOfLineProcessing()
        {
            if (m_itemNumber == m_lines.size())
            {
                LinesItem item = new LinesItem(m_lines.size() + 1);
                m_lines.add(item);
                m_lines.displayItem(item);
            }
        }
    }
...
...

Inside the method endOfLineProcessing() that is defined on item level, the new item is created. In addition, you see that there is a certain focus management behind the field representing the article: the focus management is used in a way that the focus is directly set into the article field when a new item is created.

The full XML and code is available inside the project cisdemos.

ROWTABLEAREA2 Properties

Basic
griddataprop

Name of adapter property representing the grid on server side.

Must be of type "GRIDCollection". The whole grid is represented by the GRIDCollection-object, each individual row of the grid is represented by one item inside the collection.

If using the control for building trees (TREENODE-control inside the grid's items) then use "TREECollection" on server side.

Obligatory  
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  
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 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 (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

onloadbehaviour

DEPRECATED: Loading behaviour of the items into the client.

"block" (=default). Only "block" is supported´. All other settings are automatically mapped to "block".

Optional

block

collection

collectionorblock

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

withsliderfreeze

Setting this to "true" prevents unwanted slider jumps while scrolling up/down in a grid with a huge number of lines (for example 20000).

Optional

true

false

Binding
oncontextmenumethod

Name of adapter method that is called when the user presses right mouse button into the grid - but not on an existing row (then the row item object is responsible for handling the right mouse button) but on "empty area" of the grid.

Optional  
fwdtabkeymethod

Name of an adapter method that is called if 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 an adapter method that is called if 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  

STR Properties

STR (selectable table row) is a normal table row (TR) that highlights its background depending on an adapter property.

Basic
valueprop

Name of the adapter property that defines if the row is selected (value "true") or not selected ("false").

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 method inside the row item class that is called if the user clicks a line.

Optional  
alwaysonclick

If no onclickmethod is defined, this property is ignored. If an onclickmethod is defined and this property is set to false, then the onclickmethod is only called if the clicked control does call a method itself. Example: A click on a button will only call the method defined in the button. Default is true, which means both methods will be called.

Optional

true

false

ondblclickmethod

Name of the method inside the row item class that is called if the user double clicks a line.

Optional  
contextmenumethod

Name of the method on adapter level that is called when the user presses the right mouse button in an empty area.

Optional  
proprefprop

Name of the property inside the row item class that is called if the user clicks a FIELD control. The VALUEPROP of the clicked field control will passed.

Optional  
strstyleprop

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

Optional  
backgroundcolorprop

Name of the adapter property that dynamically sets the background color for the control.

Optional  

In the above example, the selection itself is done by a CHECKBOX. Both CHECKBOX and STR definitions are bound to the same Boolean value property (selected). Because of the flush definition inside the CHECKBOX, the table row is highlighted immediately after clicking the check box.

Inside the REPEAT definition, you can use also normal table rows (TR instead of STR). You cannot use ITR table rows to form a well-structured grid, because all columns have to be synchronized in their width.

It is recommended to use STR rows. The reasons are:

  • The STR row refers to a property representing its selection status (property valueprop). If this property is not available, the STR row automatically deactivates its contained controls. This means: if the STR row is not represented by a corresponding data object on the server side (because the grid contains more rows than are made available by the grid collection), then all controls of the STR row are automatically deactivated.

  • Special grid functions like up/down cursor navigation and cut/paste operations with the right mouse button are only available with the STR row, not with TR.